TO:	Dean's CouncilFocus Group ParticipantsMillersville University Faculty Senate
FROM:	Dr. Ronald Umble, ACE Task Force Chair , Ron Umble
DATE:	March 25April 6, 2005 MaySeptember 20 11 , 2005
RE:	ACE Task Force RecommendationsMillersville University's "Programming for Non-Traditional Students at Millersville UniversityX" Infrastructure

The MU mission statement calls us Since January 2003, tto prepare students to live in an increasingly diverse, multicultural, and technologically complex society by offering a rich and is multifaceted curriculum. This requires a culture of accommodationess that provides facilities, instruction and services of highest quality for all students, whether traditional and non-traditional. Consequently, the ACE Task Force (TF) has met regularly since its commissioning in January 2003 to discuss the current status of the ACE program, to conduct program-related research via faculty and student surveys and focus groups about the program, and to draft recommendations that address the following actions in order to meet the needs of the non-traditional students population in this region. The resulting recommendations include creating an infrastructure by which programs are created, nurtured, and implemented addressing the needs of students that would not otherwise enroll in Millersville University. Here is a summary of our findings1:

1. Demand for higher education is high and will continue to rise, especially among populations requiring non-traditional programs, delivery formats and services.
2. The traditional student pool in this region will begin to shrink in 2008 creating the potential for vacancies that must be filled to maintain a healthy and vibrant university.
3. Current physical and fiscal constraints limit our ability to increase the number of traditional students served on campus (our facilities are at capacity).
   • Many students enrolled in ACE courses are displaced traditional students
4. The current ACE program is struggling because it
   • Fails to accommodate the needs of non-traditional students
   • Is viewed as an entity apart from regular programming and not as a vehicle for delivering degree programs
   • Relies on faculty who teach either through continuing education or as overload
   • Lacks faculty and administrative support
5. Non-traditional students
   • Are prepared to use technology in their classes and would welcome more on-line or blended courses
   • Are better organized, more highly motivated and more serious than many 18-22 year olds
   • Are attracted to some, but not all, of our degree programs
   • Expect and deserve a high quality learning environment comparable to that afforded by the MU campus
6. Most faculty members
   • Prefer to teach on campus (some courses require on-campus infrastructure)
   • Are not interested in a teaching overload

In response,
the ACE Task Force is pleased to sThe TFubmit the following recommendations for your feedback and consideration. If adopted, these recommendations will create an infrastructure by which programs targeting new student audiences are created, nurtured and delivered.

focus group now looks to Deans' Councilparticipants for feedback to the following recommendations.

Recommendations

1. MU must act now to increase its market share of non-traditional students.
The administrative support and services necessary to develop and deliver non-traditional courses and programs are not currently in place. To remedy this, additional funding, facilities, faculty and staff must be secured. Given the challenges of a campus infrastructure at capacity and a potential decline in our traditional applicant pool beginning in 2008, time is short.

1. Rename the program:
Name the Program:
Tentative: Millersville University New Century Program (MUNC)

2. Identify the audience:
MUNC would be designed for students seeking experiences, programs, or certificates offered by the program. New admission procedures required by MUNC would not displace existing ones. Accommodations for current ACE and "second chance" admission students during the transition would be necessary.

The current Adult & Continuing Education (ACE) needs a new name.

312. Replace the ACE Program with a market-driven philosophy/programinfrastructure. The new infrastructure "X" (name to be determined) is not a program. Rather, it provides academic departments with the administrative support services they need to create and would be designed deliver for students seeking courses, programs, or certificates offered. The infrastructure would oOselect high-demand cohort-based undergraduate, graduate and continuing education "X" programs.

All courses and , programs , or certificate serviced by this infrastructure falling under the umbrella of the "X" would reside in an academic department or school and could be either a traditional offering delivered in some non-traditional manner or a new could be considered a non-traditional offering. In either caseprogram or a traditional program offered in a non-traditional manner, such offerings would . These offeringscomplement currently available traditional ones and are meant to complement existing traditional programs in that they are attracting brand new student populations audiences of non-traditional undergraduate and graduate students to MUand those that Millersville University is striving to grow - non-traditional and graduate students. . The "X" infrastructure is a vehicle for delivering and supporting current or new programs that continue to reside in academic departments and schools.

Courses and pPrograms that might benefit from this infrastructure could include:

• Sequenced course offerings in general education,
• D: Degree completion programs (e.g. 2+2+2 in Manufacturing and Nanofabrication),;
• OOnline degree programs (e.g. MS in Disaster Mgm'tanagement; or M.Ed. in Sport Mgm'tanagement);,
• BBlended degree programs (e.g. MS in Nursing Education or MSW),;
• OOn-site degree programs (e.g. MS in Special Education on-site in Millersburg Area SD),;
• Cand Certificate programs (e.g. Professional Writing Certificate))..

Define the services:
Services are defined as the courses, packaging, sequencing, delivery formats, and attendant support materials and services required for continued enrollment in, and completion of, the specific experience, program, or certificate offered through the new process.

Ensure connection to University mission:
The University mission must clearly support effective academic programs for both traditional and non-traditional students. Effective programming for non-traditional students requires a culture of accommodation that provides facilities, instruction and services of highest quality.

424. Provide effective Elevate program leadership. of the program:
While responsibility for curriculum resides with the faculty, aProviding administrative structure and support for new and existing non-traditional courses and programs Responsibility for delivering MUNC would reside with PTE. In this model, PTE would be an advocate for departments as they initiate curricular change. For this to be effective, tResponsibility for program delivery rests with the office of Professional Training & Education. he Task Force envisions the role of the Director of the Office of Professional Training & EducationPTE should assume a role as similar to that of an Associate Dean the Graduate Dean.with PTE be should be represented on Deans' Council and a member of PTE should be elevated to associate dean or dean status (like the graduate dean). refore, this person'sRresponsibilities that for this program would iincludee: Keeping school deans and department chairs apprised of potentially new programs; ccollaboratingion with school deans and department chairs oin course//program development and initiation in collaboration with school deans,; communicating with cultivate the community to assure responsiveness;, bringing together community needs and program opportunities together,; engaging in research and development;, and be a resource and assisting in or leavening agent.launching plant and nurture new programs ass they are created.

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53. ProvideDeliver necessary services.
MU must eProvideEstablish an effective network of support services for support structure for faculty as they . This would include package, sequence and deliver their courses and for students as they progress through their experienccourses and/or eprograms"X"MUNC. Theis infrastructure proposed under - referred to also in recommendation (number 23) above - would provide project management, program development (faculty and market driven), marketing, and budgetary support. All students, traditional and non-traditional, must have access to vital services such as financial aid, registration, the Bursar, academic advising, counseling, the bookstore access, parking permits, etc. at convenient times and places.

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64. Provide quality faculty and Support the facultystaff.ing:
MU must pProvide high quality faculty and staff staffing and quality faculty sufficient to meet the needs of programs as they are developed. Whenever possible, these increased complement sufficient to meet the needs of the program and guarantee its success. Whenever possible, and if appropriate, "X" MUNC faculty could staff courses shfor this new program ould be staffed in-load with the University providing the necessary additional complement. This is not meant to exclude the possibility of hiring of adjunct However, practitioners who bring particular specialty skills to the classroom. When a particular course cannot be staffed in-load, the option to offer the course on an when this option is neither appropriate nor possible, faculty could staff courses for this new program on an overload or continuing education basis would be available subject to approval of the school dean and. Regardless of how instructional staff in MUNC the compensation syare compensatedstem is determined for this newS program, staffing principles for this new program will be completely cconsistent with the rules and guidelines in both the CBA and the local policies on ACE and continuing education.

The faculty must come to view non-traditional course instruction as an integral part of their regular work assignments and Therefore, the TF recommends that re-visiting the local policy on ACE and continuing education be revisited.>..not as peripheral or optional.

775. ProvideEnsure sufficient Provide funding.inancial commitment:
TFinancialhe resources are required program needs resources to create bring new programs into existence and assure their success. Such funding supports market research, marketing and a wide range of support services for students and faculty. We recommend that . programs developed under the new infrastructure follow the "business plan" model used to develop our MBA program. The funding requirements of a particular initiative would be specified in the business plan and channeled through the regular PTE budget.ask orce It should retain some/most/all of net revenues "X" that areis generatedbrought in to be used for program development. The Task Force also recommends that revenue sharing be considered as an incentive for faculty/departmental involvement Resources are needed for complement, marketing, market resources, dedicated advisement, etc.

886. ProvideAcquire quality facilities:.
Off-campus fFacilities housing non-traditional MUNC"X" courses and , programs, and certificates should for non-traditional students must have the same the same quality, utility and comfort afforded to traditional offerings comparable asas those on-campushousing courses for traditional students. The fFacilityies should be best matched with the needs of the program in the best possible way and should accommodate both meet the needs of the faculty and students. Examples include: Liberty Place, the Dixon University Center in Harrisburg, on-site at school districts or other locations, the possibility of a branch campus, and the Millersville University's campus.

97. Assure smooth transition:
New admission procedures required by "X" would not displace existing ones. It is essential to keep an admissions or access vehicle for returning part-time students. This not only fulfills the institution's mission of access to the local region; it also ensures that potential and current students have access to services (financial aid, advising, etc.) only available to them with such an admissions vehicle. These students will also need to be tracked in some manner. Accommodations for current ACE and "second chance" admission students during the transition would be necessary.

8. Create aN naame for the newe infrastructure.:
Tentative: Millersville University's "X" Infrastructure
Suggestions: Access Millersville, The Millersville Connection, Millersville University's Community Connections Campus; Millersville University's Community Access Campus; Millersville University's Access Learning Campus; or Millersville University's ComMUniversity.

ACE Task Force Membership:

Dr. Daniel Anna, Assistant Professor of Industry and Technology
Dr. Deborah Castellucci, Associate Professor and Chair of Nursing
Dr. Steven Centola, Professor of English and Acting Dean of Graduate Studies and Extended Programs
Ms. Candace Deen, University Registrar
Dr. Christine Gaudry-Hudson, Associate Professor and Chair of Foreign Languages
Dr. Tariq Gilani, Assistant Professor of Physics
Dr. Julie Lombardi, Associate Professor of Wellness and Sports Science
Dr. Susan Luek, Professor of Psychology
Ms. Bili Mattes, Director of Professional Training and Education
Ms. Loreal Maguire, Assistant Director of Professional Training and Education
Dr. Jennifer Miller, Assistant Professor of Philosophy
Ms. Rita Miller, Coordinator of Services for Physically Disabled Students
Dr. Carol Phillips, Executive Assistant to the President
Dr. Diane Umble, Professor of Communication and Theatre and Acting Associate Dean of Humanities and Social Sciences
Dr. Ronald Umble, Professor of Mathematics and ACE Task Force Chair