Our interpretation of the major issues and concerns that resulted in this recommendation: In recommendation # 9 the Commission is asking that the institution define Continuing Education at Idaho State University. Its organizational structure needs to be articulated and the administrative relationships among and between the various units offering continuing education and professional development activities on campus needs to be described. They are asking that the following to be explicitly defined:

1. How are Continuing Education programs at the institution
   1. Developed
   2. Approved
   3. Assessed
2. Who is responsible for the administration of continuing education and special learning activities? How are continuing education activities coordinated across campus?
3. How do the goals and objectives for Continuing Education at ISU fit within the goals set by SBOE for CE in Idaho and the mission, vision and goals for the institution.

How this recommendation links to other recommendations?

What has already been done to address this Recommendation:

Continuing Education at Idaho State University is a hybrid model with both decentralized and centralized components. ISU has decentralized some operations to meet the needs of special constituent groups especially in its professional colleges Pharmacy and the Intermountain Center for Educational Effectiveness in the College of Education. A centralized operation where jurisdiction and control are concentrated in a single organizational segment exists in the office of Continuing Education where activities to support programs such as the Health Care Conference, Elderhostel, and New Knowledge Adventure Program occur. This centralized operation, now located in a dedicated facility, is in the process of being restructured. The new unit will consist of an Executive Director of Continuing Education and Summer Programs, a Director of Conferencing and a Director of Marketing for continuing education. These positions will be filled when the new fiscal year begins in July. The Executive Director of Continuing and Education Summer Programs will report to the Dean of Enrollment Planning and Outreach. The Director will also work closely with Colleges and Departments at ISU to assist in the coordination of all Continuing Education. The Director of CE will report to the Dean of Enrollment Planning and Outreach who is a member of Deans Council and who reports directly to the President of the University.

While most of the university’s professional schools have successfully offered continuing education programs to their graduates and to others, there is currently no central inventory of such activities at ISU, and no formal structure to coordinate or to promote such initiatives. In an effort to determine the scope of these activities, explore potentials for greater university participation in continuing education, more successfully plan and implement programming, a campus-wide Coordinating Council for Extended Learning will be established.

The activities of this Coordinating Council will emphasize the notion of a systems approach to continuing education, that is, an effort to systematically link all policies and functional areas that have an impact upon continuing education enrollments and offerings. This perspective represents an attempt to create an organizational system that encourages closer communication and cooperation among the individuals and offices that have responsibility for offering continuing education, both credit and non-credit programming. Although, restructuring CE alone will not address all concerns, it is a forum that will be used to set the stage to address institutional issues including those raised by the accreditation team.

The Executive Director of Continuing and Education and Summer Programs will be assigned the responsibility of coordinating and monitoring the continuing education and special learning activities of the institution. The individual will chair the campus-wide Coordinating Council that will meet monthly with constituent groups to share plans and information about CE program offerings and to create an annual institutional report of the continuing education activity offered by the institution. Members of the committee will include but will not be limited to the following:

The Workforce Training Programs in the College of Technology
Personnel from each of the Colleges
Staff from distant sites: Idaho Falls, Boise, Twin Falls, and Coeur d’Alene
Staff members from Financial Services, Enrollment Planning, Information Technology
The Idaho Center for Educational Effectiveness
The Sawtooth Science Institute
Staff from the Distance Learning Center

What needs to be done to meet this recommendation?

1. Set clear goals for Idaho State University Continuing Education and subgoals for various units
2. Organizational charts that show the relationship of continuing education to various academic units of the institution, including the internal organization of all continuing education need to be developed and described.
3. Assessment plans for CE need to be developed based on the goals, objectives and marketing plan of the units offering continuing education.
4. Criteria and procedures for awarding CEU and procedures for keeping student records need to be developed and implemented in FY2006.