Component A: The organization demonstrates, through the action of its board, administrators, students, faculty, and staff, that it values a life of learning.

Valley City State University demonstrates through board policy, strategic planning, financial allocation, campus policies, and faculty-student interactions that it values a life of learning.


The guiding principles that support academic freedom and expression for faculty and students on campuses in the North Dakota University System are identified in SBHE Policy 401.1, which states in part,

• The responsible academic community welcomes those who take an ideological or policy position and jealously guards their right to do so. The academic community must be hospitable even to closed minds and it must welcome the conflict of ideas likely to ensue. Academic responsibility to provide opportunity for expression of diverse points of view generates academic freedom.

This same policy provides for faculty freedom to research, publish, lecture, and conduct demonstrations in their field of expertise, while urging faculty responsibility for accuracy, sound judgment, and respect for the rights of others to express opinions.

Students’ rights are also identified in this policy:

SBHE Policy 605.1 identifies tenure as a means to assure academic freedom for faculty, and references the 1940 Statement of Principles on Academic Freedom and Tenure(Rev. 1990) that was adopted by the American Association of University Professors and the Association of American Colleges.

VCSU Policy V530.2 provides further protection of students' freedom of expression:

Students are protected through academic grievance procedures from capricious grading or other retaliatory action.

All activities and learning opportunities at the University stem from and are integrally related to the university strategic plan (VCSU 2015). The first goal of VCSU 2015 is "to provide accessible, innovative, high-quality educational experiences and programs for all students." Each of the actions listed under this goal supports, in a specific way, the life of learning - through improvements in technology, assessment, communication with employers, international partnerships, and development of new STEM initiatives.

Because the University values the life of learning and supports a low student to faculty ratio, a significant percentage of revenue is allocated to direct instructional cost. Table 7.1 compares VCSU expenditures per FTE student with peer expenditures.

VCSU is comparable to its peers only in dollars allocated to direct instructional cost. Recent budget decisions by the VCSU Cabinet demonstrate a continued support for instruction: as increased enrollment has increased revenues, Cabinet has approved two new faculty lines in FY 11 and two more in FY 12.

The standard faculty contract designates 80% teaching, 10% service, and 10% scholarly activity. All faculty evaluation materials require faculty to describe their work in each of these areas. To support this contractual requirement, several policies indicate an understanding of the faculty need for time and active faculty development. VCSU Policy V605.13 (Office Hours) reserves the right of faculty to uninterrupted periods of study; policies V605.10 and V701.2 further support the importance of faculty development and developmental leave.

Funding for Faculty Development and Travel. The University offers its faculty a variety of on-campus professional developmental activities, and supports faculty participation in regional and national professional activities. During the first half of the past decade, VCSU was the recipient of a faculty development grant from the Bush Foundation, which supported annual summer institutes and faculty travel to conferences. A listing of the Bush-supported summer workshops is presented in Table 7.2:

At the conclusion of the grant period, the University continued to support the summer institutes, and developed a travel budget to support conference activity. Typically the summer institutes are focused on assessment, and directed by the Assistant Vice President for Academic Affairs. Faculty travel requests for faculty development are reviewed by the Faculty Development Committee and funded through the Academic Affairs travel budget. Table 7.3 indicates the number of funded requests and amount spent on faculty development travel in AY 10 and 11. Guidelines for requesting travel support and a description of how dollars are awarded is published on the Academic Professional Development website.

Both the Graduate Office and the Technology Advisory Committee have developed mini-grant processes to further support faculty research and classroom innovation; these funding opportunities are communicated through email each semester to faculty. Those who receive funding either for travel or research are asked to share their results with campus, through presentations at divisional meetings and, in the case of travel, through brief summaries published in the Hotline.

Faculty Brown Bags and the Instructional Design Team. In Fall 2010, the Academic Affairs office sponsored two related initiatives to support improved instruction at VCSU. A faculty member in each division was designated the divisional instructional design leader, for which s/he received quarter-time release. These five individuals formed the University's Instructional Design Team, with responsibilities for supporting individual faculty instructional needs, especially (but not exclusively) in technology. A campus survey in March 2011 indicated general satisfaction with this support, and the initiative will continue during AY 12.

The Design Team, under the leadership of an interim instructional designer, sponsored a weekly brown bag series for faculty. Topics during 2010-11 included (complete schedule in Resource room):

Attendance at these sessions ranged from 10-30. All materials were archived in a Blackboard Organization "course", so materials remain easily accessible to all faculty when needed.

A Sampling of Faculty Publications and Presentations. A complete bibliography of VCSU faculty and staff publications and presentations, 2005-2011, is available in the online resource room. The following sample suggests the scope of activity faculty are engaged in:

Faculty in several academic areas have made deliberate efforts to promote student engagement in academic research, either through coursework or in co-curricular activities.

Student Scholar Symposium. Faculty members of the Communication Arts and Social Sciences Division developed the Student Scholar Symposium in 2005, to offer students the opportunity to engage in public discussion of their projects for specific courses. Originally, students in the Communication Arts and Social Sciences Division created visual presentations via tri-fold poster boards. Typically faculty required all students in specific courses to participate. Faculty and staff members visited with the students and evaluated their projects and presentations. Awards were then presented for the top projects as evaluated by the judges and by the viewers. This symposium was open to the campus community and took place at the end of Fall and Spring semesters.

Six years later, the symposium has developed into a more deliberate scholarly event. Faculty members now choose top projects in their courses to be shown at the symposium. Wandering Scholars engage the students in discussion with their projects. While the tri-fold posters still exist, many students use other options, such as power point presentations or the large posters seen in regional and national academic conferences. The Business and Information Technology Division has joined in sponsoring the symposium. Students send in applications for the symposium and programs describe the students' projects and the assignment created by the professor. The symposium is now open to all divisions and occurs each spring semester.

Honor Societies. Faculty in many program areas sponsor student organizations to enable like-minded students to socialize and participate in service projects for the campus or community. In some cases, these programs also support a local chapter of an honor society, allowing them to recognize academic achievement in the program area. English (Sigma Tau Delta), History (Phi Alpha Theta), and Business Education (Pi Omega Pi) are examples of current, program-specific honor societies on campus.

The 2006 addition of a freshman honor society, Alpha Lambda Delta, has increased attention on the importance of academic achievement for first-year students. Interest in membership has been quite high, with two-thirds of the invited students accepting membership each year. The VCSU chapter won a national bronze award for membership in 2008; one member won a national scholarship in 2010. The organization attempts to complete one activity each semester to promote academic success on campus, and graduating seniors who maintain the society's minimum GPA receive Alpha Lambda Delta honor cords to wear at graduation.

Science Research Opportunities. Science faculty regularly involve students in grant-sponsored research, and students are encouraged to participate in conferences to present their findings. The most significant are described below:

Student Accomplishments. Over the last decade, faculty have assisted and encouraged students to present their work at regional or national conferences. Below is a partial list of student's presentations.

The University demonstrates through its policies, planning, financial allocations, and support for faculty and student research that it values a life of learning.

Strengths: Funding for faculty travel and development activities receives high priority. Faculty in a variety of programs across campus also support student research by providing frameworks for the pursuit or presentation of research. In addition, student interest in honor societies is high.

New Initiatives: The Student-Scholar Symposium is developing into a campus-wide event, with the possibility of even broader participation as more Divisions become involved. Several newer faculty are exploring the possibility of advising honor societies in their field—specifically communication, psychology, and education. Given the strong interest in the first-year honor society, the addition of upper-level honor societies seems productive.

Challenges: The faculty developmental leave policy is new to campus, and implementation will require some fine-tuning over the next few years.