Summary of Criterion Five
As a future-oriented organization, we are aware of demographic changes and the emerging needs of the communities we serve, especially in terms of the I-94 corridor and new refugees and immigrants. At the same time, our focus on our constituencies includes a strong commitment to international education and the continued development of our technological capacity, including interactive courses and online courses, which will help us connect our programs and curricula to remote sites and international constituents.
As a connected organization, the university responds to multiple constituents: students from the immediate area, businesses, government agencies, institutions throughout MnSCU and the world, and accrediting agencies. Because of our wide range of constituents, we have established multiple venues for receiving and considering data and collecting formal, as well as informal, feedback from our constituents. At the same time, we recognize that the ability to consider carefully and respond to the concerns of our constituents, given the complexity of our relationships, can always be improved.
As a distinctive organization, we are concerned that we listen well. The formal structures that allow us to listen to our constituents include those systems that have not always been available to people needing change. Taking this into consideration, we want to be deliberate about how we develop relationships so that we understand our constituents and they understand us. Our academic departments and colleges are closest to the emerging needs of our constituents, and understanding how to plan for the future depends in large degree on our ability to glean information from those interactions and apply them to strategic planning. It is important, therefore, to develop ways for our faculty and administrators to continue what they are doing well in this area – service learning and civic engagement – and at the same continue to develop the means and structures for reflection and planning that include as wide a variety of constituents as possible.
As a learning-focused organization, the interaction of academic programs with public need is a central part of our understanding of who we are and our role. Service learning, mentoring programs, internships, and continuing education have been and remain foundational in our understanding of “excellence and opportunity.” At the same time, we want to be better at reflection, analysis, monitoring, and adjusting to the needs of our constituents, starting with being deliberate about our culture of service and its implications for our programs. This self study has helped us understand the multi-faceted elements to service and engagement available and operational within the university. Our next step is to open a further discussion on how we can indeed be more deliberate in our analysis and planning, and how we can best develop our relationships with our constituents.
