2010 Site Visitors - Bernice Braid
| Email: | braid@liu.edu |
| Institution: | Long Island University - Brooklyn |
| Address: | Pratt Buliding 514 |
| Phone: | (718) 488-1329 |
| Fax: | (718) 780-4059 |
| Institution Type: | 4-year, Masters, some PhD, Private, UG enrollment 6,000 |
| Program Type: | Institution-wide; general education |
| Program Enrollment: | 400 |
| Present Position: | Director Emeritus, University Honors and Professor; Director, Core Seminar and Advisor to the Provost 2009-2010 |
| Previous Honors Positions: | Director, University Honors 1968-2005 Dean, Academic/Instructional Resources 1988-2005 |
| NCHC Member Since: | 1972 |
NCHC Activities Related to Honors Program Assessment:
- site visits, consultations, assessment and evaluation since l978 (no more than 3-4 in a given year) - in teams and solo- active Professional Development Sessions, on single campus, for region or funded Development activities
- have served on three Middle States Accreditations Steering Committees at LIU; chaired Committee reports as part of the process for two of them; was consultant to a University System beginning to prepare its self-study component of Middle States review (Puerto Rico)
- among written reports prepared for specific schools are those wholly incorporated into self-study report to Middle States
Activities in other areas or organizations related to honors assessment or site visits, workshops, etc. regarding honors programs/colleges and/or other academic areas.
1. particular interest in cross-disciplinary academic course design and learning strategies
2. incorporation of course-embedded assessment components in cross-disciplinary and field-based learning curricular design
3. special interest in developing strategies for primary research as a preliminary to further inquiry in undergraduate courses
4. conceptualizing and designing programmatic elements that build intellectual and social community
5. designing site-specific outreach efforts to link honors programs to campus at large and to off-campus community
6. experience with runing workshops for professional organizations (AAC&U) and regional development efforts, both honors-specific and more broadly undergraduate efforts that engage with honors programs
7. working with colleagues to extrapolate from local applications of pedagogies implicit in active learning to regional and foreign educational initiatives
Self-Identified Areas of Special Interest and Experience of NCHC Recommended Site Visitors:
On the Role of the Site Visitor as Consultants & Program Reviewers
Bernice Braid, Director Emeritus, University Honors and Professor; Director, Core Seminar and Advisor to the Provost 2009-2010
Site visitors may be invited to serve as consultants during the planning and early stages of implementing new programs; they may be asked to confer about developing programs that seek opportunities for expansion or want to shift direction; they may be invited to participate in several kinds of assessment – for internal review of evolving programs, for in-house but external review when administrative structure and financial strategies are being modified, for outside review (as in accreditation proceedings). In all cases the site visitor can serve multiple purposes, and provide useful perspective on academic programs, administrative policies, and outcomes.
The visit itself needs to be based on prior preparation. Access to materials pertinent to programs under review, such as self-assessment reports and promotional materials, is essential if the review is to result in useful commentary. On site, visitors should be scheduled to meet representatives of all interested parties – from staff to students to administrators - in a format that encourages interchange and extended conversations. For their part, site visitors should use the time on campus to discover the full range of resources that might be available to the program under review, and to uncover the extent to which those resources are in fact available to and utilized by that program.
The benefit of having outsiders visit is essentially having access to perspective, one that derives from the accumulated insights of professional commitment and a range of exposure to institutions that vary, but that is in the service of the academic mission driving the host campus. Outsiders should be expected to bring interest in process and product, familiarity with alternative ways of designing teaching and learning, an interest in helping programs to enhance their operations and develop their own best potential.
Outside visitors should expect to prepare well and carefully with materials provided in advance, engage fully and deeply while on site, and to prepare a summary document that includes context, acknowledgement of local mission, and a clear review of elements of the program that yield some conclusions and recommendations for future growth.
At times the presence of such reviewers provides a conduit between program and administration, or between students and faculty, or between faculty and program administration. At times it provides some of all of these. Consultants and reviewers have the obligation to pay close attention and provide positive feedback, and to respond to the expressed needs of the program hosting the review. The entire experience should be a positive one – supportive, informative, and collegial. At best it will provide information and viewpoints that lead to strengthening and development of the best attributes of the program under review.