Section 2: CORE REQUIREMENTS

The institution has a governing board of at least five members that is the legal body with specific authority over the institution. The board is an active policy-making body for the institution and is ultimately responsible for ensuring that the financial resources of the institution are adequate to provide a sound educational program. The board is not controlled by a minority of board members or by organizations or interests separate from it. Neither the presiding officer of the board nor the majority of other voting members of the board have contractual, employment, or personal or familial financial interest in the institution.

A military institution authorized and operated by the federal government to award degrees has a public board in which neither the presiding officer nor a majority of the other members are civilian employees of the military or active/retired military. The board has broad and significant influence upon the institution’s programs and operations, plays an active role in policy-making, and ensures that the financial resources of the institution are used to provide a sound educational program. The board is not controlled by a minority of board members or by organizations or interests separate from the board except as specified by the authorizing legislation. Neither the presiding officer of the board nor the majority of other voting board members have contractual, employment, or personal or familial financial interest in the institution.  (Governing Board)
 

The College of Human Sciences has:

We have experienced phenomenal growth in the majority of our academic programs at the undergraduate level.  And while undergraduate enrollment has continued to rise, the number of faculty to service these students has not risen commensurately.  In Interior Design, for example we have had to implement an enrollment management plan to ensure our design studio courses are small enough to be in compliance with discipline specific accreditation standards (FIDER).  In the department of Human Development and Family Studies and within the Personal Financial Planning major this has meant introducing a GPA restriction to limit the number of students as well as maintain the quality of students in the programs.  Both of these actions are related to our strategic plan that calls for establishing optimal enrollment levels in each program.

Further, the College of Human Sciences has developed relationships with other University offices that offer student support services. For example, we have a staff member from the Career Services Office that holds office hours in the College of Human Sciences on a weekly basis.  Students meet with this person on an “as needed” basis.

The institution has a sound financial base and demonstrated financial stability, and adequate physical resources to support the mission of the institution and the scope of its programs and services.

The member institution provides the following financial statements: (a) an institutional audit (or Standard Review Report issued in accordance with Statements on Standards for Accounting and Review Services issued by the AICPA for those institutions audited as part of a systemwide or statewide audit) and written institutional management letter for the most recent fiscal year prepared by an independent certified public accountant and/or an appropriate governmental auditing agency employing the appropriate audit (or Standard Review Report) guide; (b) a statement of financial position of unrestricted net assets, exclusive of plant assets and plant-related debt, which represents the change in unrestricted net assets attributable to operations for the most recent year; and, (c) an annual budget that is preceded by sound planning, is subject to sound fiscal procedures, and is approved by the governing board.

Audit requirements for applicant institutions may be found in the Commission policy entitled "Accreditation Procedures for Applicant Institutions.  (Resources)

(Not applicable for the Compliance Certification submitted by institution).

Section 3:  COMPREHENSIVE STANDARDS

Institutional Mission, Governance, And Effectiveness

The institution has qualified administrative and academic officers with the experience,
competence, and capacity to lead the institution.

The institution defines and publishes policies regarding appointment and employment of
faculty and staff.

The institution’s policies are clear concerning ownership of materials, compensation,
copyright issues, and the use of revenue derived from the creation and production of all
intellectual property. This applies to students, faculty and staff.

PROGRAMS

The College of Human Sciences is in compliance with 3.4.1a and 3.4.1b.

Approved by faculty and administration:

The approval process for adding, changing, and deleting courses, and changing the method of delivery is found in OP 36.01 http://www.depts.ttu.edu/opmanual/OP36.01.htm. The approval process for new academic programs, course approval for new programs, program termination and changes in delivery is found in OP 36.04 http://www.depts.ttu.edu/opmanual/OP36.04htm. At the college level, there is a curriculum committee made up from a representative of each of the academic departments within the college. There is a member of the Dean’s office on the committee in an advising capacity. After changes are approved in the curriculum committee, they are forwarded per the procedure outlined in the OP manual. A list of the current curriculum committee members can be found in the Dean’s Office located in Human Sciences room 142.
 

The College of Human Sciences is in compliance with this standard. 

All on-site courses are approved through appropriate department, college, and university committees.  All other courses offered at a distance must meet standards outlined in the “Principles of Good Practice” documents for distance education courses.   

RHIM’s distance graduate degree was approved by the Board of Regents and Coordinating Board. As a part of compliance with Principles of Good Practice required before posting courses to the Texas Distance Learning Portal, all courses were certified to be in compliance.  Forms are on file with the Vice Provost for Outreach and Extended Studies.

The College of Human Sciences is in compliance with this standard. 

Whenever the COHS enters into a consortium relationship or an articulation agreement with our undergraduate programs we make sure the programs are of the highest quality possible.  Routine evaluation occurs by the Associate Dean for Academic Programs and supporting documentation is held in both the Dean’s office HS 142 (Distance Education ventures) and the Office of Academic Advising HS 159 (undergraduate articulation agreements).

The Great Plains Interactive Distance Education Alliance (GPIDEA): Our hope is for final approval for a Master’s degree program in gerontology offered jointly by Texas Tech University in collaboration with the Great Plains Interactive Distance Education Alliance (comprised of 10 human sciences colleges at accredited universities located in the Great Plains area, including Texas Tech University). Seven of the member institutions are participating in the Master’s program in gerontology. Students enroll at a “home” university, from which they will be awarded the degree upon completion of the requirements. They take courses at the home institution as well as via distance education at the other participating institutions.  This program has passed all necessary hoops at the university and is pending final approval by the Texas Higher Education Coordinating Board. 

Family and Consumer Sciences Distance Education Alliance: agreement among Texas public and private universities to facilitate certification in family and consumer sciences education. The agreement seeks to develop distance education courses for FCS teachers, to maximize inter-institutional coordination and resource utilization by identifying existing distance education courses that can be used in FCS programs, to identify courses for funded development, to establish a priority sequence for such development, and to establish criteria for course development, and to develop and coordinate the operation of an inter-institutional system to offer, access, and support, distance education courses available through the FCS Alliance.

All undergraduate and graduate degree plans can be found both in the University Catalog and on-line. Students may also retrieve undergraduate degree plans from room 159 HS or print them from the Advising Office website (http://www.hs.ttu.edu/AAS/Default.htm).

The COHS is in compliance with this standard

See the College’s organizational chart for the names of coordinators and program areas: http://www.hs.ttu.edu/dean.htm. 

Each degree program has an assigned program coordinator.  Generally the department chairs are the first level of assigned program coordinators.  They then assign other faculty members to be responsible for their programs.  The following Ph.D. holding faculty members are program directors in the COHS. 

Family and Consumer Sciences                           Sue Couch

Family and Consumer Sciences Education             Ginny Felstehausen

Food and Nutrition                                            Carmen Roman Shriver

Hospitality Administration                                   Betty Stout

Restaurant, Hotel and Institutional Mgt.                Shane Blum

Human Development & Family Studies                   Dean Busby (Dept. Chair)

HDFS – Early Childhood                                      Malinda Colwell

Marriage and Family Therapy                               David Ivey

Interior Design                                                  Zane Curry

Environmental Design and Consumer Econ.             Randall Russ

Apparel Design and Manufacturing                        JoAnn Shroyer (Dept Chair)

Retailing                                                          Shelly Harp

Personal Financial Planning                                  Vickie Hampton

The institution’s use of technology enhances student learning, is appropriate for meeting the
objectives of its programs, and ensures that students have access to and training in the use
of technology.

All educational programs in the COHS require instruction in various forms of technology. Evidence of this can be found in individual undergraduate degree plans (HS 159). Students have access to and training in this area as well. Rooms 301 and 306, and 306 C (graduate lab) offer computer access and training is available. Design labs in the college also showcase a variety of technological equipment. 

TTU OP 34.09, section 2a states that 25% of an undergraduate degree plan must be completed at Texas Tech University.  The Associate Dean for Academic Programs and the Coordinator of Undergraduate Programs enforce this rule.  Any course taken away from TTU during the last 30 hours must have prior approval from the associate dean.  It is the rare occasion when a student will pursue this course of action and these requests are typically the result of family or work related transfers.

The College of Human Sciences is in compliance with this standard.

All full-time faculty in the college hold appropriate terminal degrees or qualifying experiences that meet the TTU Certification of Faculty Qualifications, OP 32.02, section 2, http://www.depts.ttu.edu/opmanual/OP32.02.pdf . In situations where Teaching Assistants or Graduate Part-Time Instructors are used as instructors of record, all meet the "18 hours of experience" requirement in their teaching discipline before they are allowed to teach a class.
Further, in-service trainings are held yearly to review policies and procedures associated with teaching. Those teaching for the first time are supervised directly through their first year's experience.

The College of Human Sciences is in compliance with this standard.

The Department Chairs evaluate each faculty member annually in accordance with OP 32.32, http://www.depts.ttu.edu/opmanual/OP32.32.html.

For promotion in rank and for earning tenure, the faculty above the current rank reviews the promotion or tenure document (prepared by the individual being considered) and votes for or against the promotion or tenure.  The College Promotion and Tenure Committee reviews the individuals who have been forwarded to the college level.  This committee evaluates and recommends to the Dean regarding the promotion or tenure.  The Dean reviews and recommends to the Provost where a university wide committee reviews those who have been recommended.  The Provost makes the final decision for promotion and tenure.

College of Human Sciences tenured associate and full professors also receive a post-tenure review on a regular basis.  This process is similar to the promotion and tenure process, except that any action required to maintain tenured resides at the Dean level.

In that the College of Human Sciences has a diverse range of academic areas and disciplines it has its own operating procedure for promotion and tenure and post tenure review.  These documents are available from the Dean’s Administrative Assistant in the Dean’s Office.  These documents are reviewed and updated as needed on a regular basis and operate under the general operating procedures of the university: http://www.depts.ttu.edu/opmanual/OP32.31.html.  College specific documents can be found in the College’s Faculty Handbook on line at http://www.hs.ttu.edu/handbook.pdf .

The College of Human Sciences is in compliance with this standard.

Each department in the College of Human Sciences has a faculty development committee that meets yearly with untenured faculty members.  This peer mentoring opportunity provides a forum for untenured faculty members to get feedback on their progress toward tenure and promotion.  All faculty undergo a yearly evaluation process where feedback is given regarding professional development (see TTU OP 32.32).

At the college level new faculty are included in the Faculty Mentor Luncheons hosted by the Dean’s office and lead by the Associate Dean for Academic Programs with guest presentations by the Associate Dean for Research, and the Dean of the College.  These occur three times each semester.  Faculty travel for professional development is also supported through the Dean’s office.  Part of the strategic plan for the COHS includes increasing the number of COHS faculty on the TTU Teaching Academy as well as increasing the number of Horn Professors.  Faculty are encouraged in the Associate Dean’s Fall Faculty letter to have their teaching evaluated, for enhancement purposes, by a staff member of the University’s Teaching Learning Technology Center.  The Associate Dean for Research will on occasion hold training meetings in connection with the Office of Research Services to assist faculty in the external funding process. 

The College of Human Sciences is in compliance with this standard.

TTU faculty is assured of academic freedom as stated in the Faculty Handbook, p. 33
http://www.depts.ttu.edu/officialpublications/pdfs/FacultyHB.pdf. 

The College of Human Sciences is in compliance with this standard.

TTU OP 32.06, http://www.depts.ttu.edu/opmanual/OP32.06.pdf, Faculty Responsibility outlines expectations in the areas of teaching, research and creative activity and university, community and professional service. It also allows for faculty to have authority in their respective classroom.  Faculty governance procedures may be found in the by-laws for the Faculty Senate at http://www.depts.ttu.edu/senate/. 

The College of Human Sciences is in compliance with this standard.

Texas Tech University keeps student records electronically on TechSis, which is password protected.  The College of Human Sciences keeps hard copies of student information, notes on counseling, etc. in Room 159 of the Human Sciences Building.  The file cabinets can be locked when not in use.  The office area, in general, is locked when not in use.  Special precautions are taken to ensure the confidentiality of all student records kept in the college.  We routinely shred old documents that contain sensitive student information.  No one, including parents are given student information unless a written release has been signed by the student.

The College of Human Sciences is in compliance with this standard.

The College has an excellent group of employees to assist students.  These employees are part of the team that seeks to not only serve but to improve the services provided.  This is evident given the fact that the student newspaper’s popular opinion poll has rated the Advising Office in our College as one of the most helpful offices on campus 3 out of the last 5 years.  This is a feat about which we are proud considering the number of students has risen without a commensurate rise in the number of advising staff members.

RESOURCES

Section 4:  FEDERAL REQUIREMENTS

The College of Human Sciences is in compliance with this standard.

As part of the Strategic Planning and Assessment Reporting process, the college keeps track of student retention rates, overall GPAs, graduation rates, and to the extent possible, acceptance to graduate schools and job placement rates.

The College of Human Sciences is in compliance with this standard.

The various curricula of the college are appropriate to the mission of Texas Tech University and the diplomas and degrees awarded.  The college has a curriculum committee that oversees any curricular additions, changes, or deletions requested by departments.

The College of Human Sciences is in compliance on this standard.

Texas Tech University’s undergraduate degree programs require a minimum of 120 hours (p.43 of the 2004-2005 Texas Tech University Catalog, http://www.depts.ttu.edu/officialpublications/catalog/GenInfo.pdf), master’s degree programs require 30-36 hours (p. 65) and doctoral degree programs require at least 60 hours (p. 67).

The College of Human Sciences is in compliance with this standard.

TTU has outlined student grievance procedures in the Student Affairs Handbook, pp. 12-13 (http://www.studentaffairs.ttu.edu/publications/SAHandBook_2003-2004.pdf). Additionally, the College of Human Sciences has an open door policy for any student that has a complaint or problem.  Students are seen within 24 hours of requesting an appointment and are directed to the proper place to resolve their concerns.  Meetings with the Associate Dean for Academics and/or the Coordinator for Undergraduate Programs typically resolve student academic concerns.

The College of Human Sciences is in compliance with this standard

All recruitment literature, presentations, and recruitment related websites (www.hs.ttu.edu) accurately represent the institution’s practices and policies.  The majority of the COHS recruitment efforts are coordinated through the Recruitment Coordinator and a student group (Human Sciences Recruiters) responsible for recruiting new students to our undergraduate majors.  Materials are located in our Advising Office (HS 159) and in each Department office.