Abstract:

Without a strong culture of quality control during its 40-year history, COVID-19 illuminated issues that forced St. Augustine College to challenge many of its longstanding practices. In response, a newly-created Office of Academic Effectiveness (OAE) was created to plan, organize, develop, and direct academic quality assurance in teaching and learning.

The Office houses three units:
1. Office of Development, Assessment and Performance (ODAP)-Develops professional practices; oversees the institutional assessment of students and faculty performance.
2. Office of Training and Technology (OTT)-Leads the implementation of technology-driven solutions; trains faculty on virtual teaching environments and remote delivery practices.
3. Office of Curriculum Programs (OCP)-Reviews and evaluates existing programs in order to make curricular improvements.

After its first year, the OAE evaluated its role in using institutional quality control to drive organizational culture. The study provides a close examination of accomplishments and failures, institutional obstructions and passageways, and the balancing of existing practices with new best practices.

OAE draws from both qualitative and quantitative data including faculty surveys, student evaluations of courses and faculty, course materials, interviews, and research of industry standards. After careful data analysis, OAE identified areas of need and implemented the following changes, all of which were first-time initiatives for the institution:

ODAP: Developed continuous professional development opportunities aligned with the needs of the new online environment, transitioned from manual survey collection methods to automated platforms, created new faculty hiring, rank, and evaluation processes, and developed processes and guidelines regarding systematic review of courses and programs.

OTT: Led adoption of new institution-wide technology platforms and provided ongoing training for faculty and staff in their use, including teleconferencing, lecture capture, test security, and learning management systems.

OCP: Developed a standardized institution-wide syllabus template, conducted thorough curriculum evaluations resulting in recommendations such as resequencing courses and leadership organization, expanded offerings to include certificates and an additional bachelor’s degree, and sought formal approvals for online delivery and new term lengths.

In conclusion, the organizational culture is progressively shifting toward academic quality. This study, through analysis of a wide variety of data, has identified strategic priorities for the years to come. The unanticipated and sudden move to online instruction in March 2020 due to COVID-19 elucidated the need for improvements in the areas of professional development, technical training, and curriculum review as part of a long-term bid to fortify the institution’s culture of quality.

Keywords:

Culture Shift, COVID, Quality Assurance, Instructional Technology, Curriculum Review, Assessment.