Requesting evidence
Here are some examples of appropriate evidence to request for the various standards:
For mission, goals, objectives:
- Mission document
- Goals document
- Objectives document
- Evidence of strategic planning (e.g., strategic plans for recent years; notes of strategic planning meetings).
For curriculum:
- Course descriptions
- Course syllabi
- Evidence on the history of curriculum changes
For faculty:
- Resumes
- Retention/Tenure/Promotion documents
- Other faculty governance documents
- Minutes of faculty meetings
- List of committees
- Notes of committee meetings
- Evidence of faculty workload
- Salary information (Note: Private institutions have the right to keep salary information confidential. You must respect that.
For students:
(Note: It is not appropriate to ask for confidential information related to grievances or any legal action. In Canada, do not ask for information on minorities, as it is not collected.):
- Examples of work
- Student files
- Information on provisional acceptances and retention raters
- Demographics information
For administration/financial support:
- Budget information
- Organization chart
- Demographics of staff
For facilities:
- Floor plans (Consider ADA compliance.)
- Information concerning the library collection supporting the program
- Classroom technology descriptions
- Computer lab descriptions (age, quantity of equipment)
(Example: If faculty observe that they have insufficient library materials support, it is not appropriate to request a printout of the library titles received in recent years. It is appropriate to request aggregate data that reflects library materials expenditures related to the program.)
Marion T. Reid, California State University, San Marcos (4/00)
