Self-Study Design

IX. APPENDIX

Middle States Self-Study Guidelines for Writers

I. Process

As the timeline suggests, each subcommittee report will be submitted first in draft form, for review by the Steering Committee and in some cases from members of the College administration. The Steering Committee will prepare a written response for each subcommittee, including as appropriate, requests for clarification, amplification, further support, cutting, sharpening of focus, or other matters. The subcommittee will then submit revised drafts as needed. The Steering Committee will combine the drafts into a unified report and edit to ensure a consistent style. During this stage, the review procedure will be reversed, with subcommittees and administrators reviewing the work of the Steering Committee. Finally, the office of the Provost will copyedit and format the report.

II. Scope/Focus/Organization

Because the entire self-study cannot exceed 100 pages single-spaced or 200 pages double-spaced, we need to tell the City Tech story in a way that is focused and concise. We are required to show how, in each area addressed by the standards, the activities, policies, and decisions made at the College support its mission, goals, and objectives and comply with expected practices for institutions of higher education. Further, we must support claims with information and indicate how we have assessed them.

Clearly, it will be impossible to describe every program, office, policy, or procedure; therefore, the report needs an organizing principle that can inform every section. In preparing their assigned sections, writers are asked to analyze the material gathered by the sub-committee to address the self-study questions and, working with the sub-committee, to identify key issues or problems. These key issues or problems may be of several kinds: matters that have been addressed successfully since the last report (the instability created by the changes in leadership); matters that are being addressed at present (registration, the increase in full-time faculty); or matters that the subcommittee believes should be addressed. In identifying successful initiatives or issues resolved effectively, the point is not to dwell on success but to demonstrate that the institution has resources in place to address its needs and is therefore prepared to deal with current and future issues or needs and, beyond that, to initiate actions or programs that will enhance the institution. In these discussions and throughout the document, writers must keep in mind that we cannot simply assert, we must demonstrate.

Each section of the report will begin with a concise description of the relevant offices, procedures, or structures, and will consist of an analytical discussion of the key issues and problems related to that area. If the subcommittee wishes to make recommendations, these will conclude the section.

How many sections will there be? To a large degree, we will be guided by the Standards. Middle States divides them into two major areas of focus: Institutional Context and Educational Effectiveness, which will frame the two major divisions of our self-study report. Some areas, such as Faculty or Students clearly require separate sections. The two assessment standards, Standards 7 and 14, also must obviously be separate, coming as they do at the end of each of the reports two major subdivisions. Sub-committees have varying numbers of standards to address, however, and in some cases, may find it appropriate to combine their discussion of two or more standards into one section. The decision to do that should be made in consultation with the Steering Committee.

III. References and supporting documents and data

We are collectively responsible for the accuracy of the self-study report and for providing the required support for our claims. As a practical matter, we must also make the document as clear as possible for its readers, both from among City Tech constituents and the accrediting team. Consistency in citing references is critically important, so that readers may easily check for accuracy or seek further information.

As you work, prepare a list of resources, organized alphabetically by title, to which you make reference in your section. For interviews, list the person’s title, followed by the full name:
Provost, Bonne August. Interview, November 21, 2006.
Place this list, titled simply Resources, at the end of the section.
In your text, as much as possible, use parenthetical references. Include in your reference a short but clear title to identify the source and a page, table or item number that indicates where the supporting data may be found, e.g. (NYCCT Annual Report 2005, p.7).
Middle States requires us to set up a resource room where team members will have access to all of the supporting information. We will set up that resource room as we work, including not only materials provided by Institutional Research and other college offices, but also materials gathered or prepared by the subcommittees. Along with your first draft, therefore, you should submit copies of interview reports and any other material gathered or discovered by your subcommittee.

IV. Formatting and Style

The final draft of the self-study will be edited and formatted by the Office of the Provost. It will be easiest for the staff there to do their work if the drafts they receive follow some basic style guidelines are as free of other formatting as possible. All reports should be submitted in Microsoft WORD. Please use the following guidelines:

A. Format

Page setup

Use 11 pt. Times New Roman font.
Set top, bottom, left, and right margins to 1”.
Double space.
Use tab key and not space bar for indenting paragraphs and other spacing.
Indent paragraphs using 0.5” tab and do not insert extra space between paragraphs.

Headings—no bold, italics, or underlining

Chapter titles-Center and use “Title Case” (Capitalize important words)
Major headings-left justified Title Case
Minor subheadings—Indent, using 0.5” tab; use Title Case followed by a period. Begin next sentence on the same line.

Bullets

Use this style as the default.
Items should be parallel, i.e., all phrases or all sentences.
Capitalize consistently.

Tables

Use tables where appropriate to organize, summarize, or present materials.
Use the table function in WORD.
Indicate in your text where the table should be inserted, but put the tables themselves at the end of your document.

B. Style

Editing for consistent style will be greatly facilitated if writers adhere to the following practices in preparing their reports.

Capitalize the first letters of important words in a unit name, e.g., the Office of Academic Affairs, the Department of Mathematics and Computer Science.
Capitalize words like “College,” “Department,” or “Dean” when they are part of a title or refer to a specific entity or person that has already been named; otherwise, use lower case: These are matters for the departments to decide.
Academic disciplines are lower case, e.g., mathematics, psychology, music, except for proper nouns like English.
Write out acronyms the first time you use them: City University of New York (CUNY). Do not use periods in acronyms.
Use commas between all elements in a series: faculty, staff, and students.
Use semi-colons to separate items with internal commas.
Do not use contractions.
Wherever possible, use plurals to avoid he/she or his/her, e.g., Students meet with their advisors to plan course work for the next semester.
First references to people should include both their first and last names.
Hyphenate self-study.
Numbers

Use numerals for numbers that are presented together and that refer to similar things, such as comparisons of reports, e.g., Average class size rose from 35 to 40.
Spell out other numbers if they can be written in one or two words, e.g., within ten years; in a six-month period.
Do not start a sentence with a numeral.

Treat percentages and amounts of money like other numbers: use numerals with the appropriate symbols (10%, $25,000).

V. Submission

Submit both a hard copy of your document and either a disk or an electronic copy sent to Charles Scott as an attachment (cscott@citytech.cuny.edu). In your document title include the workgroup, standard, draft number, and date (MSEO Standard 7 d2 2-6-05)