Background | Committee Organization & Membership | Committee Role

Background

The mission statement for the University of Minnesota, Crookston (adopted by the Board of Regents in July 1992) is as follows:

The University of Minnesota, Crookston provides teaching, research, and service, including associate degrees and selected baccalaureate degrees, with a focus on applied undergraduate instruction and research in agriculture, business, environmental sciences, human resource development, and appropriate interdisciplinary studies.

The University of Minnesota, Crookston provides a University link to the region for technology transfer and outreach, with emphasis on meeting the needs of a rural populace who require lifelong learning, training, and retraining to capture opportunities that maximize their existing resources and strengths.

Upon adoption of the revised mission statement for UMC, the campus developed a UMC 2002 Strategic Plan with input from students, employers, faculty, staff, and citizens of the area. The strategic plan provides strategies for the development of UMC into a baccalaureate degree-granting polytechnic university.

Five key strategies provide guidance in the development of each UMC program area. The five key strategies include:

1. Focus on customers and their needs.
2. Deliver quality products and service.
3. Seek out and establish collaborative partnerships.
4. Incorporate technology.
5. Be accountable for delivering the outcomes sought by customers.

The strategic plan includes the implementation of Program Improvement Audit committees to aid in the implementation, evaluation, and continuous improvement of each program.

There are 20 Program Improvement Audit Committees (PIAC), one all-college advisory committee, a counseling and career center advisory committee, and a multicultural/international advisory committee with a total of over 185 members providing advice to the college. The membership is comprised of people with diverse backgrounds and interests, including representatives from business, industrial, educational, and health organizations, as well as from the University faculty.

Any improvement in college programs will have a positive effect on the quality of graduates who are employed by organizations. This improvement, in turn, may help organizations improve their operations. In addition, it is hoped that organizations will seek the assistance of the college by requesting courses and programs for training their personnel or will seek advice from faculty or staff. Through this complimentary and cooperative approach, the college, on the one hand, is being helped by organizational representatives while, on the other hand, it is helping those organizations.

Committee Organization and Membership

• Each committee member should have current knowledge in the field of specialization appropriate to the committee's program interests.
• Each program audit committee will be comprised of no less than four individuals and a chair shall be appointed or selected from within the committee.
• A faculty member will invite individuals to serve on the committee and will schedule and maintain records of all meetings.
• Each committee member will be appointed for a three-year term and may be re-appointed.
• A committee meeting normally will be scheduled at least twice a year with the faculty member notifying committee members of meetings by mail.
• A record of the proceedings of each committee's meetings is to be kept on file in the program, vice chancellors', and chancellor's offices.

Committee Role

Examples of the way committees may help the college, as indicated below, are not required but do help to provide some ideas of area with which committees may concern themselves.

• Helping the college secure current technology and equipment.
• Suggesting internship sites to faculty and students.
• Performing audits to enhance program credibility.
• Providing information concerning desirable aptitudes as well as educational and experiential backgrounds of applicants for entry level lobs in mid-management positions.
• Active in obtaining shared databases.
• Advising faculty about off-campus field trip visits for students and faculty.
• Identifying applied research and study needs in business and industry.
• Participating and assisting in surveys of local industry manpower needs.
• Advising the college about the placement of its graduates.
• Suggesting ways the physical space of the college laboratories can be improved.
• Suggesting ways that course content can be made more relevant to the needs of educational, business, and industrial organizations.
• Advising in the establishment of proficiency standards to be met by students.
• Assisting in the development of special educational and training programs conducted with funds made available by local, state, federal, or private agencies.
• Suggesting ways the college can develop continuing education skill improvement and technical courses for employed personnel.
• Suggesting how cooperative relationships with other schools and colleges, industrial and business leaders can be developed.
• Helping the college identify processes for recruiting faculty from agencies, industry, and business.