One copy of a prospectus should be submitted to the Commission on Colleges and include all applicable information below regarding the change. Requests should include concisely worded narrative and appropriate documentation related to the noted Core Requirements (CR) and Comprehensive Standards (CS) in the Principles of Accreditation.

Overview of Substantive Change Prospectus

1. ABSTRACT
2. BACKGROUND INFORMATION
3. ASSESSMENT OF NEED AND PROGRAM PLANNING/APPROVAL
4. DESCRIPTION OF THE CHANGE
5. FACULTY
6. LIBRARY AND LEARNING RESOURCES
7. PHYSICAL RESOURCES
8. FINANCIAL SUPPORT
9. EVALUATION AND ASSESSMENT
10. APPENDICES

In this report, review questions will appear in bold print and they will be followed immediately by our response in regular print. Page numbers within this document are intended for users reading a hard copy of this document. However, readers of the electronic version may click on the same page numbers in order to be directed to the referenced sections of the report.

Cover Sheet for Substantive Change Prospectus

• Include name, phone number, and e-mail address of person to be contacted with questions regarding prospectus:

  Response:

  Franklin E. Robeson, Assistant Dean
  Executive MBA Program
  Hays T. Watkins Professor
  College of William & Mary
  757-221-1770
  bud.robeson@business.wm.edu

• List all off-campus sites at which 50 percent or more of a program’s credits are available:

  Response: 11111 Sunset Hills, Reston Virginia

• List all off-campus sites at which 25-49 percent of a program’s credits are available:

  Response: NA

• List programs for which 50 percent or more of the program’s credits are approved for electronic delivery:

  Response: NA

• List degrees which institution is authorized to grant. As a subset of each degree, list majors available.

  Response: See Summary Form Attachment (attached)

(Photocopy from catalog is acceptable)

• List certificate and/or degree programs which are related to the proposed program(s):

  Response: College of William and Mary Master of Business Administration

• List institutional strengths which facilitate the offering of the proposed program(s):

  Response: The College has been offering a highly regarded Executive Master of Business Administration program since January 1985. Requests from executives in the Northern Virginia area and market analyses resulted in the decision to expand the program to Reston, Virginia in January 2003.

1. ABSTRACT (limit to one page or less)
   
   Describe the proposed change; its location; initial date of implementation; projected number of students, if applicable; description of primary target audience; projected life of the program (single cohort or ongoing); and instructional delivery methods.

   Response:

   The School of Business Executive MBA program began offering classes in Williamsburg in January 1985. During the history of the program, there was consistent interest from executives in the Northern Virginia region. In some entering classes, as many as seven students were from this area for the twenty-month program. In 2003, the School decided to expand the program to the Northern Virginia market, offering the courses in Reston, Virginia. The target enrollment for both Williamsburg and Northern Virginia is 28 to 34 students entering every January. All classes are taught by full time William and Mary Business School faculty. The student profile of our typical entering Executive MBA class is shown below.
   
   

   Profile of the Executive MBA Program Students
   Male/Female (%)	70/30
   Median Age	37
   Minorities	20%
   Graduate Degrees	30% (15% with doctorates)
   Average Work Experience	12 years
   Example of Job Titles	President/Owner; Physician; VP/Executive Director; Manager
   Median Income	$85,000
   Average GMAT	580
   Enrollment	28-32 students



2. BACKGROUND INFORMATION
   
   Provide a clear statement of the nature and purpose of the change in the context of the institution’s mission and goals; evidence of the legal authority for the change (if authorization is required by the governing board or the state); and whether the proposed degree program or similar program is offered on the main campus or at other off-campus sites. (CR 2.1, CS 3.1.1)

   Response:

   The added Northern Virginia section for the existing Executive MBA program is designed to meet the educational needs of professionals in the Commonwealth of Virginia. Those needs previously were met by the university only in the Williamsburg market through the William and Mary graduate program. The added section is taught in Reston, Virginia to serve professionals in the northern Virginia area. The curriculum and faculty for both sections are the same.

   Core Requirement 2.1. The institution has degree-granting authority from the appropriate government agency or agencies. Code of Virginia Title 23 Chapter 5 Sections 23-46 (attached) authorizes the College of William and Mary's Board of Visitors to confer degrees. No approval was required from the State Council of Higher Education because there was no change in the degree, the faculty and the curriculum are the same as for the existing program, and no state appropriations were requested for the program.

   Comprehensive Standard 3.1.1. The institution has a clear and comprehensive mission statement that guides it; is approved by the governing board; is periodically reviewed by the board; and is communicated to the institution's constituencies.

   William and Mary's mission statement addresses all three of the university's primary functions: teaching, research, and public service. The mission statement is published in the Arts and Sciences graduate and undergraduate catalogs and in the graduate catalogs of the following schools: Business, Education, Law, and Marine Science. (See College of William and Mary Mission Statement and William and Mary Mission Statement in School of Business webpage.)

   The Board of Visitors, the Graduate and Professional Student Association, the Student Association Council, and the Faculty Assembly approved the mission statement in 1994. It was reviewed and confirmed by the Board of Visitors and by faculty and staff in 1999 as a part of the review of the 1993-1994 strategic plan.

   The expanded Executive MBA program relates most specifically to the following goal: “to offer high quality graduate and professional programs that prepare students for intellectual, professional, and public leadership.”



3. ASSESSMENT OF NEED AND PROGRAM PLANNING/APPROVAL
   
   Discuss the rationale for the change, including an assessment of need; evidence of inclusion of the change in the institution’s ongoing planning and evaluation processes; and documentation that faculty and other groups were involved in the review and approval of the new site or program. (CR 2.4, CR 2.5, CS 3.4.1)

   Response:

   Requests from executives in the Northern Virginia area and market analyses resulted in the decision to expand the program to Reston, Virginia in January 2003. The School of Business faculty were involved in the Northern Virginia Executive MBA program evaluation and planning process from the beginning of the study phase in 2000. A study was completed of the market need for the addition of a new section (site) in Northern Virginia by the administration and our School of Business Foundation. The proposal to extend the program to Northern Virginia was discussed in the School of Business Faculty Advisory Committee and approved by the Faculty Affairs committee. The Provost approved the addition of a new section. No approval was required from the State Council of Higher Education since there was no change in the degree and curriculum was the same.

   Core Requirement 2.4. The institution has a clearly defined and published mission statement specific to the institution and appropriate to an institution of higher education, addressing teaching and learning and, where applicable, research and public service.

   As noted above, the mission statement was approved by the Graduate and Professional Student Association, the Student Association Council, the Faculty Assembly, and by the Board of Visitors in 1994. It was reviewed and confirmed by faculty, staff, and the Board of Visitors in 1999 as a part of the review of the 1993-1994 strategic plan. (See College of William and Mary Mission Statement and William and Mary Mission Statement in School of Business webpage.)

   Core Requirement 2.5. The institution engages in ongoing, integrated, and institution-wide research-based planning and evaluation processes that incorporate a systematic review of programs and services that (a) results in continuing improvement and (b) demonstrates that the institution is effectively accomplishing its mission.

   The College engages in ongoing, integrated, and institution-wide research-based planning and evaluation, which over the past 15 years, has become increasingly intentional and transparent. The College undertook an institution-wide strategic planning effort in 1993, which resulted in a plan "to guide the College through the first years of its fourth century with the goal of making it 'the best, small public university in the nation'" (Strategic Plan: Into the Fourth Century). These strategic planning efforts resulted in major structural changes, including the elimination of a number of M. A. programs, and a streamlining of administrative efforts, all oriented to more effective and efficient accomplishment of the mission. The planning efforts also produced a set of principles to operationalize the College's mission. Faculty, staff, and the Board of Visitors reviewed and affirmed the Strategic Plan in 1999. (See 1999 Planning Principles.)

   The expanded Executive MBA program is consistent with the following principles:

   • William and Mary, recognizing its special responsibility to the citizens of Virginia, will serve as a resource to the local, state, national and global communities and enhance its own programs by interacting with these communities.
   • William and Mary will seek and allocate resources in a manner consistent with its commitment to quality as well as national and international stature in selected programs.

   The off-site review team examined information on institutional planning and evaluation in the fall of 2005 and found that the College is in compliance.

   Comprehensive Standard 3.4.1. The institution demonstrates that each educational program for which academic credit is awarded (a) is approved by the faculty and the administration, and (b) establishes and evaluates program and learning outcomes.

   The Commission on Colleges of the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools approves significant substantive changes in degree offerings, following approval of the relevant faculty, dean, Provost, Board of Visitors, and the State Council for Higher Education in Virginia (SCHEV). All of the schools have curriculum committees that review degree requirements, courses, and programs for their curricula. The deans, the Provost, the Board of Visitors, and SCHEV must approve all degree programs. The Bylaws, School of Business Administration, Article IV, Section 1 describe the relevant policy. Article V, Section 5 describes the responsibilities of the Curriculum Committee.

   The College has implemented an institution-wide strategy referred to as the Process of Institutional Effectiveness, or PIE. All administrative units at the Vice Presidential level have developed or are developing and implementing the process. All academic departments and programs within the School of Arts and Sciences, likewise, have developed or are developing and implementing the process. The School of Business is implementing the PIE process by linking to the accreditation requirements of the American Assembly of Collegiate Schools of Business. The expectations for learning and the evaluation process are described in the next section.

   The Process of Institutional Effectiveness asks each academic unit to provide information on the following:

   • A clearly stated PURPOSE that links each department, program, or office to the institutional mission or general operations of the College
   • Clearly stated FACULTY EXPECTATIONS FOR STUDENT LEARNING
   • Clear statements about LEARNING EXPERIENCES
   • STUDENT WORK used to evaluate learning
   • DECISIONS oriented to improving student learning

4. DESCRIPTION OF THE CHANGE
   
   Provide a description of the proposed change, including the specific outcomes and learning objectives of the program, a schedule of proposed course offerings for the first year, and a copy of course syllabi. In the case of a change involving the initiation of a branch campus or of an off-site program, indicate the educational program to be offered. Describe any differences in admission, curriculum, or graduation requirements for students enrolled at the new site(s), or any special arrangements for grading, transcripts, or transfer policies. Describe administrative oversight to ensure the quality of the program or services to be offered. (CR 2.7.2, CS 3.3.1, CS 3.4, CS 3.5, CS 3.6)

   Response:

   The Executive MBA program curriculum in Northern Virginia is identical to the Williamsburg section. The School of Business is working to develop concordance with the College’s process of institutional effectiveness (PIE). The learning goals (called expectations for learning within the PIE framework) and the associated learning experiences, which are required as a part of the School’s “Assurance of Learning” effort (as part of accreditation by the American Assembly of Collegiate Schools of Business), are as follow:

   
   
   • Develop mastery of essential analytical tools and concepts that provide a foundation for professional business education in a collaborative learning environment.

     The learning measurement varies by the course. In the initial economics class, evaluation includes written journals assessing economic concepts as they relate to contemporary economic issues. The statistics class incorporates traditional lectures and exams along with homework assignments. In the initial marketing class, case participation and written group papers are the evaluation tools. Those students who encounter difficulties in the foundation courses are encouraged to use the available tutoring sessions. In addition, the program utilizes a study team approach for learning, and, in several courses, course specific assignments. Team performance is evaluated in the organizational behavior classes with feedback provided to each study team.

   • Create an awareness of leadership skills necessary to manage organizational change.

     The first organizational behavior class assessment is based on team case evaluation and an organizational analysis within the student’s organization. In our Managing Change in Organizations course, we assess learning through class participation in case discussions and written evaluations of assigned cases.

   • Understand the process of the effective use of business tools and concepts in new and unfamiliar circumstances.

     Beyond understanding basic concepts and analytical approaches, a student must gain an appreciation of how to integrate these ideas into an effective management process. This is accomplished through a variety of evaluation tools including simulations in operations management, a detailed report of how the student’s sponsoring organization evaluates its performance, as well as considering regulatory and ethical dimensions in decision-making.

   • Create a strategy focus that recognizes the ethical and corporate governance issues in contemporary management.

     Strategy development is a critical element in several courses. The student’s performance is measured by a combination of case discussions, written assignments, and projects. The discussions and projects include corporate responsibility, strategies for managing financial portfolios, and ethical issues in managing corporate information resources. Corporate governance challenges also are integrated into case discussions in the managerial accounting class.

   • Understand the global nature of our markets and how cross-cultural issues affect our decision making and strategy options.

     The global dimension flows from many courses in the program, including economics, finance, marketing, organizational behavior, information systems and, of course, the policy classes. The culminating global component in the program is the international study residency and global strategy class in the fourth and fifth semesters. However, several earlier courses provide a foundation for the class. For example, the information systems class includes two cases (one of which is a written assignment) dealing with international management issues in the countries included in the international residency. The business policy class in the fourth semester also weaves international cases into the syllabus. The assessment tools employed in the global strategy class require an assessment of the key elements experienced during the residency, group country analysis, and written case evaluations.

   The admissions requirements, academic standards, and graduation requirements are the same for both Executive MBA sections. The Assistant Dean for the Executive MBA program is responsible for both the Williamsburg and Northern Virginia operations and academic course work. Two full time professional positions support the Northern Virginia section. The Associate Director is responsible for student recruiting and provides program support. The Program Coordinator position reports to the Associate Director and provides administrative support to the admissions process and ongoing program operations. Part-time employees provide class-day support to ensure that all the classroom and support services are functioning as required for the needs of the program. Technical consultants are on call to ensure that the networking and computing resources are working properly. The program has a contract with a catering service for breakfast, lunch and two break periods during each class day.

   Accounting services are provided to the Northern Virginia section by the same firm under contract for the Williamsburg section: Denise Fernandes, CPA. The financial statements are audited annually as part of the Mason School of Business Foundation audit.

   Core Requirement 2.7.2. The Institution offers degree programs that embody a coherent course of study that is compatible with its stated purpose and is based upon fields of study appropriate to higher education.

   College-level curriculum committees, school deans, the Provost, the College's Board of Visitors, the State Council of Higher Education in Virginia (SCHEV) and the Commission on Colleges of the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools (COC/SACS) review and approve all academic degree programs. There are similar arrangements in the Schools of Business, Education, and Law (see Bylaws, School of Business Administration, Article IV, Section 1, Bylaws of the Faculty of the School of Education, Section 1.3, College of William and Mary School of Law Bylaws).

   External reviewers provide additional evidence of program coherence through program review procedures. The College of Arts and Sciences has used external program review procedures for more than 15 years.

   In addition to reviews within the institution, state, and region, the School of Business is accredited by the American Assembly of Collegiate Schools of Business, and the Executive M.B.A. program is accredited by the International Association for Management Education. These accrediting agencies examine and review the School’s programs, curricula, and faculty.

   Some evidence of the quality of our academic programs can be found in the external evaluations provided by various rankings and polls (see About William and Mary). For example, U.S. News and World Report ranks the College sixth among public universities in the nation and 31st among the nation's best universities. The Financial Times ranked the Business School at 49th internationally and Forbes Magazine rated the MBA program at 23rd nationally. The Executive MBA program was ranked 33rd in the nation by Financial Times.

   Comprehensive Standard 3.3.1. The institution identifies expected outcomes for its educational programs and its administrative and educational support services; assesses whether it achieves these outcomes; and provides evidence of improvement based on analysis of those results.

   The College recently adopted a new process of institutional effectiveness or PIE. In the new process, educational programs and support services (1) describe purposes that link to the College's mission; (2) specify learning expectations and operational objectives, (3) identify experiences and activities that relate directly to the expectations and objectives, and (4) evaluate the extent to which expectations and objectives are met. The evaluations are used to (5) maintain and work toward excellence in student learning and support services. This process is aligned with a university-wide process of institutional effectiveness that ensures intentional and transparent budgeting and decision-making in a continual effort to enhance student learning. Please see the description of the Executive M.B.A. learning expectations, experiences, and evaluations above.

   Comprehensive Standard 3.4.1. See page 4.

   Comprehensive Standard 3.4.2. The institution's continuing education, outreach, and service programs are consistent with the institution's mission.

   The School of Business’ Center for Corporate Education (CCE), formerly known as the Center for Executive and Professional Development, serves as the executive education outreach component of the Graduate School of Business. The objective of the CCE is to provide executive education and professional development programs to businesses and corporations in both global and domestic arena" (School of Business, Center for Corporate Education). A primary goal of the Center is to develop high-quality, research-based education programs for businesses, corporations, government organizations, community groups, and state agencies. CCE programs are consistent with the College's mission of preserving, transmitting, and expanding knowledge, combining the best features of an undergraduate college and a research university, and providing public service to the state and nation.

   Comprehensive Standard 3.4.3. The institution publishes admissions policies consistent with its mission.

   The College of William and Mary subscribes to the following non-discrimination policy: "Within the limits of its facilities and its obligations as a state university, the College of William and Mary opens the possibility of admission to all qualified students without regard to sex, race, color, age, religion, national origin, sexual orientation, or disability." (See the College of William and Mary 2004-2005 Course Catalog; see also Executive MBA Admissions Criteria.)

   The Executive M.B.A. program summarizes admissions requirements as follows:

   We welcome applications from graduates in all academic disciplines. The Admissions Committee considers the following aspects of a candidate’s profile when evaluating each application:

   • A demonstrated record of achievement
   • Prior academic performance with a minimum of a bachelor’s degree
   • Breadth and depth of work experience
   • Leadership—demonstrated and/or potential
   • Outstanding interpersonal and communication skills
   • GMAT score or GMAT Waiver Request
   • Letters of Recommendation (3)
   • Extracurricular and community involvement
   • Interview

   To complete the application process, the following items and activities must be completed:

   1. GMAT Score or GMAT Waiver Request
   2. Academic Transcript(s)
   3. One Page Essay
   4. Resume
   5. Letters of Recommendation (3)
   6. Application Fee and Mailing Summary Information Form
   7. Interviews

   Non-Discrimination Statement: The College of William & Mary does not discriminate on the basis of race, color, religion, national origin, sex, sexual orientation, disability or age in its programs and activities. The following person has been designated to handle inquiries regarding the non-discrimination policies:

   Susan Grover
   Associate Professor of Law & Director of Equal Opportunity
   P.O. Box 8795
   The College of William & Mary
   Williamsburg, VA 23187-8795

   Comprehensive Standard 3.4.4. The institution has a defined and published policy for evaluating, awarding, and accepting credit for transfer, experiential learning, advanced placement, and professional certificates that is consistent with its mission and ensures that course work and learning outcomes are at the collegiate level and comparable to the institution's own degree programs. The institution assumes responsibility for the academic quality of any course work or credit recorded on the institution's transcript.

   The College provides instruction for all coursework in all its degree programs. Control of educational programs is maintained through transfer, equivalency, and residence requirements. The policy for the undergraduate program is written in the section entitled Placement, Credit by Examination and Transfer Credit in the College of William and Mary 2004-2005 Course Catalog. The policy for Arts and Sciences Graduate Programs is in the 2004-2005 Graduate Arts and Sciences Program Catalog in the section entitled "Transfer of Graduate Credit." In general, the Business School does not accept transfer credit for the M.B.A. programs. Students enrolled in the full-time M.B.A program can participate in semester or summer exchange programs and, with permission, can transfer credit (but not grades) into the degree program. For the School of Education policy, please see "School of Education Transfer Credit." For the School of Law policy, please see "Academic Regulations for the Law School."

   Comprehensive Standard 3.4.5. The institution publishes academic policies that adhere to principles of good educational practice. These are disseminated to students, faculty, and other interested parties through publications that accurately represent the programs and services of the institution.

   At William and Mary, academic policies begin with the College's mission statement (see Core Requirement 2.4 and Comprehensive Standard 3.1.1). As noted in both the core requirement and the comprehensive standard, the mission statement is published on the Provost's web page, in the undergraduate college catalog, and on the web pages of all of the schools. All academic policies governing admissions, transfer, credit, degrees, and related matters are published in course catalogs or web pages, as noted in Comprehensive Standard 3.4.4. (See the following catalogs and web pages: the College of William and Mary 2004-2005 Course Catalog, 2004-2005 Graduate Arts and Sciences Program Catalog, School of Business web page, School of Education Undergraduate Admissions web page, and School of Law Admissions and Applying.)

   Comprehensive Standard 3.4.6. The institution employs sound and acceptable practices for determining the amount and level of credit awarded for courses, regardless of format or mode of delivery.

   All William and Mary schools use the semester credit hour as the unit of credit. A semester encompasses 14.5 weeks. Three-credit courses serve as the standard. These courses meet for 50 minutes for each of a minimum of 41 class sessions in the semester. Courses that meet on a Tuesday/Thursday schedule involve slightly more contact hours. The Executive M.B.A. program requires 48 credit hours, with 42 of those credits earned in a “lock step” program format that ensures appropriate contact hour content (see the discussion of Comprehensive Standard 3.6.1). Each two credit hour course has 13 to 15 sessions of one and one-half hours each. The Global Strategy course includes an international residency of 12 days with several company visits, lectures from host country institutions, and presentations from government officials. This is a three credit-hour course.

   As noted in the discussion of Comprehensive Standard 3.4.1, all courses and degree programs are approved by faculty curriculum committees in the schools. These committees determine appropriate course levels. Courses numbered below 500 receive undergraduate credit. Those above earn graduate credit. Only those who are enrolled as post-baccalaureate students can earn graduate credit.

   The College of William and Mary follows the American Association of Collegiate Registrars and Admissions Officers (AACRAO) guidelines. All educational programs meet the standards for their respective accrediting bodies.

   Comprehensive Standard 3.4.7. The institution ensures the quality of educational programs/courses offered through consortia relationships or contractual agreements, ensures ongoing compliance with the comprehensive requirements, and evaluates the agreement against the purpose of the institution.

   The College participates in The Virginia Consortium Program in Clinical Psychology, which awards the degree of Doctor of Psychology (Psy.D.), and is a single, unified program comprised of the Departments of Psychology of the College of William and Mary, Norfolk State University , and Old Dominion University , and the Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences of Eastern Virginia Medical School. The State Council of Higher Education for Virginia and by the Commission on Colleges of the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools approved the program. The first class of students was admitted in 1978.

   The School of Business Administration does not participate in consortia arrangements.

   Comprehensive Standard 3.4.8. The institution awards academic credit for course work taken on a noncredit basis only when there is documentation that the noncredit course work is equivalent to a designated credit experience.

   The College does not award credit for experiential learning, and William and Mary does not participate in the College Board CLEP program or in the Subject Standardized Test of the United States Armed Forces Institute. The College does not award credit for noncredit course work.

   Comprehensive Standard 3.4.9. The institution provides appropriate academic support services.

   The College of William and Mary grants degrees at the bachelor's through doctoral levels. The enrollment total is 7,650 of whom approximately 5,700 are undergraduates. Services described as "student support" overlap with those that may be called academic support. William and Mary provides a broad array of both types of service through both academic departments, programs, and schools and through the Division of Student Affairs.

   The School of Business provides academic services to both undergraduate and graduate students, including a Career Center, support for study abroad, and the MBA Association.

   The College ensures that the general education and program degree requirements conform to commonly accepted standards and practices through explicit articulation of learning expectations, through the Process of Institutional Effectiveness (see also Process of Institutional Effectiveness for Academic Departments and Programs), and through the long-term and continuous use of external program reviews. The School of Business is accredited by the American Assembly of Collegiate Schools of Business. The Executive M.B.A. is accredited by the International Association for Management Education.

   Comprehensive Standard 3.4.11. The institution protects the security, confidentiality, and integrity of its student academic records and maintains special security measures to protect and back-up data.

   The College of William and Mary protects the security, confidentiality, and integrity of its student academic records by adhering to the Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act (FERPA). All employees and agents of the university must comply fully with this law, as well as with related College policies.

   All employees and agents of the university who access the college information systems through an assigned domain account must acknowledge the Acceptable Use Policy for Faculty/Staff. Those who directly access administrative data through the Banner system must also sign the Banner Confidentiality Agreement. Successful completion of Banner navigation training, which includes a section on confidentiality awareness, is also required before Banner access is granted. FERPA and other college policies are emphasized in this training. Banner access is requested and approved with the use of the Banner Access Request Form. No access to student academic information is allowed without the approval of both the department head and the University Registrar. All electronic information is kept in accordance with the Commonwealth of Virginia Information Technology Security Standard. Additional information on confidentiality and privacy of student records may be found at Office of the University Registrar (see William and Mary Privacy Policy).

   Physical security measures are in place to protect student academic records. Limited distribution of proximity cards are issued to appropriate Information Technology personnel to gain access to the machine room where servers and backup equipment exists.

   Paper and microfilmed records also are protected physically and retained in accordance with the Library of Virginia records management requirements (Library of Virginia Records Management) and standards established by the American Association of Collegiate Registrars and Admissions Officers (AACRAO's Retention of Records Guide, 2000 edition; hard copy available in Office of Registrar). Student folders and graduation records in the Registrar's Office are stored for 5 years and then destroyed. Additional historical records such as grade sheets and microfilm are stored in a locked storage room within the Registrar's Office. The entire Registrar's Office suite is equipped with motion detectors and an alarm connected to the Campus Police. Copies of microfilmed records are stored in a vault at Swem Library or at the Archives on Richmond Road in Toano.

   Information Technology has backup procedures that provide for the preservation and recovery of student data. Archive logging occurs on a daily basis for point-in-time recovery. Backups occur nightly and tapes are stored both on-site and off-site in Swem Library and delivered to Richmond.

   Business continuity standards are revised and disaster recovery plans tested on an annual basis. Administrative departments are intimately involved in this process by defining the continuity requirements and verifying the test results of disaster recovery procedures. A Disaster Recovery machine is located at an alternate campus location and it replicates the production data around the clock. Use of the disaster recovery machine for student records has been successfully tested. Backup procedures and business continuity standards are outlined in The College of William and Mary Information Technology Disaster Recovery Plan.

   The off-site review team examined information describing the College’s compliance with this standard in the fall of 2005 and found that the College is in compliance.

   Comprehensive Standard 3.4.12. The institution places primary responsibility for the content, quality, and effectiveness of its curriculum with its faculty.

   The response to Comprehensive Standard 3.4.1 (above) establishes that curriculum committees and faculties within the schools develop and approve all degree programs. That discussion also identifies the school bylaws that establish faculty authority and responsibility.

   Comprehensive Standard 3.4.13. For each major in a degree program, the institution assigns responsibility for program coordination as well as for curriculum development and review, to persons academically qualified in the field. In those degree programs for which the institution does not identify a major, this requirement applies to a curricular area or concentration.

   As detailed in discussions of compliance with Comprehensive Standard 3.4.1, faculty curriculum committees review courses, changes in degree requirements, and proposals for new programs as part of the faculty responsibility for curriculum effectiveness. Full-time, continuing members of the faculty staff these faculty committees. The response to Comprehensive Standard 3.7.1 reveals that all faculty members who teach courses at the College are fully qualified. Deans, program directors, and department chairs coordinate academic degree programs, majors, and concentrations. All deans, program directors, and department chairs are tenured or tenure-eligible members of the faculty.

   For the School of Business Administration : School of Business Administration Deans and Program Directors.

   Comprehensive Standard 3.4.14. 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.

   The discussion of compliance with Comprehensive Standard 3.8.1 reveals that William and Mary offers "ubiquitous access to computing resources." Information Technology provides access to a core set of services to faculty, staff and students via an IT account that grants single sign-on access to email, instructional management software, student records, personal network storage space, a portal, and computer labs. Personal network space, for securing and sharing documents and hosting personal web pages, is easily available using a mapped drive from public access labs, offices or residence halls, and from off campus using a secure FTP connection. All academic and administrative departments also have shared server space for easy file sharing and storage. Data from the servers are backed up regularly and stored both on site for easy recovery and off site for disaster planning.

   Responding to the expressed needs for greater electronic capability and access, the College has launched a computer notebook initiative, which is described in a white paper on laptop requirement and in a discussion of supporting myNotebook.

   The College assesses the value of technology in student learning through the Process of Institutional Effectiveness (see also Process of Institutional Effectiveness for Academic Departments and Programs). See the responses to Core Requirement 2.5, Comprehensive Standard 3.3.1, and Comprehensive Standard 3.4.1 for more detailed discussions of assessment of student learning.

   Comprehensive Standard 3.5.1. The institution identifies college-level competencies within the general education core and provides evidence that graduates have attained those competencies. Not applicable for Executive M.B.A. program.

   Comprehensive Standard 3.5.2. The institution awards degrees only to those students who have earned at least 25% of the credit hours required for the degree through instruction offered by that institution.

   The College offers degrees at the bachelor's, master's, doctoral, and professional levels. The College of Arts and Sciences offers bachelor's, master's, and doctoral degrees. The School of Business offers bachelor's and master's degrees. The School of Education offers master's, education specialist, and doctoral degrees. The School of Law offers a doctoral and the LL.M. American Legal System degree.

   The Executive M.B.A. program requires 48 credit hours earned over a five-semester program. Each two credit hour course has 13 to 15 sessions of one and one-half hours each. The Global Strategy course includes an international residency of 12 days with several company visits, lectures from host country institutions, and presentations from government officials. This is a three credit-hour course.

   Comprehensive Standard 3.6.1. The institution's post-baccalaureate professional degree programs, and its master's and doctoral degree programs, are progressively more advanced in academic content than undergraduate programs.

   The College of Arts and Sciences offers graduate degrees as follows: master's degrees in ten disciplines and doctoral degrees in seven disciplines. Each of the master's degree programs requires at least 24 semester hours of graduate coursework plus a thesis or its equivalent, of which at least 12 must be earned in courses numbered 600 or above. The Master of Arts degree requires successful completion and defense of a thesis. The Master of Science degree in some programs requires a thesis, while in others the thesis is optional. Where it is optional, the M.S. degree requires passing a qualifying examination. Both M.A. and M.S. degrees require an examination covering the entire field of study, which ensures that these programs engage content beyond the baccalaureate degree level.

   All masters' degrees require at least a minimum 2.75 grade point average. (See Requirements for Masters Degrees).

   The School of Business offers masters' degrees in business administration (M.B.A.) through full-time, evening (part-time), and Executive M.B.A. program formats, and a full-time Master of Accounting (MAC) degree. Requirements for the successful completion of all graduate programs in the School of Business Administration include a graduating GPA of at least 2.75.

   The William and Mary Executive M.B.A. program is designed to help mid-level and executive management professionals maintain an active career while earning an M.B.A. degree. The Executive M.B.A. program is a 20-month academic program with classes entering only in January. The Executive MBA Program provides a curriculum and method of approach that builds on the basics of business management to prepare working professionals to take on greater responsibilities and escalating challenges. The focus is on providing students – executives and managers with a minimum of 6 years professional experience – with the skills necessary to advance their careers. Students explore the fundamental theorem in managerial economics, finance and analysis, accounting, marketing management, organizational behavior and change management, quantitative methods and other business essentials.

   There are two sections of the Executive MBA program, one conducted in Williamsburg and the other offered in Reston, Virginia. The program operates over five semesters, including two summers. There are 48 credit hours in the program. Required classes include 42 credit hours in the "lock step" programmatic format. Students select the elective classes during the final semester of the program. Each two credit hour course has 13 to 15 sessions of one and one-half hours each, including those held during the residency weeks. In comparison, the standard two-credit course involves 100 minutes of instruction each week for 13.5 weeks. Between the fourth and fifth semester there is a 12-day international study residency that usually includes two countries. Incorporated in this international experience are academic presentations, meetings with government officials, and several visits with corporate executives. This is a three credit-hour course. The total hours of instruction, approximately six hours each day for 12 days, far exceed the standard for the traditional three-credit course (two and half hours of instruction each week for 13.5 weeks.).

   Comprehensive Standard 3.6.2. The institution ensures that its graduate instruction and resources foster independent learning, enabling graduates to contribute to a profession or field of study.

   For basic descriptive information about graduate programs at William and Mary, please see Comprehensive Standard 3.6.1. Graduate programs at the College of William and Mary, including those in Arts and Sciences, Education, and Marine Science, foster independent learning and the ability to contribute to a profession or field of study in several general ways. First, all but the Master of Public Policy require successfully passing a qualifying examination. Second, all of the Master of Arts degrees require the completion and defense of an independent research thesis. The Master of Sciences degree programs require a thesis, a substantial research project plus additional advanced course work, or significant additional advanced course work. Third, virtually all of the doctoral degrees require successful completion and defense of an original piece of research that contributes to the body of knowledge of the discipline or field. Specific arrangements for other graduate degrees are described below.

   The Executive MBA program does not require a thesis. However, there are two integrative courses (Business Policy and Global Business Strategy) taught in the final two semesters which include business case studies, projects, and independent papers. The courses ensure that students develop the professional skills of case-based inference, which is essential to the work of executives.

   Comprehensive Standard 3.6.3. The majority of credits toward a graduate or a post-baccalaureate professional degree is earned through the institution awarding the degree. In the case of graduate and post-baccalaureate professional degree programs offered through joint, cooperative, or consortia arrangements, the student earns a majority of credits from the participating institutions. ( See Commission policy "The Transfer or Transcripting of Academic Credit.")

   The response to Core Requirement 2.7.4 details regulations regarding transfer credit for graduate degrees. That discussion makes clear that graduate and professional programs at William and Mary allow only a very small number of transfer credits.

   In general, the Business School does not accept transfer credit for the M.B.A. programs. Students enrolled in the full-time MBA program can participate in semester or summer exchange programs and, with permission, can transfer credit (but not grades) into the degree program.

5. FACULTY
   
   Provide a complete roster (using the "Roster of Instructional Staff" form) of those faculty employed to teach in the program(s), including a description of those faculty member’s academic qualifications and course load in the new program as well as course work taught in other programs currently offered; evidence that adequate faculty members are assigned to support the program; and the impact of the new initiative on faculty workload. (CR 2.8, CS 3.7)
   
   For distance learning programs, describe processes in place to ensure that students have structured access to faculty. For graduate programs, document scholarship and research capability of faculty.

   Response:

   The faculty teaching in the Northern Virginia section are full-time faculty in the School of Business. The new program funds the entire faculty needed to teach in the program. Generally, a faculty member who teaches in the Executive MBA program will teach both the Williamsburg and Northern Virginia sections for the semester which constitutes the course load for the semester. See attached Faculty of Executive MBA Roster.

   Core Requirement 2.8. The number of full-time faculty members is adequate to support the mission of the institution. The institution has adequate faculty resources to ensure the quality and integrity of its academic programs.

   The College of William and Mary has sufficient faculty to ensure the quality and integrity of its academic programs. Over the past eleven years, the number of full-time faculty at the College has remained rather stable, averaging 571 per year. The number of part-time faculty has increased, adding 45 part-time faculty members since 1994. This growth in qualified part-time faculty has helped fortify the academic program as student enrollments rose especially at the undergraduate level and as the research and public service demands of the full-time faculty increased.

   Full-time faculty teach 80% of all course enrollments. Part-time faculty members are responsible for 12% of the total student course enrollments, with the remaining 8% taught by administrative and professional staff with faculty credentials, teaching assistants, and other staff.

   The Roster of Instructional Staff (Executive M.B.A. Faculty Roster provided separately through a secure link) for the Executive M.B.A. program presents a record for all faculty members teaching during Fall 2004 and Spring 2005 semesters. The Roster presents their academic preparation, course assignments, and any additional notes that support their experience or ability to teach their assigned courses.

   Twenty-one faculty members taught in the Executive M.B.A. program in the 2004-2005 academic year. With approximately 60 students in the program, the student-faculty ratio is approximately 3 to 1.

   Comprehensive Standard 3.7. The institution employs competent faculty members qualified to accomplish the mission and goals of the institution. When determining acceptable qualifications of its faculty, an institution gives primary consideration to the highest earned degree in the discipline in accordance with the guidelines listed below. The institution also considers competence, effectiveness, and capacity, including, as appropriate, undergraduate and graduate degrees, related work experiences in the field, professional licensure and certifications, honors and awards, continuous documented excellence in teaching, or other demonstrated competencies and achievements that contribute to effective teaching and student learning outcomes. For all cases, the institution is responsible for justifying and documenting the qualifications of its faculty.

   Credential Guidelines:

   • Faculty teaching general education courses at the undergraduate level: doctoral or master's degree in the teaching discipline or master's degree with a concentration in the teaching discipline. (a minimum of 18 graduate semester hours in the teaching discipline).
   • Faculty teaching associate degree courses designed for transfer to a baccalaureate degree: doctoral or master's degree in the teaching discipline or master's degree with a concentration in the teaching discipline (a minimum of 18 graduate semester hours in the teaching discipline).
   • Faculty teaching associate degree courses not designed for transfer to the baccalaureate degree: bachelor's degree in the teaching discipline, or associate's degree and demonstrated competencies in the teaching discipline.
   • Faculty teaching baccalaureate courses: doctoral or master's degree in the teaching discipline or master's degree with a concentration in the teaching discipline (minimum of 18 graduate semester hours in the teaching discipline). At least 25 percent of the discipline course hours in each undergraduate major are taught by faculty members holding the terminal degree—usually the earned doctorate—in the discipline.
   • Faculty teaching graduate and post-baccalaureate course work: earned doctorate/ terminal degree in the teaching discipline or a related discipline.
   • Graduate teaching assistants: master's in the teaching discipline or 18 graduate semester hours in the teaching discipline, direct supervision by a faculty member experienced in the teaching discipline, regular in-service training, and planned and periodic evaluations.

   The College is committed to attracting and retaining excellent faculty. Faculty members engage in the full range of instructional, scholarly research, and professional service activities included in the mission.

   As indicated in Code of Virginia 23-44, the Board of Visitors is responsible for faculty appointments. Justifications and credentials for full-time faculty appointments are prepared by the academic unit(s) seeking to employ faculty members. They are reviewed and, as appropriate, approved by the dean(s) and the Provost, and then submitted to the President and, finally, to the Board of Visitors for review and ultimate approval. The Faculty Handbook provides detailed policies governing recruitment, appointment, retention, tenure, post-tenure review, annual merit review, and professional conduct of faculty members. All tenured faculty appointments require terminal degrees in the appropriate field (typically, the doctorate) and necessary preparation for teaching and scholarly or creative work at the professional level. All efforts to recruit faculty are governed by policies detailed in the Equal Opportunity Office. (See Equal Opportunity Search Procedures.)

   Comprehensive Standard 3.7.2. The institution regularly evaluates the effectiveness of each faculty member in accord with published criteria, regardless of contractual or tenured status.

   The Faculty Handbook and the Part-Time Faculty Handbook set forth the evaluation policies and procedures regarding all full- and part-time faculty members, respectively. The Faculty Handbook, Section 3, Part B. 2 describes the process for annual merit evaluations that set salary increments. The section makes clear also the processes and standards for retention, promotion, and tenure, and describes arrangements for post-tenure review. All schools, departments, and programs have developed and apply their own personnel procedures for merit evaluations and for retention, promotion, tenure, and post-tenure review. These procedures must be consistent with the policies of the Faculty Handbook, and must be approved by the Provost. As noted in the Faculty Handbook, the recommendations for merit, retention, promotion, tenure, and post-tenure review are forwarded to the appropriate college-wide committees, deans, the Provost, the President, and the Board of Visitors, as appropriate, for final decisions. (See, for example, Minutes of the Board of Visitors Meeting September 16-17, 2004.) Personnel Committee actions for the School of Business are included in the School of Business Faculty Meeting Minutes April 2005.

   The regularity of the evaluation of faculty effectiveness in accord with published criteria is evidenced by the fact that annual salaries are determined by merit reviews. The Provost, deans, and department and program chairs, directors, and personnel committees conduct these reviews even when money is not available for merit adjustments. Results of evaluations in those years are retained and entered into calculations for subsequent years when funds are available.

   The Part-Time Faculty Handbook is clear about the policy for evaluating part-time faculty: "Part-time faculty are evaluated by the department chair and/or dean each semester or, if their appointment is for both semesters, each year. Evaluation will include review of student teaching evaluations, course materials, and, in some departments and schools, peer visitation of classes. Further information on evaluation procedures is available in the manuals and handbooks of the separate Faculties." The Executive M.B.A. program does not use part-time faculty members.

   Comprehensive Standard 3.7.3. The institution provides evidence of ongoing professional development of faculty as teachers, scholars and practitioners.

   The College's commitment to faculty development in the area of research has been embodied primarily in its program of Summer Research Grants and Semester Research Assignments. The total amount of research funding and number of participants in this program for the past three years has been as follows:

   • 2002 to 2003:
     • $540,000
     • 30 Faculty research assignments
     • 33 Summer research grants
   • 2003 to 2004:
     • $660,000
     • 30 Faculty research assignments
     • 30 Summer research grants
   • 2004 to 2005:
     • $884,000
     • 45 Faculty research assignments
     • 31 Summer research grants

   See Faculty Research Committee Annual Reports.

   In addition, most department, programs, and schools are able to provide some support for faculty members to travel to regional and national professional meetings to present papers.

   Each year funding provided by the Roy R. Charles Center supports an interdisciplinary program of May seminars, faculty reading groups, and a university-wide teaching project. The May Seminar Program awards faculty grants that support teaching and curriculum development projects. The Faculty Reading Group program encourages intellectual discussion and exchange on important new books of general interest to a number of faculty members.

   The University Teaching Project models good teaching practices at the same time that it institutionalizes a dialogue on good teaching practices across campus.

   The School of Business participates in the college-wide Faculty Research Award program. This program awards tenured faculty members up to one year off (at 80% salary). The awards are made on a competitive basis so past research productivity is rewarded. The School also has a policy of allowing faculty members to take leaves of absence to participate in activities that clearly are important for professional development. For example, in 2003-04 one of our accounting faculty members was on leave for a year to pursue a project at the SEC; this past year another faculty member was granted a semester leave, and partial income support, for a Fulbright Fellowship. The School grants each faculty member one day per week to pursue outside consulting or related work activities that contribute to the faculty member's practical knowledge of his field.

   Comprehensive Standard 3.7.4. The institution ensures adequate procedures for safeguarding and protecting academic freedom.

   The Faculty Handbook (page 12) for the College of William and Mary affirms the principle of academic freedom:

   "The College of William and Mary endorses the principle of academic freedom and subscribes to the Statement of Principles on Academic Freedom and Tenure, adopted jointly in 1940 and interpreted in 1970 by the Association of American Colleges and by the American Association of University Professors.”

   The above statement also appears in the Part-Time Faculty Handbook (pp 3-4).

   Procedures for safeguarding and protecting academic freedom are set forth in the Faculty Handbook . The Handbook describes in detail the appeal procedure for any faculty member who believes that there has been a violation of his/her academic freedom. The procedures include a formal review by the college-wide Grievance and Hearing Committee. Please see Faculty Handbook Sections Relevant to the Protection of Academic Freedom Rights.

   Comprehensive Standard 3.7.5. The institution publishes policies on the responsibility and authority of faculty in academic and governance matters.

   The Faculty Handbook serves as the principal document outlining policies on the responsibility and authority of faculty in academic and governance matters. This is a college-wide document for all faculty members in Arts and Sciences as well as for faculty members in each of the professional schools: Business, Education, Law and Marine Science.

   Section III of the Faculty Handbook (Policies Affecting the Faculties) includes published policies on matters such as: academic freedom, appointments, evaluation, tenure review, post tenure review, and termination. In addition, the Handbook clearly describes faculty responsibilities in policies regarding sexual harassment, consensual amorous relations, and integrity in research and scholarly activity.

   The role of faculty in governance matters is a primary feature of the Faculty Handbook. The Handbook describes specific committees and their roles in faculty governance, and the Faculty Assembly's pivotal role in faculty governance.

   Beyond this primary document, each of the schools has published bylaws that describe and ensure the role and authority of faculty in academic governance. See, specifically, Bylaws, Faculty of the School of Business Administration

6. LIBRARY AND LEARNING RESOURCES
   
   Describe library and information resources—general as well as specific to the program and staffing and services that are in place to support the initiative. If reliant upon other libraries, describe those collections and their relevance to the proposed program(s) and include a copy of formal agreements in the appendix. Relative to electronic resources, describe how students and faculty will access information, training for faculty and students in the use of online resources, and staffing and services available to students and faculty. (CR 2.9, CS 3.4.14, CS 3.8.1, CS 3.8)

   Response:

   The School of Business has a dedicated high-speed data communication link from the educational center in Reston back to campus. There is a wireless network available to faculty and students in the facility as well. As part of the Executive MBA program, each student receives a notebook computer with necessary software to meet all the course requirements. On-line library resources are available to all our graduate students including those located in Northern Virginia. The Executive MBA program has on call technical support for our staff and on class days for students and faculty.

   The classroom in Reston is a tiered design that will seat 34 students. The classroom includes white boards, video projector, VCR, DVD, TV and video conferencing capability. There is wireless access for the notebook computers and power outlets at each seat.

   Students have access to all the on-line resources available to any student. The program provides technical support during class days.

   Core Requirement 2.9. The institution, through ownership or formal arrangements or agreements, provides and supports student and faculty access and user privileges to adequate library collections as well as to other learning/information resources consistent with the degrees offered. These collections and resources are sufficient to support all its educational research, and public service programs.

   Collections

   Swem Library's collection includes 1,276,876 cataloged volumes; 1,463,470 microforms; 594,082 government publications; 23,143 maps; 5,404 print periodicals and serials; 28,888 multi-media materials; and 11,816 linear feet of manuscripts and archives. In addition to the main library, Swem Library has separate libraries for Biology, Chemistry, Geology, Music, and Physics. Additional William and Mary libraries serve the Schools of Business Administration, Education, Law, and Marine Science.

   The library offers many electronic resources, including an online catalog (LION) and access to more than 200 databases and 10,000 electronic journals. These are available through Swem's home page (Swem Library) and controlled by a proxy server for off-campus access.

   SOLINET/OCLC, is the library's backbone utility for the creation of the online catalog, interlibrary loan activities, technical services support and staff training opportunities as well as additional discounted electronic resource licenses.

   CRL, the Center for Research Libraries, loans specialized research materials to faculty and students. WRL, the Williamsburg Research Libraries is a local consortium of William and Mary and Colonial Williamsburg libraries providing a joint online catalog with unified access to the holdings of both libraries, adding particular strength for research in colonial history. The Tidewater Library Consortium allows students and faculty of higher education institutions in Hampton Roads to borrow materials from member libraries.

   Representatives of all campus libraries meet three or four times each year with the Library Policy Advisory Committee, a provost-appointed committee composed of faculty, undergraduate and graduate students, and chaired by a faculty member. (See LPAC members for 2004-2005 for a list of recent members.) The committee considers issues of service, collections policies and expenditures, and concerns brought by students and faculty. A review of LPAC Minutes reveals the active participation of representatives from Arts and Sciences, Business, Education, Law, and Marine Sciences in monitoring the adequacy and availability of library resources. (See, for example, LPAC Minutes for February 24, 2005 and Minutes April 3, 2003.)

   The off-site external review team examined information on library resources in the fall of 2005 and found that the College is in compliance.

   Comprehensive Standard 3.4.14. See above.

   Comprehensive Standard 3.8.1. The institution provides facilities, services, and learning/information resources that are appropriate to support its teaching, research, and service mission.

   The explanation for this requirement is in two parts, considering information technology and library services.

   Information Technology

   Cooperative projects between IT professionals and the library have definitely moved the College closer to providing students with a level of communication, collaboration and information access that might have seemed like science fiction just a few years ago. It is important to note that our claim of full compliance with this requirement does not mean that the College has accomplished all its information technology goals. Educational technology is changing dramatically and will require continued investment of both time and money in the future. We assert that full compliance is warranted because: 1) the College has a method in place for planning and managing technology investments to provide the greatest benefit from the financial and human resources available and 2) the purposes of the Office of Information Technology are carefully aligned with the College's mission and strategic plan.

   The off-site review team examined information on information technology in the fall of 2005 and found that the College is in compliance.

   Library Services

   The Earl Gregg Swem Library is the main library for the campus of the College of William and Mary. It also administers several departmental libraries: Physics, Chemistry, Geology, Music, and a Biology Reading Room. The Law Library, the Virginia Institute of Marine Science Library, the Professional Resource Center of the Business School, and the Learning Resource Center of the School of Education are independent and separately administered libraries within the College (Swem Library). See Swem Library General Information for access to other library home page sites.

   The mission of the libraries is closely aligned with the College's mission. Goals identified as part of the library's Strategic Initiatives make the alignment clear, especially with the focus on research and learning and facilitating access to resources and services.

   (1) Facilities

   In 2005, Swem Library completed a seven year expansion and 170,00 square feet. The library is designed to provide additional space for student seating (1,545 seats) and collections, as well as update the infrastructure to accommodate developing technologies and services. (See Swem Library Construction Project.)

   We intend for the facility to encourage people to work and learn independently and collaboratively. The Information Commons, the dynamic center of the Library, has more than 100 high-end computers, each loaded with a large suite of productivity applications, Internet tools, and specialized course-related software.

   The library is fully connected with more than 500 data ports for laptop access and an extensive wireless network. Workstations are provided throughout the building and students, faculty and staff can use College-owned laptops. The library features a Media Wall that broadcasts national and international news as well as campus and community events.

   The off-site review team examined information on library resources in the fall of 2005 and found that the College is in compliance.

   Comprehensive Standard 3.8.2. The institution ensures that users have access to regular and timely instruction in the use of the library and other learning/information resources.

   Information Technology

   Please see the discussion in Comprehensive Standard 3.8.1 for a detailed discussion of the learning resources provided through Information Technology.

   • As noted in the response to Comprehensive Standard 3.8.1, Information Technology provides targeted support to faculty in most departments and programs, the School of Education and the School of Law through the Academic Departmental Liaison Program. The liaisons assist faculty in developing curricula that integrate information technologies, and they work hand-in-hand with individual faculty members, departments, and programs to ensure effective use of technology that supports teaching and research. The implementation of the Blackboard Learning System provides one good example. Because the liaisons have graduate training or professional experience in the disciplines they support, they often work in collegial relationships with faculty on specialized class-related or research projects. One recent example of collaborative work involving faculty, students, and IT professionals is the Classroom Across the Pacific project.
   • IT's Classroom Support Team has the responsibility for designing, installing and maintaining a wide range of instructional technologies in the College's seminar rooms, presentation classrooms, and multimedia auditoria. IT support staff train faculty members and students to make effective use of LCD projectors, VCRs, laptop connections, instructor podia, and in-class computers with the standard faculty software image, Internet connection and DVD players. Multimedia classrooms with all these features, plus additional equipment required by faculty are also available. IT also provides support for videoconferencing in the Millennium Classroom and in other locations on campus, as well as the training necessary for effective use of these technologies.
   • The College of William and Mary was an early adopter of the Blackboard instructional management software. Over 600 courses each semester use Blackboard to provide syllabi, assignments, reserve readings, and links to authoritative sites on the Internet. A growing number of faculty are using its interactive tools such as discussion boards, the virtual classroom, assessment management tools, and group email. At any time of the day or night, more than 800 users are logged in, with more than 2,000 simultaneous users connected during the busiest times of the semester. IT liaisons help faculty members learn to use the Blackboard system and provide training to enhance faculty members' skills in the use of this software.
   • IT's Web and Learning Services Team designs and delivers a high quality curriculum for desktop and enterprise applications for faculty, staff and students in a professionally-outfitted technology training facility. Members of the William and Mary community use this resource both as a professional development activity and to enhance their workplace effectiveness. During 2004, IT offered 133 workshops ranging from MS Office to Macromedia Dreamweaver to SCT Banner Student and Finance.

   Library Services

   • Swem library offers a comprehensive range of instructional opportunities. Faculty members may request instruction on any subject (see library instruction). Library liaisons work closely with faculty members to develop timely and relevant classroom instruction, tailored to fit the class and/or project. (see library liaisons). Since the 1999-2000 academic year, reference librarians have met with an average of over 1400 students in nearly 80 classes per year. While the majority of these participants were first year students in small writing classes or freshman seminars, the program also provided classroom instruction for upper level students. The numbers for in-class instruction do not include other educational, orientation, and outreach activities where the library is represented. Examples of these activities include orientation tours for new students, "Family Weekend," the Residence Life Fair, and the Student Activities Fair.
   • There are special sessions for student athletes, international students, and for "PLUS" students, those admitted students who need extra help before beginning their college careers. There are also orientations for graduate students in education, physics, and psychology. (See Library Instruction Data, Fall 2004 and Library Instruction Data, Spring/Summer 2005.)
   • In addition to the typical subject-specific library instruction, the College offers a one-credit semester-long Interdisciplinary Studies course, "Introduction to Library Resources," for which any undergraduate may register. A reference librarian offers this course every fall semester (see, for example, INTR 322 - Introduction to Library Resources (Syllabus)
   • Librarians provide research assistance at the Reference Desk. Reference Desk Data from 2003-2004 reveal that librarians helped 14,245 patrons at the reference and government information desks. Professional librarians staff the reference desk 72 hours each week, and it is part of the library's mission to provide instruction to students learning how to do research. Librarians also take questions by phone and by email. Patrons may make inquiries via live, on-line chat through the Ask a Librarian service. This service is offered through the ASERL (Association of Southeastern Research Libraries) consortium and offers live advice from professional librarians 69 hours each week. Additionally students and faculty can meet with subject specialist-librarians for in depth, one-on-one instruction on doing research (research assistance request).
   • At night and on weekends, e-SWAT technical assistants work at the Reference Desk, and help with technology questions and problems (see e-Swat). Writing Center consultants also provide guidance and weekly tutorial sessions in a group study room adjacent to the Reference Desk.
   • In 2001, the College started a new program to address concerns about students' information literacy. Called "DIL" (Digital Information Literacy), the program is an outgrowth of discussions within the faculty of Arts and Sciences' Educational Policy Committee. The committee was concerned about variations in the standards imposed by different disciplines for meeting the Concentration Computing Requirement. They recommended a common proficiency for all students, which is to be met early in the freshman academic year. This would provide students with a baseline understanding of digital information and technology, upon which disciplines could build higher-level requirements. The College conducted a pilot project involving a small group of students in the fall of 2001 and spring of 2002. After extensive revision of the tutorials and test questions, the College implemented the second phase of the pilot project in fall 2002. All freshmen now must meet this requirement.
     Another phase of DIL began in the spring of 2005. Students who did not complete or did not pass the DIL quiz are required to take a one-credit course. The College offers two sections of the course. Librarians teach the course and it covers all aspects of information literacy. (See DIL Initiative June 2005.)
   • Library liaisons also demonstrate new products and databases, and lead workshops on subjects such as plagiarism (see library liaisons).
   • Subject specialists at Swem Library have created over 30 web-based subject guides. The subject guides list and describe print and electronic sources, including reference sources, subscription databases and web pages that students and faculty members can use to research a given topic. The subject specialists carefully vet the information contained in each guide, and the guides mirror the tools that reference group librarians provide in a classroom or reference desk setting. In 2004, patrons accessed the subject guides more than 60,000 times, with some popular guides being accessed well over a thousand times. In all, the guides continue to be an effective tool informing the library's users about the top resources for subject-specific research (subject guide).

   Librarians also created a guide called "Research: Getting Started @ Swem," which is available from the library home page. This guide takes students through all the stages of doing research at Swem Library.

   Comprehensive Standard 3.8.3. The institution provides a sufficient number of qualified staff--with appropriate education or experiences in library and/or other learning/information resources--to accomplish the mission of the institution.

   Information Technology

   There are 12 professional and 80 classified staff working in Information Technology. Unlike the M.L.S. for library staff or the Ph.D. for faculty, there is no widely accepted professional degree preparation for work within information technology. Accomplishing the University mission requires a wide range of information specialists ranging from computer repair, and classroom technology technicians to senior engineers, database administrators and security specialists. Technology changes rapidly and individuals develop their technological competence in many different settings and with many different levels and combinations of education and experience.

   Following several years of research and planning by the Commission on Reform of the Classified Compensation Plan, the Commonwealth of Virginia established a comprehensive reform program to increase the flexibility and effectiveness of the employment development process. The new performance-based compensation plan is modeled after the most successful "best practices" now being used by major corporations and governmental entities on the national, state and local levels. The system ensures that staff qualifications are carefully established and carefully reviewed in the face of technological complexity and changing requirements for technical expertise.

   The College of William and Mary is compliant because, since 2000, the Office of Information Technology at William and Mary has operated under guidelines that ensure that:
   
   

   1. Qualified staff are evaluated and hired
   2. Fair new pay practices are maintained
   3. Employees have greater opportunities for career growth within state government
   4. The university has greater management flexibility and accountability
   5. The university has new ways to recognize and reward exceptional employee performance and acquired skills

   This comprehensive system resolved a cumbersome system of over 1300 individual job titles into a more flexible system that allows for comparisons among widely used job titles and descriptions applicable to both higher education and other government and corporate sectors. In 2000, all William and Mary jobs and work titles were reviewed by the human resource office and classified within an occupational family, career group, and work role.
   
   

   • An Occupational Family is a broad grouping of jobs that share similar vocational characteristics.
   • A Career Group is a sub-group of an Occupational Family. A Career Group identifies a specific occupational field common to the labor market.
   • A Role describes a broad group of occupationally related positions that represent different levels of work or career progression.
   • A work title is a specific title used by an agency to describe a specific position.

   The Human Resources Office monitors changes in IT roles and approves all changes to job descriptions and reviews the entire process of hiring all IT classified staff. (The Office of Equal Opportunity performs a similar monitoring and quality control function for professionals within IT.) This includes approval of the job description, review of candidates selected for on-campus interviews, review of questions asked to selected candidates and final review and background check before IT extends offers.

   A similar system is in place to review ongoing performance and development. Each IT classified employee has an Employee Work Profile that documents and manages the employee's development. Each year, employees review position descriptions, physical position requirements, career development plans and performance reviews. Employees prepare documents. Supervisors and one additional reader review the reports, and a member of the Human Resources staff provides final auditing.

   Library Services

   There are 43 professionals and 53 classified staff in all of the campus libraries. Swem Library has a staff of 25 professionals and 40 classified and hourly support staff. All professionals hold appropriate credentials (M.L.S, M.I.S., and/or specialized degrees; see librarians). In addition, of the 25 Swem librarians, 8 have master's degrees in a subject field and 3 have Ph.D. degrees. The Association of College and Research Libraries considers the master's degree in library science from a library school program accredited by the American Library Association to be the "appropriate terminal professional degree for academic librarians" (see ALA Statement).

   The librarians are distinguished by their years of experience. Fourteen of the 25 Swem librarians have been at the College for over 15 years and nine have been at Swem for more than 20 years. The librarians at William and Mary offer students and faculty members more years of professional experience than any of the College's peer institutions. The College's librarians have an average of 24.5 years of professional experience, while the average figure for the college's 19 peer libraries is 16.9 (see Librarians at William and Mary and Peer Institutions).

   The College has 4.54 librarians per 1,000 enrolled "full-time equivalent" students, while its 19 peer institutions average 6.23 librarians per 1,000 enrolled students. The three peer institutions with enrollments under 10,000 full-time students have an average of 54.5 librarians compared to William and Mary's 33 and an average of 9.55 librarians per 1,000 full-time students compared to William and Mary's 4.54 (see William and Mary and Peer Library Staffing).

   The William and Mary libraries have 53 support staff compared to an average of 105 for the entire peer group and 98 for the comparable size peer institutions. When librarians and support staff are combined, the College libraries have a total staff of 11.82 persons per 1,000 enrolled full-time students. The 19 peer institutions have a total staff of 15.20 persons per 1,000 full-time students. The peer institutions of comparable size have a total staff of 25.34 persons per 1,000 full-time students (see William and Mary and Peer Library Staffing).

   We extracted data for comparisons with peer institutions from tables compiled by the Association of Research Libraries (ARL) and the National Center for Education Statistics (NCES). The statistics include all university libraries, except that ARL treats law libraries separately and NCES treats Richard Bland College separately from the rest of William and Mary.

   While Swem Library's building and programs have expanded over the past 8 years, its staff has been reduced. In campus-wide budget reductions in 2000-2001, Swem Library eliminated 2 professional positions and a full- and a half-time classified position. In 2005, Swem Library operates with fewer professional and support staff than it had in 1998, but the facility has expanded by 100,000 square feet. It is anticipated with the opening of a new service, the Media Center on the ground floor of Swem in Fall 2005, there will be 2 additional staff positions, one professional and one classified.

7. PHYSICAL RESOURCES
   
   Provide a description of physical facilities and equipment to support this initiative. Assess the impact that the proposed change will have on existing programs and services. (CR 2.11, CS 3.10.7)

   Response:

   The classes for the Northern Virginia Executive MBA section are taught at the corporate headquarters for XO communications in Reston, Virginia. Office space is provided for the two professional staff located in Reston. The classroom can accommodate 34 students. There is a dining area along with an informal break area. There are four additional smaller meeting rooms available for group activities. The School of Business has provided the necessary office equipment to meet the needs of the program.

   These physical facilities have no impact on other College or School related programs.

   Core Requirement 2.11. The institution has a sound financial base, 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 system wide 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 an applicant institution may be found in the Commission policy entitled "Accreditation Procedures for Applicant Institutions."

   (a) The College of William and Mary has a sound financial base and adequate physical resources to support its mission, programs, and services. This statement is supported by financial information provided in the College's audited financial statements for the fiscal years ending June 30, 2000 through June 30, 2005 (see FY 2000 Audit, FY 2001 Audit, FY 2002 Audit, FY 2003 Audit, FY 2004 Audit, and FY 2005 Audit). These statements show a consistent pattern of growth in revenue, expenditures, and net assets.

   The institutional audit for FY 2003-04, done by the Commonwealth of Virginia's State Auditor of Public Accounts resulted in a clean opinion with no material weaknesses and no instances of noncompliance. In fact, the audit had no audit points of any kind. As the first College financial statements combining the College and all of its related foundations, the statements show Total Net Assets of $733.4 million, with a change in net assets of $69.8 million. The management letter, included at the end of the FY 2004 Audit, reflects appropriate auditing and accounting standards.

   Beyond the College audit, the Commonwealth's Secretary of Finance John M. Bennett (see letter) and Secretary of Education Belle S. Wheelan notified the College on June 20, 2005 that the College continues to meet all of the Management Standards for the Institutions of Higher Education in Virginia for 2004-05. These Management Standards include:
   
   

   • An unqualified audit opinion
   • No significant audit deficiencies
   • Compliance with the Commonwealth's Financial Reporting Standards
   • Attainment of accounts receivable standards
   • Attainment of the accounts payable standards

   (b) Over the past five years, the College's, and indeed all public college and university, financial reporting has been impacted by the adoption of the Governmental Accounting Standards Board Statement 34/35 reporting model. Under the GASB 34/35 model, a separate statement of unrestricted activity is not prepared. However, this model does include unrestricted net assets for all fund groups. Under this reporting model, Unrestricted Net Assets for the College have increased as follows:

   FY 2001-02	$5,260,749
   FY 2002-03	$7,581,361
   FY 2003-04	$14,681,633

   (c) The College's long-term planning process guides its annual budget development and those budget recommendations made by the administration to the College's Board of Visitors. Beginning in FY 2005-2006, the newly implemented Process of Institutional Effectiveness and the University Process of Institutional Effectiveness Calendar will provide the overarching structure. Budget actions have and will continue to reflect the College's 2004-2008 Strategic Plan for SCHEV, as approved by the Board. Major themes in this plan include the following:
   
   

   • Attract and retain the best faculty and staff
   • Attract the best students
   • Support teaching and research
   • Support selected high quality graduate and professional programs
   • Expand study abroad opportunities
   • Expand use of technology (all venues)
   • Maintain the quality/beauty of the campus and its facilities.

   In support of the strategic plan, the Board of Visitors also approved a Five Year Plan for Strategic Investment (Fall, 2003 update; see Five Year Investment Plan). Major elements of this plan include the following:
   
   

   • Additional faculty salary support (six percent average faculty salary increases for the past two years)
   • Address faculty/staff salary competitiveness
   • Expand available student financial assistance (undergraduate and graduate)
   • Expand faculty research support
   • Provide adequate program support (admissions, library, student services staff, etc.)
   • Address the College's infrastructure needs (plant operations, capital plans, technology).

   The College's internal budget process guides the institution as it develops its annual budget. (For details, see Process of Institutional Effectiveness and University Process of Institutional Effectiveness Calendar; see also discussion of compliance in Core Requirement 2.5.) The Provost, Vice President for Finance, and Vice President for Administration receive input from the faculty, deans and vice presidents on the budget needs of the institution. These needs are then evaluated relative to both the College's Strategic Plan and the Five Year Strategic Investment. The Administrative Budget Group (consisting of the Provost as Chair and the two vice presidents) then make budget recommendations to the president and, with his concurrence, on to the Board of Visitors for action.

   In the past two years, the College has invested in excess of $11 million in incremental funds toward targeted expenditures included in the Five Year Strategic Investment Plan.

   Like many public universities, the College experienced a reduction in state support during the 2002-04 biennium, associated with the national economic downturn. The College responded to this reduction in state support by reducing its expenditures in selected areas while generating additional revenue from non-state sources. As a result, the College maintained a balanced budget throughout this period while net assets continued to grow.

   The College of William and Mary included for review audited financial statements for five fiscal years, FY 1999-2000 through FY 2003-2004. During that time period, Commonwealth of Virginia General Fund contributions to the College's operational budget declined, paralleling the national economic downturn. The general fund contribution to the College's Education and General program in FY 2000-2001 was $48,680,256, as compared to the general fund contribution in FY 2003-2004 of $36,736,812 (75.5% of the amount contributed in FY 2000-2001). Conversely, the nongeneral fund (tuition and fees) contribution to the College's Education and General program increased from $46,563,502 to $53,842,543 during the same four year period. Even though a portion of the reduction in general funds was offset by increases in nongeneral funds, budget reductions throughout the Education and General program were required. The President, Provost, Vice Presidents, Deans, and the Budget Policy and Advisory Committee, which preceded the current Faculty University Priorities Committee as the primary budgetary advisory group, were all involved in the decision process, and all decisions on budget reductions were made in keeping with the College's Strategic Plan.

   Initial budget reductions occurred in FY 2001-2002 when the Commonwealth made a mid year reduction of general fund support in the amount of $1.5 million. The College absorbed that reduction by instituting a hiring freeze and deferring expenses for library materials and maintenance and operation. In FY 2002-2003, general fund support to the College's Education and General program was reduced by an additional $5.4 million and the College had to generate additional revenue or reduce budget allocations to replace $6.9 million in lost State funding. Permanent budget reductions were required to balance the budget, and additional tuition revenue was generated when the decision was made by the Board of Visitors to enhance planned tuition revenue by instituting a mid year tuition increase. Based on planning activities begun in the Spring of 2002, the following decisions were made and communicated to the campus community regarding budget reductions: decreased funding for adjunct faculty, suspension of summer research grants, reorganization of faculty advising, reduced support to the Thomas Jefferson National Accelerator Facility, restructuring of the Environmental Sciences Cluster, seven per cent reduction in departmental maintenance and operating budgets, reduction in funding for library materials, decreased funding for outreach activities, and the elimination of 11 faculty and 8.5 full-time ("FTE") staff associated with vacant positions and 9 FTE through lay-offs. In FY 2003-2004, the College had to absorb an additional $3 million reduction in general funds. That need was met by additional savings from the planned actions taken in FY 2002-03 related to program and staffing reductions and additional nongeneral funds generated from tuition and fee increases.

   As noted, the College responded to this situation by developing its Five Year Strategic Investment Plan and moving forward with funding this plan beginning with fiscal year 2004-05. Through a combination of incremental state support, tuition increases, and private funds, the College continues to strengthen both its programs and financial position.

   Other factors reinforce our assessment that its financial base remains strong. Admissions data reveal that we are a highly selective university. For Fall, 2004, the College had 9,607 undergraduate applications with 1,341 matriculations. The Mean SAT for these enrolled students was 1335, with 80% of the students in the top 10% of their high school class. For the Fall 2005 freshman class, there were 10, 610 applications for a class of 1,344, with a Mean SAT score of 1344. Seventy-nine percent were in the top 10% of their graduating classes. Graduate and professional schools applications remain strong as well.

   Most notable are the 4,243 law school applications for 206 slots (Fall 2004), and similar numbers for 2005. Such demand demonstrates that the College continues to maintain tuition flexibility relative to those institutions with which it directly competes for students. See Tuition and Fees at William and Mary and Peers Comparisons.

   The College also continues to build its financial base through private fund raising. We currently are in the midst of the Campaign for William and Mary, the College's third major capital campaign. This seven year, $500 million comprehensive campaign, will conclude in 2007. As of June 30, 2005, the College had raised $401.5 million, 80% of the campaign goal, $188 million for endowments and $213.5 million expendable. Concurrent with the campaign, unrestricted annual giving has increased 38% over the campaign and the alumni giving rate has increased from 28% in 2000 to 30.3% in 2004.

   At the same time, the College continues to make significant investment in its buildings and infrastructure. In this regard, the Commonwealth of Virginia has provided approximately $90 million to support the renovation and expansion of academic facilities on the main campus and at the York River campus of the Virginia Institute of Marine Science. The College also is making significant investment in auxiliary enterprise facilities including its residence life, food service, and student recreation facilities. Additional information about physical resources is included in Comprehensive Standard 3.10.7.

   An Executive Summary of the College's FY 2005-06 operating budget as approved by the Board of Visitors, associated resolutions, and Board minutes documenting this approval are provided in the following:
   
   

   • Board of Visitors 2005-06 Executive Budget Summary
   • Board of Visitors 2005-06 Resolution 39
   • Board of Visitors 2005-06 Resolution 40
   • Board of Visitors 2005-06 Resolution 41
   • Board of Visitors 2005-06 Resolution 42
   • Board of Visitors 2005-06 Resolution 43
   • Board of Visitors 2005-06 Resolution 44
   • Board of Visitors 2005-06 Resolution 45 (R)
   • Board of Visitors 2005-06 Resolution 49

   In August 2005, Standard & Poor's issued a credit report, resulting in the College's first credit rating of AA.

   Comprehensive Standard 3.10.7. The Institution operates and maintains physical facilities, both on and off campus, that are adequate to serve the needs of the institution's educational programs, support services and other mission-related activities.

   The College has 197 buildings and structures situated on 1200 acres on its main and law school campuses in Williamsburg. In addition there are 105 buildings on 53 acres at the Virginia Institute of Marine Science campuses in Gloucester, Wachepreague and Topping Virginia. These buildings serve a wide variety of functions including teaching, research, residential, recreational and administrative. The facilities are valued at $614 million (see Valuation Summary for WM 7-05 and Valuation Summary for VIMS 7-05).

   Facilities Planning

   The College administration recognizes the need to provide and maintain facilities appropriate to the wide-ranging needs of this institution, and has been pursuing actively the funds necessary to do so. The planning process consists of the development of a master plan, a revolving six-year plan for facilities construction and renovation, and a plan for eliminating the backlog of deferred maintenance and strengthening preventive maintenance. These efforts will be integrated into the Process of Institutional Effectiveness to ensure their active consideration and appropriate priority.

   As a public university, capital and operating funds for the College's academic and administrative buildings come primarily from the State. Funding for the facilities that support residence life, athletic, and auxiliary functions is primarily supported through fees. As a reality of life, more and more of these projects have a private fund-raising component so that the College is able to build the facilities that meet its needs.

   Master Planning

   The College updated its 1987 Master Plan in 2003 (see Campus Construction Guidelines) and established a set of guiding principles for the development of the campus. Those principles are based on the College's strong undergraduate focus and the desire to construct and maintain its undergraduate academic, residential and recreational spaces on its main campus so that all are within walking distance of one another. This, in turn, strengthens the sense of community engendered by a residential campus that houses 75% of its undergraduates. The plan strongly advocates for a pedestrian campus, pushing parking to the perimeter and preserves the human scale of the campus. The principles also recognize the critical need to provide academic space that properly supports twenty-first century teaching and research methods.

   In addition, the College has developed a storm water master plan to remediate existing deficiencies and to support the extensive building program that will have the campus under construction for the next six to eight years.

   Six Year Plan

   Every odd numbered year, the College presents a six-year capital outlay plan to the State, outlining its construction needs over the next three biennia, in priority order. The plan is updated at each submission to reflect funded and completed projects and to reestablish priorities. Projects are identified through multiple sources starting with a request to Deans and Vice Presidents about their current and projected space needs consistent with the academic and residence life strategic planning goals. In addition there is an independent assessment of building conditions developed by the Office of Facilities Management which identifies critical needs. Priorities are established by the College's Advisory Committee on Space Management and approved by the Provost.

   Maintenance Reserve

   In addition to major construction projects, the College manages a maintenance reserve fund for projects over $25,000 and under $1 million. Projects included in this program involve major repair or replacement to plant, property or equipment intended to extend its useful life. Typical projects are window replacements, roof replacements and the refurbishment or replacement of building systems. Classroom renovation also is included in this fund. However, beginning with the six year plan for 2006-2012, classroom renovation became a separate line item in the Six Year Plan.

   The College receives a biennial allocation from the state for these projects. During the period from 2000-2003, the College's allocation was reduced 75%. Our current need is approximately $6 million per biennium. Our current allocation for 2004-06 is $3.1 million.

   Preventive Maintenance

   The Commonwealth provides funding for the maintenance of academic buildings and non-fee associated facilities. Revenue shortfalls in recent years have caused the College to trim personnel and expenses across all departments, and care of the physical plant has not been exempt. However, with the advent of restructuring, ostensibly beginning in fiscal year 2007, the College will be in a position to restore and even enhance funding for the physical plant.

   Since 1995, the College has been reporting to the State Council for Higher Education in Virginia (SCHEV) on the condition of its academic and administrative facilities. These reports underscore the need for the Commonwealth to continue to make significant investment in the College's academic facilities. Deferred maintenance in higher education is an issue nationally, and given the influx of students expected to enter the system over the next decade, the Commonwealth recently charged the Auditor of Public Accounts (APA) with developing a pilot program to document the condition in public facilities, as a potential tool for calculating future funding requirements. That pilot program is on-going, and is linked to the College's most recent 2006-2012 capital plan.

8. FINANCIAL SUPPORT
   
   Provide a business plan that includes the following: (a) a description of financial resources to support the change, including a budget for the first year (a three-year budget is requested for new branch campuses); (b) projected revenues and expenditures and cash flow; (c) the amount of resources going to institutions or organizations for contractual or support services; and (d) the operational, management, and physical resources available for the change. Provide contingency plans if required resources do not materialize. For consolidations/mergers, and for institutions currently on sanction with the Commission for financial reasons, provide a copy of the most recent audit (audits from all institutions involved in consolidations/mergers). (CR 2.11, CS 3.10.1 –CS 3.10.5)

   Response:

   Some of the following information is also presented in Section 7 - PHYSICAL RESOURCES.

   The financial records for the first three years are attached as appendices A, B, C, D, and E.

   Core Requirement 2.11. Please see above on page 28.

   Comprehensive Standard 3.10.1 The institution's recent financial history demonstrates financial stability.

   The College of William and Mary has a sound financial base and adequate physical resources to support its mission, programs, and services. This statement is supported by financial information provided in the College's audited financial statements for the fiscal years ending June 30, 2000 through June 30, 2004 . These statements show a consistent pattern of growth in revenue, expenditures, and net assets. The most recent audit confirms that the College maintains a strong financial position with net assets totaling $733.4 million, an increase of $69.8 million over the prior year.

   State appropriations received in fiscal year 2003-2004, $58,666,039, were 85% of the state appropriations received in fiscal year 1999-2000, $68,874,123, which was reflective of the national economic downturn during that period. During the same five year period, revenue from tuition and fees increased by more than 23% to $67,260,725 from $54,557,522. In fiscal year 2004-2005, state appropriations increased to $65,215,923, an increase of 11% over the prior fiscal year, and are anticipated to increase to $70,038,800 in fiscal year 2005-2006, for an increase of 19% over fiscal year 2003-2004.

   The College continues to make significant investment in its buildings and infrastructure. In this regard, the Commonwealth of Virginia has provided approximately $90 million to support the renovation and expansion of academic facilities on the main campus and at the York River campus of the Virginia Institute of Marine Science. The College is also making significant investment in auxiliary enterprise facilities, including its residence life, food service, and student recreation facilities. In total, the Commonwealth has authorized more than $294 million in College projects. A variety of state, College, and private funds support these academic, student life, administrative, and infrastructure projects.

   The College also continues to build its financial base through private fund raising. In this regard, the College is currently in the midst of the Campaign for William and Mary, the College's third major capital campaign. This seven year, $500 million comprehensive campaign, will conclude in 2007. As of June 30, 2005 , the College had raised $401.5 million, or 80% of the campaign goal, of which $188 million is for endowments and $213.5 million is expendable. Concurrent with the campaign, unrestricted annual giving has increased 38% over the campaign and the alumni giving rate has increased from 28% in 2000 to 30.3% in 2004. Please see discussion of compliance with Core Requirement 2.11 for further details.

   Comprehensive Standard 3.10.2. The institution provides financial statements and related documents, including multiple measures for determining financial health as requested by the Commission, which accurately and appropriately represent the total operation of the institution.

   The College has provided access to its audited financial statements for the past six years. (See FY 2000 Audit, FY 2001 Audit, FY 2002 Audit, FY 2003 Audit, FY 2004 Audit, and FY 2005 Audit.) These statements provide an accurate presentation of the total operation of the College. Specifically, the audit for FY 2003-04, developed in accordance with GASB Statement 39, Determining Whether Certain Organizations are Component Units—an amendment of GASB Statement 14, includes information on the College's affiliated foundations for the first time. The audit confirms that the College maintains a strong financial position with net assets totaling $733.4 million, an increase of $69.8 million over the prior year.

   The College's financial strength reflects its flexibility to raise tuition and manage expenses in a time of reductions in state support, on-going investment in its campus facilities, an expanding research program, and ongoing success in private fund raising and the related investment of these funds.

   As indicated in the audit, the College continues to receive a clean opinion with no material weaknesses or instances of noncompliance, and no audit points. This performance is reinforced as the College continues to meet all of the Commonwealth's Management Standards for Higher Education.

   As final evidence of the College's financial stability, in August 2005, Standard & Poor's issued a credit report, resulting in the College's first credit rating of AA.

   Comprehensive Standard 3.10.3. The institution audits financial aid programs as required by federal and state regulations.

   The College of William and Mary's financial aid programs are audited in accordance with the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) Circular A-133 as required by federal law and are included in the OMB A-133 Single Audit work performed by Virginia's Auditor of Public Accounts. (See FY 2000 Audit, FY 2001 Audit, FY 2002 Audit, FY 2003 Audit, FY 2004 Audit, and FY 2005 Audit.) The Auditor also audits the College's financial statements annually in accordance with the Government Auditing Standards (see GAO: Government Auditing Standards 2003 [the Yellow Book]) issued by the Comptroller General of the United States. Additionally, the College's Office of Internal Audit has conducted two audits and one quality assurance review since the previous SACS accreditation review in 1995. There have been no material audit findings concerning the College's financial aid programs since the previous SACS accreditation review. The Office of Financial Aid is also a participant in the U. S. Department of Education's Quality Assurance Program (QAP).

   Comprehensive Standard 3.10.4. The institution exercises appropriate control over all of its financial and physical resources.

   The College of William and Mary follows best practices to ensure that it maintains control of its financial and physical resources, making use of external and internal audits as well as on-going interface with various state agencies.

   The Virginia State Auditor of Public Accounts, as required by the Commonwealth (see Code of Virginia 2.2-803), performs the external audit on an annual basis. The fiscal year 2003-04 audit of the College confirms that appropriate controls are in place. There were no material weaknesses, instances of noncompliance, or audit points identified in the latest state audit.

   The College's Office of Internal Audit regularly audits various offices and functions of the College consistent with its risk assessment and audit plan. Key to the activities of the Office of Internal Audit is the fact that it reports directly to the College's Board of Visitors, allowing the Office complete access to the Board to discuss any matters that come to its attention. As a result, the Board of Visitors approves an annual audit plan to guide the activities of the office (see Work Plan 2005, and Work Plan 2004, for example).

   Central administrative and financial departments establish policies and procedures for the College, which is an agency of the Commonwealth of Virginia. The primary departments include the Department of Planning and Budget, Department of Accounts, and the Department of the Treasury.

   The Department of Planning and Budget is responsible for the state-wide budget development processes along with the appropriation and allotting of funds. The Department of Accounts is responsible for the state-wide accounting system, including all policies and procedures as reflected in the Commonwealth's Accounting Policies and Procedures (CAPP) manual (see CAPP Manual Table of Contents). The Treasury Department is responsible for all treasury functions and the issuance of debt. As an extension of these central agency policies and procedures, the College's financial and administrative offices also establish internal policies and procedures through the Finance Office and the Office of Financial Operations.

   Comprehensive Standard 3.10.5. The institution maintains financial control over externally funded or sponsored research and programs.

   The College of William and Mary has safeguards in place to manage and maintain control of externally funded programs. The Vice Provost for Research and Graduate/Professional Studies oversees all research at the College. The Office of Grants and Research Administration on the Williamsburg campus monitors compliance and maintains financial control over the Faculty of Arts and Sciences, School of Business, School of Education, and School of Law. The Office of Sponsored Programs of the Virginia Institute of Marine Science (York River Campus) is responsible for the Institute and College's School of Marine Science. Both offices review and approve financial transactions posted to grants and contracts. Further, these offices are the principal units charged with acquisition and distribution of general and project-specific information, providing education about project and institutional compliance requirements, and distribution of financial information about sponsored programs using digital and traditional reporting formats.

   The College's sponsored research programs are audited by federal auditors and Virginia's Auditor of Public Accounts in accordance with the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) Circular A-21 (see FY 2000 Audit, FY 2001 Audit, FY 2002 Audit, FY 2003 Audit, FY 2004 Audit, and FY 2005 Audit). In addition to these audits, William and Mary's Office of Internal Audit has conducted two audits since the previous SACS accreditation review (see VIMS-SMS Sponsored Programs Report 2001-1 and W&M Sponsored Programs Report 2001-1). Only minor issues were noted which were resolved.

   Comprehensive Standard 3.10.7. The Institution operates and maintains physical facilities, both on and off campus, that are adequate to serve the needs of the institution's educational programs, support services and other mission-related activities.

   The College has 197 buildings and structures situated on 1200 acres on its main and law school campuses in Williamsburg. In addition there are 105 buildings on 53 acres at the Virginia Institute of Marine Science campuses in Gloucester, Wachepreague and Topping Virginia. These buildings serve a wide variety of functions including teaching, research, residential, recreational and administrative. The facilities are valued at $614 million (see Valuation Summary for WM 7-05 and Valuation Summary for VIMS 7-05).

   Facilities Planning

   The College administration recognizes the need to provide and maintain facilities appropriate to the wide-ranging needs of this institution, and has been pursuing actively the funds necessary to do so. The planning process consists of the development of a master plan, a revolving six-year plan for facilities construction and renovation, and a plan for eliminating the backlog of deferred maintenance and strengthening preventive maintenance. These efforts will be integrated into the Process of Institutional Effectiveness to ensure their active consideration and appropriate priority.

   As a public university, capital and operating funds for the College's academic and administrative buildings come primarily from the State. Funding for the facilities that support residence life, athletic, and auxiliary functions is primarily supported through fees. As a reality of life, more and more of these projects have a private fund-raising component so that the College is able to build the facilities that meet its needs.

   Master Planning

   The College updated its 1987 Master Plan in 2003 (see Campus Construction Guidelines) and established a set of guiding principles for the development of the campus. Those principles are based on the College's strong undergraduate focus and the desire to construct and maintain its undergraduate academic, residential and recreational spaces on its main campus so that all are within walking distance of one another. This, in turn, strengthens the sense of community engendered by a residential campus that houses 75% of its undergraduates. The plan strongly advocates for a pedestrian campus, pushing parking to the perimeter and preserves the human scale of the campus. The principles also recognize the critical need to provide academic space that properly supports twenty-first century teaching and research methods.

   In addition the College has developed a storm water master plan to remediate existing deficiencies and to support the extensive building program that will have the campus under construction for the next six to eight years.

   Six Year Plan

   Every odd numbered year, the College presents a six-year capital outlay plan to the State, outlining its construction needs over the next three biennia, in priority order. The plan is updated at each submission to reflect funded and completed projects and to reestablish priorities. Projects are identified through multiple sources starting with a request to Deans and Vice Presidents about their current and projected space needs consistent with the academic and residence life strategic planning goals. In addition there is an independent assessment of building conditions developed by the Office of Facilities Management which identifies critical needs. Priorities are established by the College's Advisory Committee on Space Management and approved by the Provost.

   Current Construction Program

   Beginning in 2004, the College embarked on a decade-long construction program the size and scope of which has not been experienced on its campuses since the late 1960s and early 1970s. The College has over $250 million in active appropriations, which include 12 major construction projects along with annual maintenance reserve and dormitory renovation projects. The program is funded from multiple sources including a General Obligation Bond passed by the voters of the Commonwealth in the fall of 2002, state funds (academic facilities only), debt (fee supported), and private dollars. It encompasses academic facilities, including three projects for the sciences; new dormitories; a law library expansion and renovation; auxiliary facilities such as the recreational sports center, a major dining facility, a parking deck, and an amphitheatre; a new admissions office; and major utility upgrades.

   Dormitory Renovation

   In the early 1990s the College recognized that its residential facilities had aged quickly, with the newest facilities averaging 20 to 30 years in age and its oldest ranging from 40-70 years in age. We also recognized the need for functional, appealing, residential complexes that operate with the best possible care for the lowest possible cost. In 1994, the College completed a study of the dormitory conditions and created a long-term renovation and modernization plan, with $30 million funding to date. The College spends approximately $5 million in each biennium to continue this program.

   Classroom Renovation

   The College also has begun a systematic classroom renovation program that uses both capital and operating dollars as sources of funds. The College undertook an extensive analysis of its classroom needs using current and evolving teaching methods as criteria to determine the types and sizes of classrooms required.

   Maintenance Reserve

   In addition to major construction projects, the College manages a maintenance reserve fund for projects over $25,000 and under $1 million. Projects included in this program involve major repair or replacement to plant, property or equipment intended to extend its useful life. Typical projects are window replacements, roof replacements and the refurbishment or replacement of building systems. Classroom renovation also is included in this fund. However, beginning with the six year plan for 2006-2012, classroom renovation became a separate line item in the Six Year Plan.

   The College receives a biennial allocation from the state for these projects. During the period from 2000-2003, the College's allocation was reduced 75%. Our current need is approximately $6 million per biennium. Our current allocation for 2004-06 is $3.1 million.

   Preventive Maintenance

   The Commonwealth provides funding for the maintenance of academic buildings and non-fee associated facilities. Revenue shortfalls in recent years have caused the College to trim personnel and expenses across all departments, and care of the physical plant has not been exempt. However, with the advent of restructuring, ostensibly beginning in fiscal year 2007, the College will be in a position to restore and even enhance funding for the physical plant.

   Since 1995, the College has been reporting to the State Council for Higher Education in Virginia (SCHEV) on the condition of its academic and administrative facilities. These reports underscore the need for the Commonwealth to continue to make significant investment in the College's academic facilities. Deferred maintenance in higher education is an issue nationally, and given the influx of students expected to enter the system over the next decade, the Commonwealth recently charged the Auditor of Public Accounts (APA) with developing a pilot program to document the condition in public facilities, as a potential tool for calculating future funding requirements. That pilot program is on-going, and is linked to the College's most recent 2006-2012 capital plan.

9. EVALUATION AND ASSESSMENT
   
   Describe how the institution assesses overall institutional effectiveness as well as the means used to monitor and ensure the quality of the degree program(s), off-campus site(s), or other changes. Summarize procedures for systematic evaluation of instructional results, including the process for monitoring and evaluating programs at the new site, as well as using the results of evaluation to improve institutional programs, services, and operations. For distance learning instruction or compressed time frames, describe the methodology for determining that levels of knowledge and competencies comparable to those required in traditional formats have been achieved. (CR 2.5, CS 3.3.1)

   Response:

   The class work and curriculum for the Northern Virginia section of the Executive MBA program are identical to the Williamsburg section. In addition, the instructional faculty are the same. Students are evaluated and graded on the same basis for each class in the program in a manner the same as the Williamsburg section. All classes participate in the student evaluation process. In addition, the School of Business has an ongoing class peer review process for all tenure track and full-time faculty. Classes in the Northern Virginia section are included in this peer review procedure.

   Core Requirement 2.5. Please see page 4.

   Comprehensive Standard 3.3.1. Please see page 8.

10. APPENDICES
    
    Appendices may include items such as (1) vitae of key faculty; (2) selected letters of support; (3) copies of library and other cooperative agreements, etc. Please note that the Commission on Colleges reserves the right to make amendments to the above requirements for certain types of changes. Institutions initiating level changes must request and complete an "Application Form" in quadruplicate.

    July 2005

    • Financial Records - Appendix A
    • Financial Records - Appendix B
    • Financial Records - Appendix C
    • Financial Records - Appendix D
    • Financial Records - Appendix E