Foundations of Excellence
John Lanning
A s s i s t a n t Vi c e C h a n c e l l o r f o r
Undergraduate Experiences
P e g g y L o re
A s s i s t a n t Vi c e C h a n c e l l o r f o r
Student Success
Foundations of
Excellence
The Foundations of Excellence® (FoE) is a comprehensive, nearly
year long program of assessment focusing on the first-year student.
FoE is self-directed by UC Denver and externally guided by the
Policy Center on the First Year of College.
The result of the FoE process, due in June, will be a strategic plan for
UC Denver to realize excellence in first-year student learning,
persistence, and success.
FoE Participation Goals
 comprehensive plan across academic and student affairs to
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improve student success
road map to excellence for entering first-year students
input for undergraduate and first-year students into the UC
Denver Strategic Plan
input into UC Denver budgeting processes
student, faculty and staff assessments used in upcoming Higher
Learning Commission Self Study.
FoE Structure and Process
The UC Denver FoE process has two co -Liaisons, an
E x e c u t i v e S t e e r i n g C o mmi t t e e , a n d 9 w o r k i n g
D i me n s i o n C o mmi t t e e s . :
Philosophy
Peter Bryant
Organization
Ly n n M a s o n
Learning
Ann Martin & Lissa Gallagher
Faculty
Ta m m y S t o n e
Tr a n s i t i o n s
Carol Morken & Khushnur
Dadabhoy
All Students
Charlie Ferguson & Samantha Ortiz Shriver
Diversity
Zen Camacho
Roles and Purposes
Paul Rakowski
Faculty and Staff Survey
7 8 5 s t a ff , f a c u l t y a n d a d mi n i s t r a t or s ( 4 9 % ) r e s p o n d e d
t o F o E s u r v e y.
High Satisfaction
first-year instruction
academic advising
Low Satisfaction
hiring process
utilization of assessment results
professional development
High Impact Improvement
leveraging assessment results
faculty involvement with curriculum and learning goals
First-Year Student Survey
250 UC Denver freshmen (12%) responded to FoE survey.
High Satisfaction
quality of instruction
standards of behavior
campus environment
Low Satisfaction
making connections with students and faculty
academic advising
High Impact Improvement
high school to university transition support
academic advising
FoE Student Results
 50% of entering Denver freshmen selected UC Denver as their first choice.
 Entering freshmen selected UC Denver because:
• strength of academic programs
66%
• location and ability to live at home
63%
• cost of tuition and fees
53%
• consolidation with Anschutz Medical Campus
27%
 First-Year satisfaction varies with living environment:
• residence halls
3.35 (5.0 scale, 3.5 FoE goal)
• home
3.68
 First-Year satisfaction varies with ethnicity:
Black = 3.28
Hispanic = 3.88
White = 3.52
FoE Next Steps
Late April – complete campus-wide review of Dimension Committee
Reports
Early May – finalize Dimension Committee reports
Mid May – complete draft of Final Report
Late May – review of Final Report draft
Mid June – submit final FoE Report to Provost and Policy Center
Late Sept – UE Symposium on implementation strategy of FoE Plan
FoE Campus-Wide Review
www.cudenver.edu/ue/foe
You will find:
• explanation of the FoE program
• assessment process
• the draft of each of the nine Dimension Committee (DC) reports
• link to simple, short questionnaire for each DC report
Your review and comments are valuable to the FoE planning process.