National Consortium for Continuous Improvement in Higher Education

Executive Council Meeting, February 6, 2004, Hyatt Regency Hotel, Dallas Forth Worth Airport

Minutes

NB Action items are shown in bold Italics

Members Present: John Dew, Ron Coley, Maury Cotter, Ed Cunliff, Paula Gill, Van Gray, Diane Moen, Marsha Moore, Richard Norman, and Kate Riley. Vi Ettle joined via conference call for some of the session.
Guest: Susan Jurow, Senior Vice President, Professional Development and Communication, NACUBO
Staff: Susan Clarke

Chair John Dew opened the meeting by noting that NCCI is building momentum based on successful recent experiences with webinars, the Roundtable in DC, and successful programs in Nashville and Dallas. The purpose of the day’s “retreat” was to apply creativity and analysis to NCCI’s own issues as an organization and develop plans to meet current challenges.

1. Financial report.
Ron Coley presented the financial report (Attachment 1). Costs for staff (including allocated benefits and indirect cost recovery) compared with the budget are greater than anticipated at this time due to expenses for the Roundtable and for webinars. Webinars produce positive net revenues, the first one of $2,200. (Correction was made also of an incorrect percentage of actual as percentage of budget for allocated benefits.)

2. NCCI’s strengths and weaknesses. Discussions produced the observations noted below.
A. Strengths
1. We have a common belief in the value of continuous improvement.
2. Our members are open and willing to share.
3. We are a friendly, pleasant, smart and good-looking group.
4. We present diversity in institutional roles.
5. We attract people who are “do-ers.”
6. We are ahead of the curve on accreditation.
7. Higher education has a need for and interest in our work.
8. We have no political agenda.
9. Our events have very good content.
10. We overarch administrative and academic areas; we align with both NACUBO and ACE.
11. We recognize public pressures for change and can help respond.
12. We know consultants who might be partners.

B. Weaknesses
1. Our diversity in institutional roles makes us hard to identify.
2. We may infringe on other associations.
3. We are at different places on the continuous improvement “journey.”
4. We are weak in marketing ourselves and need to make significant improvement.
5. We do not present or use our web site as effectively as we might. We show no products there.
6. We are not leveraging ourselves with regard to accreditation.
7. We do not always practice what we preach about our own quality as an organization, given that we have many volunteers.
8. There is a lack of natural affiliation for us on many campuses.
9. Although we are able to help respond to public pressures for change, it is difficult to change higher education.
10. We need to find alternatives to NACUBO’s administrative support.
11. We have no representation from accreditation agencies. (We could research CHEA, Council of Higher Education Accreditation, Judith Eaton, Executive Director.)
12. We have no rich benefactors.
13. We need continuity but our Articles of Association encourage new participation.
14. Consultants have the potential to be our competitors.
15. The cost of our member dues is high for some institutions.

3. What value do we add for our members?
A. We have good events.
B. We have a web site with connections to institutions.
C. We provide networking.
D. We welcome the continuous improvement concept.
E. We provide hubinars and webinars.
F. Our members themselves provide value, both as active individuals and as part of the list of member institutions, an effective marketing tool.
G. We could do more in terms of connections with other associations.

Discussions then turned to considering the substance of NCCI and the ideas generated, rather than keeping thinking within the box of paid membership. Developing this idea led to comparing the concepts of an association with those of a consortium, in which people collaborate on actions around a common goal.
A. An association has focus and structure and advances that existing structure. Its concerns are maintenance, communication, tangibles, dues, newsletters, and “getting” for members.
B. A consortium and its organized actions around a goal involve a loose conglomeration of thought and charismatic leaders. Defining qualities are energy, fragility, and creation of change. (The Roundtable is an example of such qualities.) Work involves communicating, inspiring, values, intangibles and giving by members. There is a danger of becoming all talk and no action.

In some cases of organized actions by people working towards a goal, members demonstrate their commitment via “sweat equity” and active participation, apart from financial support, which is often met by sponsors. Some members recommended that NCCI should focus more on its purpose and less on its funding. There might be a benefit in de-coupling participation and financial support via paid membership--separating the content and purpose of NCCI from the structure of the organization. A different type of support would enable sharing and generating enthusiasm for continuous improvement in higher education and recruitment of new enthusiasts without having to ask them to make a financial payment. NCCI could ask its association members to help. NCCI could consider both institutional and individual memberships. It might also be helpful to determine the optimum size for NCCI. We might develop an inventory of who our friends might be and look for a combination of a sponsor and finding more universities to expand our membership and financial base.

4. How should we plan to address changes with NACUBO?
Susan Jurow referred to the letter of January 22, 2004 sent to John Dew by James Morley (Attachment 2) , stating that NACUBO would not be able to continue its administrative support of NCCI beyond the next 18 months.(That timetable would take us through the July 2005 annual conference in Baltimore.) Susan Jurow noted that NACUBO was happy at NCCI’s growth and successes and that it hoped to continue to collaborate on programs of benefit to both sets of memberships.

On the other hand, the NACUBO staff is only 45 people (versus 60 when NCCI began), it is too much of a stretch to continue to help NCCI, and NACUBO’s central mission does not include management of other associations. NACUBO’s attorney has long been concerned about the financial liability. The NACUBO leadership and staff will be very willing to help NCCI make the transition and want to remain engaged in the work of NCCI (perhaps via a seat on the Executive council.) One option would be to work with the CHEMA members who are volunteer groups (such as NACUMS, the National Association of College and University Mail Services) who are holding a special session in June and learn from their experiences and options for support.

NCCI could develop a Request for Proposal for sending to various association management groups. For example, IACLEA’s (International Association of Campus Law Enforcement Officers) Executive Director is also a staff member for an association management group. In any case, NCCI will also need to rethink its annual conference after 2005, since NACUBO's 2006 annual meeting will be in Hawaii in collaboration with APPA and SCUP.

(Action items arising from this topic and others are at the end of this document.)

Other discussions focused on the questions and responses shown below.

5. How should NCCI members engage in NCCI?
A. Share your stuff (provide conference sessions, put information on the web site, be available to be benchmarked, etc.)
B. Ask questions.
C. Network, connect, think together.
D. Read our stuff.
E. Provide financial support.
F. Provide support for committees, conferences.

6. How might we grow NCCI?
A. Endorsements from big associations.
B. Endorsements from campus leaders.
C. Partner with CHEMA groups on programs.
D. Endorsement from Quality Forum Corporations.
E. How do we finance the movement—ask associate members for financing.

7. Ideas
A. Connect with the accrediting agencies.
B. Look at CHEA.
C. With whom should we partner? Could we merge? Become the higher education branch of ASQ? Become a division of some other association? Join with other groups to form a new organization? (The Society for Human Resources management combined several smaller organizations.)

8. Review of Strategic Plan. Discussions resulted in the following revisions to the Strategic Plan
Mission
The National Consortium for Continuous Improvement is committed to advancing academic and administrative excellence in higher education by identifying, promoting, supporting and sharing effective organizational practices among member institutions.
Vision
As a result of the work of NCCI, higher education is functioning collaboratively across institutions to deploy employ effective methods for advancing academic and administrative excellence.
Guiding Principles Values
• We strive for excellence in every aspect of our work.
• We share our best ideas openly.
• We seek to learn from diverse perspectives.

Core Processes and Services
In pursuit of our mission, our core processes and services are:
• Advocating for continuous improvement approaches in higher education.
• Sharing information and effective practices
• Networking
• Providing learning opportunities
• Consulting and mentoring
• Conducting collaborative research

9. Leadership Planning. John Dew expressed the strong view that two-year terms for the Chair and Vice Chair are no longer necessary, but that it is important to identify the successor to the Chair so the individual can learn in the role of Vice Chair how to be chair. There should also be a formal role for the Past Chair for one year and a description of the duties of those three officers.

10. Web page. John Dew reported that Helen Norris was taking on new work at UC Berkeley. She will be able to continue to host the web site, but not to make the changes and updates, which she has been doing personally. Discussion concluded that NCCI might hire a student or relatively inexpensive labor to do this. Molly Nearing, as Program Chair, might oversee the content of the web page to assure completeness and accuracy.

11. Fifth Annual National Conference, Saturday, July 17-Sunday, 18, 2004, Milwaukee, WI. Members of the program committee who were present (Richard Norman had left by this point) reported that all proposals had been reviewed by the committee and that Richard Norman was reviewing them for final selection. Issues concerned better understanding of the role of ASQ and AQIP, whether or not to combine some proposals, possibly adding a pre or post-conference session on leadership, and the best ways to promote the event. Asked to clarify the arrangements with AQIP and ASQ for a fourth track, John Dew explained that his concept had been to have three tracks containing NCCI and accreditation related material, the latter in collaboration with AQIP. He had asked Ruth Ash to organize a fourth track, working with a consultant (not paid by NCCI) and ASQ on the topic of higher education’s role in the quality movement for kindergarten through grade 12. The program would be aimed at the Deans of the Schools of Education at NCCI member institutions and those on the ASQ mailing list of 5,000 people. Ed Cunliff reported had worked hard to talk with Stephen Spanghel, AQIP Director, without success. He needed to find out AQIP’s plans for presentations and to advise Steve on which of the proposals had a relationship to accreditation. Others raised questions as to whether or not the ASQ and K-12 topic was central to NCCI’s work, if the track would attract a reasonable number of people, and if the plans would be completed in time to prepare a brochure and market the event.

Other suggestions for the annual conference were to recreate the Dallas workshop panel (asking Steve Kreidler to focus only on LEAN, not refinancing) and to assure NCCI recognition in NCCI-related programs presented at NACUBO.

12. CHEMA. Susan Jurow reported that CHEMA had invited NCCI to join in a special promotional opportunity for CHEMA members to display an entrepreneurial effort (either creating a significant new source of revenue or developing an unusually effective cost savings effort) from within its membership. In a special exhibit hall on Monday, July 19, 2004 each association will have a 10’ x 10’ booth. Details are shown in the attached letter of December 12, 2003 (Attachment 3). Members of the Executive Council agreed to organize a display at that event.

CHEMA will also hold a meeting June 4-5, 2004 in Portland, Oregon. Kate Riley tentatively agreed to represent NCCI there, pending further details.

13. Follow up to Strategic Allocation of Resources workshop
Susan Clarke will prepare a report on the event and Ed Cunliff will provide material on the outcomes of the TILMAG exercise.

14. Assigned Action items
A. Research how to incorporate NCCI as a independent entity in accordance with Section 501 (c) (3) of the Internal Revenue Code -- Van Gray
B. Research other options for managing NCCI’s finances and membership database – Ron Coley, Maury Cotter, and Kate Riley
C. Plan a spring meeting of the Executive Council in mid May (currently set for May 14, 2004) in Chicago – John Dew
D. Engage the NCCI members in discussions about NCCI’s future at the annual conference in Milwaukee – John Dew
E. Draft a change to the Articles of Association to provide for one year terms and identification of a Vice Chair to serve for one year and to succeed the Chair – Susan Clarke. (This would be an immediate change for formalization at the July annual meeting, before other, more fundamental changes are made via new incorporation.)
F. Seek endorsement from Quality Forum Corporations (Louise Sandmeyer, Susan Williams, Brent Ruben)
G. Explore programmatic “adoption” by ACE – Maury Cotter
H. Explore a FIPSE grant (see Attachment 4 for more information) in conjunction with ACE or on improvement in secondary education, tied into accreditation preparation and aligning accreditation with Baldrige. – Kate Riley
I. Use the NCCI logo on PowerPoint’s and other visual material – All
J. Research a solution to personnel to update the web site and follow up with Helen Norris to determine what will be required to make the change for updating.—Maury Cotter.
K. Prepare a report on the workshop on Strategic Allocation of Resources – Susan Clarke and Ed Cunliff.

15. Action Items to be Determined
A. Research other options for conference management and support, including graphic design, contracts, registration, and meeting support.
B. Research other options for staffing.
C. Survey NCCI members prior to Milwaukee.
D. Organize the entrepreneurial exhibit in Milwaukee
E. Research CHEA for possible accreditation collaboration .

Attachment 1

NCCI . Summary Budgets and Actuals
Account 8/1/01-7/31/02 8/1/01-7/31/02 8/1/02-7/31/03 8/1/02-7/31/03 8/1/03-7/31/04 11.30.03 Actual as
Description Budget Actual Budget Actual Budget Actual % of Budget
Revenues
Regular Member Dues 90,000 87,000 101,250 89,250 86,250 81,000 94%
Membership Meeting 44,000 26,600 32,500 31,725 32,500
Workshops 20,000 16,565 25,000 2,637 6,500 2,757
Total Revenue: 154,000 130,165 158,750 123,612 125,250 83,757 67%

Expenses
Debt to NACUBO 3,355 3,550 11,432
Salary 15,471 9,534 13,473 7,737 8,325 6,170 74%
Allocated Benefits 4,329 2,120 3,769 1,525 2,809 889 74%
Overtime
Staff Travel 2,400 2,790 6,000 1,664 3,600 805
Non-Staff Travel 2,500 3,251 5,000 166 3,000 116
Food/Beverages 41,620 13,241 38,020 11,591 32,760 4,397
Printing/Duplicating 3,950 4,159 5,500 4,878 6,000 1,708 28%
Design & Composition 150 1,450 500
Marketing 800 3,044 250
Telephone 300 813 1,000 1,310 3,075 46
Delivery 500 304 500 147 400 82
Postage/Mailing 700 1,238 407 943 1,060 112 11%
Membership Fees 400 400
Books & Subscriptions 1,334
Supply 2,000 1,782 3,000 1,979 5,075 910 18%
Registration Fees
Audio Visual Aids 8,525 7,185 10,600 3,891 7,250 1,066
Honoraria 1,000 1,500 1,000 1,500
Service Center Fees 4,100 3,535 6,275 5,622 5,350 2,621
Consultants 30,160 29,029 35,820 40,636 39,780 16,090 40%
Credit Card Service 22
Indirect Cost Recovery 5,894 3,068 5,138 2,399 3,248 1,860 57%
Rent 500
Total Expense: 127,754 86,933 140,496 97,342 124,132 37,623 30%

Carry over 43,232 43,230 47,436 69,500
Contingency Fund 15,400 14,050 0 12,525
NCCI Net 10,846 43,232 47,436 69,500 36,029 115,634
1.21.04 Discrepancies in "dotted" numbers due to audit adjustments
Actual exceeds 50% of budget

Attachment 2

National Association of College and University Business Officers
2501 M Street, NW, Suite 400, Washington, DC 20037-1324
T 202.861.2500 F 202.861.2583
www.nacubo.org

January 22, 2004

Dr. John Dew
Chair, Executive Council
National Consortium for Continuous Improvement
in Higher Education
University of Alabama
P. O. Box 870114
Tuscaloosa, AL 35487

Dear John:

Happy New Year! I hope all starts well for you and The University of Alabama.

I'm writing to initiate conversations about NACUBO and NCCI's long-term relationship. After reviewing the four years of experience and progress that NACUBO and NCCI have shared, we would like to open discussions about developing a new relationship. We suggest this approach with the best interests of both of our organizations in mind.

NACUBO deeply values its relationship with NCCI. We want to continue to build our collaboration around the content that is of interest to our shared members. I believe the overlap between the missions and programs of our two organizations is at the heart of the future vitality and operational success of higher education institutions.

NCCI is currently organized as an unincorporated association, and NACUBO serves in an administrative capacity as its manager. This relationship, both organizationally and operationally, has become less workable for NACUBO over time. The NACUBO staff members who support various aspects of NCCI's programs and services have worked hard to provide your members with high-quality support, with very positive results. However, because of the recent 25 percent reduction in our staff, the time required for the quality service NCCI deserves exceeds our ability to continue to provide it. We recognize that NCCI

Dr. John Dew January 22, 2004 Page 2

pays for charged services and that your administrative coordinator has NCCI as her primary work. However, functions such as handling NCCI finances, maintaining its membership database, and arranging for NCCI's annual conference as part of NACUBO's annual meeting are straining the capacity of our regular staff.

Also, as NCCI has become more sophisticated in its programming and aspirations, NACUBO has incurred liabilities for programs not related to its primary mission that are also beyond its direct control. Examples are the October NCCI Roundtable and the February Dallas workshop that required hotel contracts for NCCI under NACUBO's aegis.

We propose that NCCI develop a different strategy for its association's legal structure and management needs. Such an arrangement may involve contracting with a separate association management company, establishing your own offices and staff, receiving support from your campus members, or creating a combination of these approaches. Many options are available and we will work with you to arrive at a workable solution for NCCI. NACUBO is willing to continue to serve in our current capacity over the next eighteen months as NCCI develops a new association support structure.

Susan Jurow, NACUBO Senior Vice President for Professional Development and Curriculum, will be attending your Executive Council meeting in February to discuss our mutual thinking on this issue. Susan and I are available by telephone to discuss your questions before the meeting.

With kind regards,

James E. Morley, Jr. President and
Chief Executive Officer

Attachment 3

From: James Morley
Sent: Friday, December 12, 2003 1:46 PM
Cc: Susan Jurow; Bernadette Blake
Subject: A Special Invitation in 2004

It is my pleasure to extend an invitation to NACUBO’s CHEMA colleagues to participate in a special way in our 2004 Annual Meeting in Milwaukee. The theme of the program is “Igniting the Entrepreneurial Spirit”, and we would like to invite each of your associations to present what your organization considers an entrepreneurial effort from within your membership.

We are defining “entrepreneurial” as ways campuses have either created a significant new source of revenue or developed an unusually effective cost savings effort. We believe that, in the future, innovation will be a key differentiator for successful institutions and that campuses will need to operate in an increasingly business-like manner.

We are creating a special area in the exhibit hall to showcase the associations and campus entrepreneurial effort. For each confirmed participating association, there will be a separate 10’ x 10’ booth with pipe and drape, appropriate signage, a table for materials, a cork board to put up a poster session-type display, and two chairs. You should plan to staff the booths the morning of Monday, July 19. There will be other sessions during this time block, but we think our members will have a keen interest in these presentations.

Along with the campus presentations, we want this to be an opportunity for the CHEMA associations to educate NACUBO members about the programs and services they provide. The chief staff officer of each CHEMA association already receives a complimentary registration to the NACUBO meeting. We are pleased to offer a complimentary registration to a member of your association to make the presentation on behalf of their institution. We hope that both will attend.

We are really excited about the potential for this part of our program. We think our members will benefit, the CHEMA associations separately and in the aggregate will benefit, and higher education and our joint members will benefit. To make arrangements for and to market effectively this unique program element, we need to know if your association would like to participate by Friday, February 27, 2004. Please complete the attached form, and email it to Bernadette Blake, NACUBO Meeting Coordinator (bernadette.blake@nacubo.org).

If you have any questions, please call or email Susan Jurow, NACUBO Senior Vice President for Professional Development and Communication (202/861-2559 or susan.jurow@nacubo.org). We look forward to your ideas and active participation in the development of this program.

Attachment 4
Fund for the Improvement of Postsecondary Education (FIPSE)
U.S. Department of Education
Office of Postsecondary Education
1990 K Street, NW
Washington, DC 20006
FIPSE's main activity each year is conducting the Comprehensive Program, a grant program intended to support innovative educational reform projects that can serve as national models for the improvement of postsecondary education. If you have a good idea for improving teaching or student learning, or for improving access to postsecondary education, then FIPSE's Comprehensive Program might be an ideal funding source.
FIPSE also runs grant competitions that are more specifically focused. These "special focus competitions" may vary from year to year. FIPSE currently administers three special focus international competitions. The European Community/United States Cooperation Program in Higher Education and Vocational Education and Training sponsors projects supporting consortia of institutions of higher education that promote institutional cooperation and student mobility between the US and European Community. The Program for North American Mobility in Higher Education provides funding for institutional cooperation and student exchange among colleges and universities in the US, Canada, and Mexico. The US-Brazil Higher Education Consortia Program sponsors projects promoting institutional cooperation and student mobility between the US and Brazil.
Finally, FIPSE administers the Learning Anytime Anywhere Partnerships (LAAP) Program. LAAP supports partnerships among colleges and universities, employers, technology companies, and other relevant organizations to create postsecondary programs that deliver distance education "anytime and anywhere." These programs are implemented on a national or regional scale and are innovative within the context of national trends in distance education.
o The main FIPSE number is (202) 502-7500. To request application guidelines, send name and postal mailing address by internet e-mail to FIPSE@ed.gov.
o Accreditation - John Barth at (202) 219-7011 or John.Barth@ed.gov