Milestone 4

HEA 560 Milestone Four Guidelines and Rubric While it is sometimes difficult to assess the impact of proposed higher education policies, it is essential to project outcomes given the extensive investment of human and financial resources often required to implement those policies. It is also important to consider the sometimes unintended consequences of drastic alterations to affirmative action-like admissions standards. One recent example of such projections emerged after several state governments and judicial offices mandated race-neutral policies for admissions in California, Texas, and Florida during the latter half of the 1990s. Several stakeholders wondered about the effects of these policies on the overall racial and ethnic compositions of institutions and, in particular, whether these policies would lead to decreased enrollments of students from underrepresented racial minorities. As you consider the impacts of your policy, return to your textbook and draw parallels between your proposed admission policy and state-level policies enacted in Florida, Minnesota, California, North Carolina, Michigan, and Indiana. Next, draw parallels between your proposed admission policy and federal policies recently proposed to increase high school students’ preparation for higher education, and efforts to increase low-income students’ enrollment in colleges and universities. See if you can also find opportunities to develop connections between your proposed policy and existing policies that develop new collaborations between universities and the federal government to increase college completion rates, federal incentives to expand opportunities for students, and existing federal policies to make college more affordable for students. Discern whether elements of your proposed policy may achieve similar results as these state and federal policies with regard to impacts on students’ enrollment, retention, and degree completion. In Module Seven, you will submit a policy impact report in which you outline the possible ramifications of your admissions policy on 1) the institution’s operations, 2) the recruitment, retention, and graduation rates of culturally diverse college students, and 3) the institution’s mission and vision. Consider whether your policy will have an impact upon the institution’s mission and vision to work with culturally diverse communities. Consider multiple definitions of cultural diversity as you frame your response. Specifically, the following critical elements must be addressed:

I. Impacts on enrollment, retention, and degree completion a. Evaluate how the policy will meet the requirement of increasing enrollment, retention, and completion. With regard to evaluating the impact of

the policy on increasing enrollment, retention, and completion, you might also think about what activities could be organized to sustainably achieve those ends. Include two peer-reviewed citations to justify your claims and cite an example of one institution with a similar mission or vision that has implemented a similar policy and achieved success in meeting those outcomes.

II. Conclusions a. Describe how this policy may impact the future demographics of the institution. What are the key considerations of the stakeholders, culture,

enrollment, retention, and completion regarding future demographics of the institution? Incorporate five peer-reviewed citations to justify your claims in each of those areas.

b. Predict the policy’s potential to alter the mission of the institution. Offer justification by citing at least one institution that has adopted a similar policy and the outcomes respective to the mission of the institution. Describe whether alterations to the institutional mission are warranted or recommended.

c. Analyze how the policy may impact future funding sources. Incorporate insights into institutional accountability for meeting student success outcomes and evaluate the impact of the policy on federal or state funding.

Guidelines for Submission: Your paper must be submitted as a four- to five-page (plus a cover sheet and reference page) Microsoft Word document with double spacing, 12-point Times New Roman font, one-inch margins, and at least three sources cited in APA format (following the APA Manual 6th Edition). Ensure that the cover sheet and reference page are also in APA format.

Critical Elements Proficient (100%) Needs Improvement (75%) Not Evident (0%) Value

Impact: How Policy Meets

Requirement

Evaluates how the policy will meet the requirement of increasing enrollment, retention, and completion

Evaluates how the policy will meet the requirement of increasing enrollment, retention, and completion but evaluation lacks detail

Does not evaluate how the policy will meet the requirement of increasing enrollment, retention, and completion

20

Conclusions: Future Impact on

Demographics

Describes how the policy may impact the future demographics of the institution

Describes how the policy may impact the future demographics of the institution but lacks logical reasoning

Does not describe how the policy may impact the future demographics of the institution

20

Conclusions: Potential to Alter the

Mission

Predicts the policy’s potential to alter the mission of the institution

Predicts the policy’s potential to alter the mission of the institution but lacks logical reasoning and detail

Does not predict the policy’s potential to alter the mission of the institution

20

Conclusions: Future Funding

Sources

Analyzes how the policy may impact future funding sources

Analyzes how the policy may impact future funding sources but lacks rationale

Does not analyze how the policy may impact future funding sources

20

Articulation of Response

Submission has no major errors related to citations, grammar, spelling, syntax, or organization

Submission has major errors related to citations, grammar, spelling, syntax, or organization that negatively impact readability and articulation of main ideas

Submission has critical errors related to citations, grammar, spelling, syntax, or organization that prevent understanding of ideas

20

Earned Total 100%