Standards:

STANDARD TEN

PUBLIC DISCLOSURE

10 Description
	Eastern Connecticut State University provides the general public and various 
constituencies across the state and region with complete, accurate, and up-to-
date information about the university's people, programs, activities, and 
opportunities. As a state-assisted institution of higher education, the 
university is committed to accounting for its use of public funds as well as to 
meeting the educational needs of a wide range of populations. Through public 
disclosure, the institution establishes and strengthens its image within the 
community, as well as its value as an educational resource for citizens of all 
ages and backgrounds. In all its print, video, audio, electronic media, and 
signage, the institution strives to attain clarity, openness, and honesty. 
The current catalog, published in May 1998, spans the two-year period 1998-2000. 
(A new catalog will be published in fall 2000.) Revised in November 1998 after 
the publication of the catalog, the mission statement is still nonetheless 
reflected in it. Information regarding admission and academic programs is 
complete and clearly stated, and along with that provided by the Student 
Handbook, portrays the university's programs, services, and expectations in such 
a way that students can make informed decisions about their academic paths. 
Other publications, press releases, electronic media, and videos carry messages 
consistent with those contained in the mission statement and in the catalog. 
The institution's current catalog contains the unrevised mission statement, 
objectives, and expected educational outcomes, along with requirements, 
procedures, and policies related to admissions and transfer of credits. It 
contains student fees, charges, and refund policies for both graduate and 
undergraduate students, information on withdrawal from the institution or 
individual classes, academic programs and courses currently offered, academic 
policies and procedures, and requirements of degrees and other forms of academic 
recognition. The revised mission statement is also included in the President's 
Annual Report of Donors. 
	The view book and search piece contains the institution's objectives and 
expected educational outcomes, academic and academic support programs, a profile 
of student life and activities, and forms of academic recognition. The Student 
Handbook contains the academic calendar, information on offices and services 
available to students including the name and phone number of the director, 
academic standards and procedures, attendance policy, the academic grievance 
procedure, and the names, locations, and phone numbers of academic department 
chair. The handbook also includes students rights and responsibilities, and the 
institution's policy and procedure in accordance with the Family Educational 
Rights and Privacy Act of 1974. 
	The university also creates brochures targeted at specific groups, such as 
transfer students, international students, nontraditional students, athletes, 
and parents. Along with information about the overall academic program, these 
brochures include information of particular interest to the targeted population. 
In addition, media guides are prepared for each of the university's fifteen 
varsity sports. 
	Care is taken to ensure that each publication is appealing to its audience, and 
that all information is current and clearly presented. The institution's web 
page contains complete information on admissions procedures, tuition, and fees. 
The 1998-00 catalog contains a list of faculty, current as of May 1998, 
indicating departmental or program affiliation, degrees held, and granting 
institutions. Some individual departmental and specific program brochures--those 
for STEP/CAP, Academic Advisement, Economics, and Master's in Accounting--list 
faculty members and staff. The names and positions of administrative officers 
are included in the catalog, Student Handbook, and web page. The members of the 
Board of Trustees are listed in the catalog and in the President's Annual Report 
of Donors. 
	A two-year course projection in the catalog indicates the semester in which 
listed courses are available within the projected time frame. Departments update 
these course projections each time the catalog is revised, annually or 
biannually. Regarding personnel: faculty and administrative staff are listed in 
the catalog and the list is current as of the date of publication; however, 
there is no accompanying information regarding their availability during a given 
academic year. 
	Information for prospective undergraduate students regarding the size and 
characteristics of the student body, campus setting, support services, physical 
resources, tuition and fees, and co-curricular and nonacademic opportunities are 
described in brief in the search piece, and more fully in the view book and 
other related publications that are targeted to specific interests. Graduate and 
continuing education course schedules offer this information for adult learners. 
For current students, the Housing Handbook and Student Handbook provide this 
information. 
	The pocket-sized Fast Facts book offers a concise overview of university 
demographics, facilities, accreditation, curricular and extracurricular 
programs, and a breakdown of enrollment by majors as well as the number of 
degrees awarded in each major. In addition, the Office of Institutional Planning 
and Research web site provides demographic information on Eastern's student body 
as well as the university's Strategic Plan. 
Statements and promises appearing in all brochures and documents disseminated by 
the Office of University Relations are derived from information provided by the 
Office of Institutional Planning and Research (IPR). Brochures done 
independently of the Office of University Relations may or may not have valid 
documentation available. 
	The institution complies with all reasonable requests for publications and 
information within its governing guidelines. The Office of Institutional 
Planning and Research and the Office of University Relations cooperate in 
complying with appropriate requests for information.
Accurate and explicitly worded statements about the university's current 
accredited status are contained in its main recruitment publications, the 
Student Handbook and the university catalog. 
Publications are reviewed and updated on a regular basis. Care is taken to 
ensure that all information in each publication is complete, accurate, and 
current. 

10 Appraisal
	The catalog, search piece, and view book, targeted departmental and admissions 
brochures, radio and print ads, the university's video, and annual reports are 
carefully designed and executed to give an accurate representation of the 
institution. The institution maintains a web site on the World Wide Web with 
eighteen links to specific areas of information within or about the university. 
Input is sought and received from faculty, staff, students, and persons outside 
the university community to ensure that information is complete and openly 
portrayed. 
	The Office of University Relations works closely with other institutional units 
to ensure consistent style, messages, and accuracy of information in Eastern's 
major publications. To further ensure accuracy and consistency, the Office of 
Institutional Planning and Research is regularly consulted for current 
statistics about the university and its students. 
	Production of the catalog is a cooperative effort, led by the Office of Academic 
Affairs, with input, updating, and review by all deans, department chairs, and 
administrative offices of the university. Last year was the first year of a 
biennial cycle for the catalog, previously an annual publication. The advantages 
of the two-year cycle are cost-effectiveness and efficiency in staffing. The 
drawbacks include limitations on accuracy in the second year of the cycle, such 
as faculty and administrative staff changes, programming additions, and 
revisions in tuition and fees. The last problem is alleviated by publishing a 
separate tuition-and-fees insert, and by updating other publications produced 
yearly. The Student Handbook, compiled and updated by Student Activities in 
cooperation with the Office of the Vice President for Student Affairs, is both a 
contract with students and an information resource about activities, services, 
rules, and responsibilities. The view book with enclosed application, produced 
in conjunction with the Admissions Office with input from other university 
units, includes current information for prospective undergraduates. Course 
schedules, printed three times a year by the School of Continuing Education and 
Office of Graduate Programs in cooperation with the Registrar's Office, also 
contain current information about new programs and tuition. Students are 
informed about noncredit programs through course schedules produced for the 
fall, spring, and summer semesters each year. 
	The Office of Public Relations within the Office of University Relations also 
administers the media-relations function, and has contacts with print media, 
including the Willimantic Chronicle, Norwich Bulletin, Manchester Journal 
Inquirer, Hartford Courant, and the New York Times, as well as WILI and WTYD 
radio, its own radio station, WECS, and regional television stations based in 
Hartford. The Office of Public Relations strives to ensure that the mission 
statement is reflected in its communications with the press. The office 
published a Guide to Media and Community Resources in late 1997, and plans to 
update the guide this year. The World Wide Web is also becoming more useful as a 
media communications tool, and is a becoming an ever-stronger information 
resource for reporters. The Office of University Relations is working on 
updating its site to be more accommodating as an information source, but the 
process is slow because it needs to rely on student help to get this work done. 
The catalog, Student Handbook, view book, search piece, targeted admissions 
publications, continuing education and graduate course schedules, President's 
Report of Donors, President's Summary Report, and other major publications are 
complete and well designed to ensure that the target audiences are well 
informed. They are updated on a regular basis and scrutinized carefully for 
accuracy. Production schedules cause some information to be less timely than is 
ideal and occasionally to be incorrect in the event of staff changes, revisions 
of rules or procedures, etc. 
	With the growing use of the World Wide Web as an information resource, 
communications with prospective students have undergone a paradigm shift in 
recent years. Eastern's web site could be expanded to include information on the 
institution's mission, objectives, expected educational outcomes, transfer of 
credit, and degree requirements. This would be facilitated by the hiring of a 
full-time Webmaster. Some information on academic programs and courses is 
available, but the web page information could be made more complete. The School 
of Continuing Education and the Graduate Division's course bulletins are 
available on the Internet, but the entire university catalog should also be 
available electronically. 
	Part-time faculty are not listed in the publications. The faculty listing on the 
university web site is not complete or uniform. Each faculty member should be 
listed, and certain basic information for each--including departmental or 
program affiliation, degrees held, and the institution granting them--should be 
consistent. Room should be left to allow for the creativity and personal flavor 
of the individual. 
	The university catalog includes a two-year projection for planning course 
schedules. For the most part, courses listed in the catalog were being taught 
within the covered two-year period. However, there is no information about 
faculty and staff leaves and sabbaticals. Because of the biennial production of 
the catalog, information about availability of faculty, were it included, might 
be outdated; however, to the extent that it is possible, this information should 
be provided to students. The catalog information could be augmented with 
information contained in departmental brochures. 
	The university does a good job in providing demographic, facilities, support 
services, and co-curricular and nonacademic information to students in print 
media. The web site, as stated earlier, does not offer the same consistency of 
information, and efforts need to be made to bring this communication tool up to 
the level of the print publications. 
	The Media Services Department assists university departments in producing videos 
to promote their programs and services. However, another vehicle available as a 
communication device is the university's cable TV station, Channel 61. There are 
plans to undertake a weekly television program about events and people at the 
institution. Launching this program would be a good way to augment communication 
with prospective students in the local area. 
	The Office of Institutional Planning and Research (IPR) does an annual survey of 
graduates five to eight months after graduation that documents information such 
as number of graduates with jobs, whether their jobs relate to their college 
experiences, and how many are attending graduate school. IPR also does an annual 
survey of admitted freshmen. This information is documented on the IPR web site, 
as well as in the actual completed survey instruments. Per the IPR, three 
academic departments document evidence of learning outcomes: psychology does a 
pre- and postlearning test developed by the department; biology majors take the 
Graduate Record Exam yearly; and the business department also tests learning 
outcomes. It is not known if all valid documentation is forwarded to the IPR by 
all departments, but this is a practice that should occur on a regular basis. 
The university makes every effort to respond in a timely manner to reasonable 
requests for publications and for information about itself, within the 
limitations of the Federal Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act of 1974 
(the Buckley amendment), which prohibits releasing student records without the 
student's consent. Because Eastern is a public institution, much of the 
information about the university is available through Freedom of Information. 
The most recent audited financial statements can be obtained through the 
university's Office of Administration and Finance, the Connecticut State 
University system office, and the Office of the State Auditors. 
	The university clearly states in its catalog and all its recruitment materials 
that it is accredited by the New England Association of Schools and Colleges. 
Major university publications undergo rigorous scrutiny. The catalog, reviewed 
by every department on campus, is updated every two years. The Student Handbook, 
Housing Handbook, view book, search piece, graduate and continuing education 
course schedules are updated yearly. The President's Annual Report of Donors 
produced by the Office of Institutional Advancement and the President's Annual 
Summary Report, which is based on each department's annual report, are new each 
year. 
	Many current publications--catalog, view book, search piece, brochures, print 
ads, President's Annual Report of Donors, President's Annual Summary Report, 
Student Handbook, course schedules for both the School of Continuing Education 
and Graduate Division Programs--have been redesigned to present a consistent 
message and image of the institution. 
	There are a number of publications produced independently by departments on 
campus that do not conform to stylistic or editorial guidelines followed by the 
Office of University Relations. The institution is beginning the process of 
creating brochures for each academic department that do conform to the 
established image and style. Once brochures have been completed for all 
departments, the goal is to revise each brochure biennially, ensuring that 
departmental information is current and accurate. This will be an ongoing 
process, slowed in part by the magnitude of the job and by lack of staff in the 
Office of University Relations. 
    
10 Projection
		Visual, printed, and audio materials contain information about the institution 
that is complete, accurate, and clear. The evolving nature of the World Wide Web 
requires that the institution continue to work toward bringing its web page to 
the same level of completeness and clarity that it has achieved in other areas. 
Although the two-year cycle of the catalog results in problems with the 
timeliness of some information, other publications, produced more often, provide 
current information for students. 
	With the recent approval of the university's World Wide Web policy, the WWW 
Oversight Committee has been reconstituted, and increased emphasis must be 
placed on communicating with students, alumni, media outlets, and other external 
audiences using this methodology. Currently, each department updates its own 
information. Some units, such as the library, the Office of Institutional 
Planning and Research, the Personnel Office, and some academic departments are 
highly developed and offer rich resources; others are not represented at all, 
largely because of staffing limitations. Under the guidance of the WWW 
Committee, the university's web presence must be brought into line stylistically 
with print publications and reorganized to be more user friendly. However, the 
hands-on work of accomplishing this important task cannot be carried out by a 
committee. One of the ways we can ensure consistency, accuracy, and 
completeness, at least on the main pages of the university's web site, is to 
hire a full-time webmaster. 
	In preparing documents, the following changes should be made: add names of part-
time faculty to catalog; indicate in the catalog's faculty listings if a faculty 
or staff member will be on sabbatical leave during a given semester or academic 
year; add names and positions of administrative officers and members of 
governing board to President's Annual Summary Report. Eastern must continue to 
expand the web page to include all faculty, perhaps listed by department and 
update these listings in the shorter-term brochures produced for each 
department, and use the Internet to enhance the speed with which information is 
available to the university's audiences. 
	Demographic information, facilities, and campus setting are well documented in 
print and on the web site. Not all areas of co-curricular and nonacademic 
opportunities are available on the web, however, and attention must be paid to 
improving this important communication tool. Staff time and resources need to be 
devoted to developing the television production studios into another method of 
communicating with local constituencies. 
	All documentation for all statements, promises, and achievements of students and 
faculty should be forwarded to the Office of Institutional Planning and 
Research, which is the source for statistical information for the entire campus. 
The university will continue to comply with all reasonable requests for 
publications, information about itself, and the most recent audited financial 
statements. To be more responsive to individuals seeking information, the 
university should consider offering some basic guidelines for obtaining 
information about itself on the web site. As the repository for university 
information, the Office of Institutional Planning and Research could add this 
function to the wealth of reports it offers. 
	The university will continue to be accurate and explicit in regard to its 
accreditation status. 
	The university will continue to work toward completing a brochure for each 
academic department; to bring new material to the web site and ensure that 
posted information is current; and to look toward hiring additional staff in the 
Office of University Relations, along with more staff with web page experience 
and expertise.