FSCJ Library and Learning Commons SACSCOC Outcomes

Student success is significantly affected by the learning environment. An effective institution provides appropriate academic and student support programs and services consistent with the institution’s mission that enhance the educational and personal development experience(s) of students at all levels; contribute to the achievement of teaching and learning outcomes; ensure student success in meeting the goals of the educational programs; and provide an appropriate range of support services and programs to students at all locations. Qualified and effective faculty and staff are essential to implementing the institution’s goals and mission and to ensuring the quality and integrity of its academic and student support programs and services. An effective institution has policies and procedures that support a stimulating and safe learning environment. Appropriate academic and student support programs and services apply to both undergraduate and graduate programs, although the mix of appropriate services may differ for students seeking degrees at different levels. Similarly, the mix of services may differ by location or mode of delivery. Regardless of the type of student, however, the expectation is that an institution recognizes this important component of student learning and student development, and that, in the context of its mission, the institution provides an appropriate range of support services and programs to all students. Furthermore, academic support services may be appropriate for faculty as well as students. Testing centers serve both faculty and students, learning resource specialists often offer services for enhancing pedagogy, and instructional technologists support faculty seeking to develop and enhance courses. The Core Requirement calls for “appropriate…programs, services, and activities.” When addressing this Core Requirement, an institution needs to see past its own organizational chart and not address just offices or departments. Organizationally, academic and student support services may be housed in academic offices, in student affairs, or administrative offices. Academic support services may include, but are not limited to, academic teaching and resource centers, tutoring, academic advising, counseling, disability services, diversity and inclusion offices, campus ministry, service learning centers, teaching laboratories, career services, testing centers, student life, residence life programming, and information technology. The emphasis should be on aspects of the institution that serve a curricular support or co-curricular function

This Core Requirement relies heavily on the professional judgment of those assembling a narrative and those reviewing the narrative. There is a balancing act between too much detail 12.1 Resource Manual for The Principles of Accreditation: Foundations for Quality Enhancement 115 and not enough. Finding this balance can be helped by recognizing that the standard seeks detail on the appropriateness of the programs, services, and activities—not on the effectiveness of activities. Details on effectiveness and assessment of programs should be in Standard 8.2.c (Student outcomes: academic and student services). However, information from that standard may be useful as evidence of the appropriateness of programs, services, and activities discussed in this standard. There are separate standards for library and learning/information resources (Standard 11 of the Principles), so that information does not need to be repeated here, with one major exception. As mentioned in this Manual in Core Requirement 11.1 (Library and learning/ information resources): Institutions should include information on learning/information resources housed in the library, other locations, or offered over a network, as appropriate (e.g., curriculum labs, specified reading rooms, computer labs, IT help services, writing centers, online learning management systems). If this information is instead presented in Core Requirement 12.1 (Student support services), that should be clear in the narrative of both standards.

Reference to SACSCOC Documents, If Applicable SACSCOC policy: Distance and Correspondence Education Cross-References to Other related Standards/Requirements, If Applicable Standard 8.2.c (Student outcomes: academic and student services) CR 11.1 (Library and learning/information resources) Standard 12.2 (Student support services staff) Standard 12.3 (Student rights) Standard 12.5 (Student records) Standard 12.6 (Student debt)