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Response to CCHE Quality Indicator System Report of December 2001
The University of Colorado at Boulder

The University of Colorado at Boulder (CU-Boulder) strives to lead in the discovery, communication, and use of knowledge through instruction, research, and service to the public.

CU-Boulder's mission includes scholarship and research, graduate education, and undergraduate education. The quality indicator system is a limited set of measures for undergraduate programs only. The results verify the excellence and efficiency of CU-Boulder's undergraduate programs.

CU-Boulder strives to improve, not merely maintain, our undergraduate, graduate, and research programs. Efforts for improvement are coordinated through campus strategic planning, CU-system-wide initiatives, and a budgeting initiative, the Integrated Resource Management Strategy.

Comments on each indicator

1A: Baccalaureate Graduation Rates

• We are pleased that our four, five, and six-year graduation rates for full-time first-time freshmen entering CU-Boulder and graduating from CU-Boulder are above those of all other public institutions in Colorado included in the QIS report. All of CU-Boulder's graduation rates are consistent with those at other selective public research universities nationwide, and meet (4- and 5-year) or exceed (6-year) CCHE benchmarks.
• CU-Boulder's four, five, and six-year graduation rates for full-time first-time freshmen at any Colorado public institution (not only the original institution) are also the highest in the state, and exceed the benchmark for 4- and 5-year rates. Our rate is under the benchmark for the 6-year rate by 0.2 percentage points.
• However, we do not regard graduation or retention rates at any Colorado public institution as meaningful measures for us. This is because most students who enter CU-Boulder as freshmen intend to graduate from CU-Boulder, not anywhere in Colorado. In addition, Boulder students who transfer elsewhere tend to move to colleges outside Colorado; this is particularly true for the over 40% of our entering freshmen who are from other states. This makes the "graduation/retention at any Colorado public" measures incomplete and misleading for us.
• Ongoing efforts to improve graduation rates include changes in academic advising and freshmen orientation implemented in 1998-99 and 1999-2000, and new leadership and residential academic programs to afford more students the opportunity for participation in small "academic neighborhoods" early in their studies.

2A: Freshman Retention

• CU-Boulder's retention rate is the highest in the state and meets the benchmark. 83% of full-time CU-Boulder freshmen return for their second fall to CU-Boulder. Our efforts to improve graduation rates help maintain this high retention rate.
• At 87.6%, the retention rate of full-time first-time freshmen at any Colorado public institution is slightly under both the benchmark of 88.1% and CSU's rate of 88.2%. As noted above, we don't regard this as a meaningful measure for us.

3A: Minority Baccalaureate Graduation Rates

• CU-Boulder's minority six-year graduation rate (the only one used) meets the benchmark and is the highest in the state. This is also true for CU-Boulder's minority six-year graduation rate from any Colorado public institution.

3C: Minority Retention Rates

• CU-Boulder's minority retention rate meets the CCHE benchmark and is just 0.2 percentage points under CSU's high. CU-Boulder's minority retention rate at any Colorado pubic institution is under the benchmark by 2.3 percentage points and under CSU by 1.8 percentage points. No Colorado public institution meets the CCHE benchmark.

4: Achievement Tests

• CU-Boulder students exceed (on 7) or meet (on 2) the benchmarks-which are national or state averages-on all tests or subtests listed: GRE (verbal, quantitative, and analytic), Fundamentals of Engineering, Certified Public Accountant exam, and four content areas of the Program for Licensing Assessments for Colorado Educators (PLACE), the state teacher exams.
• We are the highest in the state on all parts of the GRE, on the Fundamentals of Engineering, and on elementary education and secondary social studies PLACE exams.
• We are second or third in the state on all other measures.
• With solid performance in such a broad range of disciplines, the results again demonstrate the breadth of excellence of CU-Boulder's undergraduate programs.

5: Institutional Support Expenditures

• At 63% of the benchmark, CU-Boulder's administrative cost per student FTE of $1,104 shows a high rate of efficiency. It is considerably below the benchmark, the average for the 33 public research institutions with student headcounts of 25,000 or more. This is one demonstration of the efficiency with which CU-Boulder operates.

6: Undergraduate Class Size

• Forty-five percent of CU-Boulder undergraduate classes have fewer than 20 students. This percentage of small classes is the highest among all Colorado public universities and exceeds the benchmark of 39%.
• CU-Boulder's percentage of undergraduate classes with enrollments of 50 or more students, 15%, slightly exceeds the benchmark of 14%. However, it is well below that for CSU and UNC, placing CU-Boulder as the leader among larger campuses in providing small undergraduate classes.

7: Number of Credit Hours Required for Undergraduate Degree

• 100% of CU-Boulder's programs meet the benchmark.
• CU-Boulder has 63 bachelor's degree programs, of which 47 require 120 hours for completion of the degree. The sixteen programs requiring more than 120 hours are exempt due to accreditation or professional association guidelines. The 120-hour requirements have been in place for years and offer more evidence of CU-Boulder's efficiency.

8: Faculty Instructional Workload

• Our average weekly in-class teaching hours for full-time faculty is 6.4 hours, with additional time in preparation. CU-Boulder's 6.4 hours per week exceeds the 5.8 per week reported for the University of Wisconsin at Madison for fall 1999 (most recent available) in "Achieving Excellence, the University of Wisconsin System Accountability Report 2000-01," February 2001.
• CU-Boulder's full-time faculty spend more time than the measured average of 6.4 hours per week on activities directly related to teaching, including activities such as grading, preparing course materials, office hours, developing course content and new courses, advising, and supervising students. Faculty also spend additional time in other interactions with and for students, such as career assistance including writing letters of recommendation, and on committees considering such topics as curricular requirements, advising systems, teaching evaluation, and student outcomes assessment. In addition, most are by contract expected to spend 60% of their working time on research and administrative service obligations.

9: Undergraduate Participation in Special Academic Opportunities (institution-specific)

• 79% of the 2,858 calendar year 2000 bachelor's degree recipients who entered CU-Boulder as full-time fall freshmen had participated in at least one special academic opportunity. This exceeds the benchmark and our long-term goal.
• We are extremely pleased that over three-quarters of our entering-freshmen graduates have participated in these special academic opportunities, for such programs are hallmarks of the unique total learning environment provided by a comprehensive research university with top faculty and a large and diverse student population.
• The opportunities we have considered are honors courses, independent study, credit internships, service learning, and independent research courses; courses sponsored by research centers including the museum; special research programs for undergraduates; study abroad; completion of an honors thesis in the major discipline; leadership, residential, and first-term small-group academic programs; double and student-designed majors; formal minors; combined bachelor's-master's programs; and academically-intense programs for students with specials needs.
• The four most popular programs each garnered participation by over 15% of the 2000 graduates: honors courses (16%), credit internships (19%), study abroad (25%), and first-year residential academic programs (20%). We are especially pleased that 25% of graduates entering as freshmen had studied abroad, for this special program is probably our most intense.
• Figures reported for public research universities in the Best Colleges 2000 issue of U.S. News and World Report show that CU-Boulder has the highest participation rates listed for both honors and study abroad. Figures for participation in all programs together are not available for other institutions.

10: State Appropriations for Undergraduate Programs, Per Resident Bachelor's Degree Awarded (institution specific)

• In 1999-00 CU-Boulder received $23,900 in state appropriations for undergraduate programs per resident bachelor's degree awarded. This is approximately one third the AAU public average or median.
• CU-Boulder is 33rd of 33 schools (data not available for the 34th US AAU public, Rutgers).
• This is a measure of efficiency or productivity in undergraduate education, and of the return on investment for state tax dollars allocated to undergraduate programs at state institutions of higher education each year. While the quantity reflects many parameters of an institution's operations, it indeed is a "quality indicator" of returns on state investments in undergraduate education.

The quality indicators touch on only a few areas of CU-Boulder's mission and excellence. The campus's vision statement, as clarified through strategic planning processes, is: To lead in learning, research, teaching, and service to benefit and enhance the quality of life for the people of Colorado. Accordingly, our planning efforts are directed at preparing the future leaders of Colorado, the nation, and the world and improving human life through learning. To achieve this goal we are focussing campus efforts and resources in four areas:

Undergraduate Learning Environment: Generate innovation in the undergraduate learning environment in ways that promote a sense of discovery and lifelong learning, critical thinking skills, and preparation for citizenship and leadership.

Research and Graduate Education: Continue our leadership role in advancing knowledge and understanding through research and graduate education with appropriate links to government, business and other institutions through outreach and technology transfer.

Diversity: Nurture a campus climate of inclusion, knowledge, understanding and appreciation of the full range of the human experience in order to foster a better society and to prepare students for the future.

Technology: Situate the University of Colorado at Boulder to be a leader in the technological transformation of the 21st Century, empowering the entire campus and its graduates to succeed in the world.

Last revision 12/19/03