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CCHE Quality Indicator System (QIS)
CU-Boulder Fall 1999 Submission
For funding 2000-01

Indicator 8: Undergraduate participation in special academic opportunities

This is an institutionally-specified measure. CU-Boulder received 75 of a possible 75 points on this measure.

64% of the 2,366 calendar year 1998 bachelors degree recipients who entered as CU-Boulder full-time fall freshmen had participated in at least one special academic opportunity.

37% of graduates participated in two or more special academic opportunities. The five most popular programs each garnered participation by 15-20% of the 1998 graduates: honors courses (16%), independent study (16%), credit internships (17%), study abroad (20%), and first-year residential academic programs (19%).

National comparisons: Comparable overall (unduplicated) participation figures from other institutions are not available. We do have relevant figures for some individual programs for CU-Boulder and the few other peer institutions (public members of the American Association of Universities (AAU)) which provided data to the Best Colleges 2000 issue of U.S. News and World Report (September 1999).

Table 1 shows all data available. Summary:

• Honors: CU-Boulder 16%, Maryland 15%, others 3-10%
• Independent study: CU-Boulder 16%, Cal-Davis 35%, Michigan State 53%, Wisconsin 5%. We suspect that there are different policies and/or calculation methods at work here.
• Internships: CU-Boulder 17%, Cal-Davis 45%, Iowa State 70%, Wisconsin 2%. Again, different policies and/or calculation methods are probably at work.
• Study abroad: CU-Boulder 20%, Michigan State 11%, others 1-5%
• Double major: CU-Boulder 10%, others 3-16%
• Student-designed majors: CU-Boulder 1%, Iowa State 1%, Maryland 18%

CU-Boulder has the highest rates listed for both honors and study abroad, and average participation in double majors. Rates vary so dramatically over institutions for independent study, internships, and student designed majors that we suspect that these rates were calculated differently or that these programs were required of large numbers of students at some institutions. No figures are available from other institutions for leadership programs, residential academic programs, research involvement, honors theses, or combined bachelors-masters programs.

Comment: We are extremely pleased that almost two-thirds of our entering-freshmen graduates have participated in a special academic opportunity, for these opportunities are a hallmark of the unique, total learning environment provided by a comprehensive research university with top faculty and a large and diverse student population.

We are currently working to expand opportunities in first-year leadership and residential academic programs, participation in research, and combined bachelors-masters programs.

Our ultimate goal is that every undergraduate have the opportunity for a personalized, small-group academic experience, whether they avail themselves of such opportunities or not. We hope that within three years the proportion of entering-freshmen graduates who have participated in special academic opportunities increases to a full two-thirds, and that we can then maintain that level indefinitely.

Study abroad includes CU-sponsored programs (10%, identified through transcripts) and non-CU programs (additional 10%; participants identified by the Study Abroad office). Our Study Abroad office facilitates our students' involvement in these programs.

First-year leadership programs include the President's Leadership Class (PLC), a competitive credit program for freshmen and sophomores; ROTC; and the Chancellor's leadership program, a residential academic program which started in fall 1999 (and therefore had no participants among 1998 graduates). PLC and ROTC participants were identified through transcripts.

Residential Academic Programs allow entering students to live and learn together, with studies focussed on a theme. These programs include Sewall Residential Academic Program (American culture and society), Kittredge Honors Programs (honors students in all arts and sciences disciplines), Farrand Residential Academic Program (humanities and service learning), Smith Hall International Program (international affairs and foreign languages), and the Environmental Residential Academic Program (environmental studies; moved from Williams Village to Baker Hall 1999). Participants were identified from a combination of transcripts, residence hall records, and program-submitted lists.

Participants in honors courses, credit internships, independent research courses, and independent study were identified by checking all courses taken 1993-1998 by 1998 graduates.

Participants in the Norlin Scholars program, which started in fall 1999, will be identified in coming years from courses taken in the program.

Transcripts were used to identify students with double majors or double degrees, student-designed majors, and majors in combined bachelors/masters programs, which allow students to complete both bachelors and masters degrees in the same field in five years.

Special research programs for undergraduates include UROP (Undergraduate Research Opportunities Program), URAP (Undergraduate Research Apprentice Program), and SURE (Summer Undergraduate Research Experience). Students in these programs do not generally earn credit. They were identified using program-submitted lists.

Students completing an honors thesis in the major discipline were identified by transcript notations of cum laude, magna cum laude, and summa cum laude. These honors require a thesis; they are not awarded on the basis of high grades alone.

Table 1: Participation in Special Study Options at AAU Public Universities

* These values are so high that we suspect differing definitions or a requirement that a student participate to fulfill degree requirements.

** Includes students on programs not sponsored by CU-Boulder

Source: Best Colleges 2000 issue of U.S. News and World Report (September 1999)

U.S. News and World Report asks schools to indicate the percentage of the report year's graduating seniors who had participated in "special study options" during their undergraduate years. The table shows responses to U.S. News' survey for public AAU universities. While a number of schools indicated that such programs were offered, not all schools reported the percentage of graduating undergraduates who had participated in each program.

Note: For CU-Boulder we calculated and submitted figures for graduating seniors who had entered as full-time freshmen so as to characterize only the population with full opportunity to participate. This made our percentages higher than they would otherwise have been. We don't know whether other schools followed this practice.

l:\ir\cche\qis\99\ms8ucb last updated 2/23/2000

Last revision 08/14/07