PRECONDITIONS
P.1. ELIGIBILITY
General Information
University: The University of Alabama in Huntsville
Business School: College of Administrative Science
Dean: Dr. C. David Billings
Address: Administrative Science Building, Room 202
301 Sparkman Drive
Huntsville, Alabama 35899
Phone: (256) 824-6735
FAX: (256) 824-6328
Date of Submission
of Self-Evaluation Report: June 1, 2003
Points of Contact: Dr. C. David Billings, Dean
Dr. John E. Burnett, Director of Assessment and Accreditation
Certification of
Accuracy of Materials: Refer to letter signed by President Franz, Provost Radonovich, and
Dean Billings
Copies of Catalogs: Copies of the 2001-03 Undergraduate and Graduate Catalogs are
provided with this report. Copies of the 2003-05 catalogs will be
available for the team during their visit.
P.1.a: A school seeking accreditation by AACSB International – The Association to Advance Collegiate Schools of Business should have appropriate governmental authorization to grant degrees.
The University of Alabama originated in 1818 while Alabama was a territory by a grant of 46,080 acres of land by the Congress of the United States for the establishment of a “seminary of learning.” In July 1819 the Constitutional Convention met in Huntsville where the first session of the General Assembly was held in the same year. Alabama was admitted to the Union on December 17, 1819. On December 18, 1820 the seminary was established officially and named “The University of the State of Alabama.” In 1827 Tuscaloosa, then the state capital, was chosen as the University’s home. The 1901 constitution, Article 14, Section 264, recognizes a state university that is managed and controlled by a board of trustees. It is incorporated by statute under the name of “The Board of Trustees of The University of Alabama”, section 16-47-1, Alabama Code, and it is organized as The University of Alabama System.
On January 6, 1950 the University of Alabama initiated academic programs in Huntsville. The curriculum consisted of undergraduate courses in business, engineering, the liberal arts and sciences. In 1955 graduate courses were provided under contract to the Army and later to NASA. The University of Alabama in Huntsville (UAH) was established in 1963.
The University of Alabama System was established in June 1969 by the University of Alabama Board of Trustees with three independent, autonomous campuses at Huntsville, Birmingham and Tuscaloosa. Each campus has a separate President who reports to the Board of Trustees through the chancellor of the system.
In 1971 approval was given for UAH to award a B.S. in Business Administration and a Masters of Administrative Science. The first degrees in both were conferred in that year. Today, UAH is authorized to award the Bachelor of Science in Business Administration, the Master of Science in Management, the Master of Accountancy, and the Master of Science in Management Information Systems.
P.1.b: The school normally should be a part of an institution accredited by an institutional accrediting body or authorized by the appropriate governmental jurisdiction.
The University of Alabama in Huntsville is accredited by the Commission on Colleges of the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools (SACS) to award bachelors, masters, and doctoral degrees. SACS reaffirmed this accreditation in 1995-96. The next on-site visit is scheduled for Fall 2005-06. Many of the academic programs throughout the University have also attained national accreditation by their respective accrediting agencies. They are:
Business: AACSB International
Chemistry: American Chemical Society
Engineering: Accreditation Board for Engineering and Technology (ABET)
Nursing: National League of Nursing (NLN)
Computer Science: Computer Sciences Accreditation Board (CSAB)
Music: National Association of Schools of Music (NASM)
P.1.c: Degree programs in business should be offered through an administrative unit supported by a continuing budget and to which full-time faculty appointments are made.
There are five colleges at UAH, each with a Dean who reports to the Provost and Vice President for Academic Affairs. They are the College of Administrative Science, the College of Liberal Arts, the College of Engineering, the College of Nursing, and the College of Science. Also reporting to the Provost and Vice President for Academic Affairs are the Dean of the Graduate School, the Dean of the Library, and four Directors: Continuing Education, Cooperative Education, Honors Program, and Multicultural Affairs. An organizational chart is shown in Exhibit P.1.c – 1.
The College of Administrative Science consists of the Office of the Dean, three academic departments, the Office of Academic Assistance, the Network Support Office, the Office of Assessment and Accreditation, and three centers. The organizational chart of the College is shown in Exhibit P.1.c – 2.
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AACSB SELF-EVALUATION REPORT – PRECONDITIONS P - 1
Exhibit P.1.c. – 1
Organizational Chart – University of Alabama in Huntsville
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AACSB SELF-EVALUATION REPORT – PRECONDITIONS P - 1
Exhibit P.1.c – 2
Organizational Chart – College of Administrative Science
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AACSB SELF-EVALUATION REPORT – PRECONDITIONS P - 4
Each department chair is responsible for the leadership of the department and for ensuring that the department's instruction, research and service programs are of high quality. Chairs are also responsible for the general administration of the department in accordance with College policies. These duties include financial management, faculty and staff evaluation, promoting the department's programs, recruiting full-time faculty, and hiring part-time faculty.
The Associate Dean reports directly to the Dean and is responsible for the overall management of the College’s academic programs. This includes student recruitment, admission, advising, class scheduling, generation and analysis of data for reports and planning, as well as management of the Office of Academic Assistance (OAA). The OAA is the College’s focal point for assisting students in areas such as curriculum policies, registration, declaration of majors, application for graduation, student honors activities, and student petitions and appeals. The OAA is staffed by the Director of Advising and Student Affairs and a staff assistant. The Director of Advising and Student Affairs’ key responsibility is for managing the BSBA program in keeping with faculty policy.
The Network Support Office (NSO) provides technical support for the College’s faculty, staff, and students. The NSO staff consists of the Director of Information Systems (who also teaches a 25% course load), a Network Technician, and four student assistants (two provide technical support, one provides clerical support, and one maintains the college’s website). The office is also assigned a Graduate Research Assistant who performs various duties as assigned by the Director. Six to nine computer lab assistants report to the Network Technician and keep the computer labs and classrooms staffed whenever they are in use. The NSO maintains all of the College’s 250 computers. In addition to hardware and network infrastructure support, the office’s staff is also on call to provide faculty, staff, and students with a wide variety of software support and assistance.
The Office of Assessment and Accreditation oversees the College’s outcomes assessment activities as well as the preparation of reports and documentation to maintain accreditation by AACSB International. The Office is administered by the Director of Assessment and Accreditation and works through the Assessment and Accreditation Committee to complete many of its tasks. The Assessment and Accreditation Committee is made up of the chairs of the College’s standing committees.
The center directors are responsible for administering the professional service activities of the College through management and technical assistance, dissemination of economic information, and support for faculty in seeking funding for research projects. The Center for Management and Economic Research (CMER) stimulates expansion of North Alabama's economy by helping local managers define and realize growth opportunities and solve specific problems. CMER serves organizations through management and
technical assistance and dissemination of economic information. The Center for the Management of Science and Technology (CMOST) is devoted to improving the state-of-the-art in the management of science and technology. CMOST focuses on the management of R&D, engineering, innovation, manufacturing, high-tech marketing, and new product development. The NorthEast Alabama Regional Small Business Development Center (NEAR SBDC) is a consortium made up of UAH, Alabama A&M University, and the Chamber of Commerce. It provides assistance to small businesses and aspiring entrepreneurs by providing business management counseling, startup counseling, training and workshops, and a resource library. Refer to Chapter M.5 for more detailed information about the professional service activities delivered by these centers.
The College's Executive Committee serves as the administrative body of the College and consists of the Dean, Associate Dean, Department Chairs, Director of Assessment and Accreditation, Director of Information Systems, the College's Budget Analyst, and the College’s Executive Secretary. It also functions to provide for the most effective use of scarce faculty, staff and monetary resources in meeting the needs of a wide variety of programs necessary for the fulfillment of the academic, research and service missions of the College.
Three advisory councils provide advice to the Dean and the College’s Executive Committee. The Business Advisory Council, composed of CEOs and alumni, provides advice on the strategic development of the College. The Business Student Council, composed of elected leaders in the BSBA program, provides advice on undergraduate affairs. The Graduate Business Student Council, composed of representatives from each master’s degree program, provides advice on graduate affairs.
The College is supported by a continuing budget that is administered by the College’s Budget Analyst. The College’s annual budget is determined by the Provost and can vary from year to year depending on enrollments and student credit hours. Resources are discussed in the Instructional Resources and Responsibilities chapter.
The primary strength of the current organization is that it allows the resources of the College to be allocated to the necessary areas while at the same time allowing for the identity of the individual disciplines. Centralization of student services through a single point of control in the OAA has been especially effective in providing consistent and accurate information to both faculty and students.
P.1.d: The institution should demonstrate continuous efforts to achieve demographic diversity among students, faculty and staff.
The University of Alabama in Huntsville is committed to equal employment and educational opportunity. Its policy is one of nondiscrimination with regard to any person on the basis of race, color, national origin, religion, sex or age, and with regard to any otherwise qualified handicapped individual solely on the basis of handicap. This equal opportunity policy extends to the recruitment, admission, and retention of students, the recruitment and employment of faculty and staff, and the operation of all programs and activities. Additionally, the University is an affirmative action employer of protected minorities and women.
Students
The University conducts student recruitment programs and retention programs that are proactive in targeting minority students, particularly African-American students. The University environment is further enriched by the efforts of the Office of Multicultural Affairs (OMA). The OMA assists the University in fostering an understanding and a respect for cultural diversity throughout the UAH community by developing and sponsoring programs designed for minority as well as non-minority students. Such programs are designed to promote a sense of community and an acceptance of multiculturalism and racial tolerance on the UAH campus. Further details regarding the institution’s efforts at achieving demographic diversity among the student body are given in Chapter S.1.b.
Faculty
The College’s dean, chairs and faculty have always emphasized the need to identify and recruit minority and women faculty and staff, with employment decisions based upon a candidate's ability, experience and other job related criteria. Each year the University reviews its EEO/AA program utilizing the various sources of information maintained under the program. Recruitment activities are structured to ensure that employment opportunities are communicated to women and minorities with selection made on the basis of relevant job qualifications. The University's EEO/AA efforts and results are described in detail in the University's Affirmative Action Plan which is available upon request.
The College has an excellent record of faculty utilization. Details are discussed in Chapter FD.2.c.
Staff
The University divides its staff positions into several "job groups." It compares its utilization rate of blacks and females in each job group with the estimated availability rate for those classes of individuals. Where statistically significant underutilization for a job group is found to exist, hiring goals are set; although the University does not impose specific hiring goals on individual colleges. Preliminary analysis for 2002-03 indicates University-wide hiring goals for females in the Senior Administration and Academic Administration job groups, and for blacks in the Academic Administration, Computer Technicians, and Other Technicians job groups.
P.1.e: The educational environment should be free of external interference or diversion of effort that would prevent achieving the objectives of these standards.
There are a variety of external factors such as university requirements, policies, and procedures that influence the College’s decisions. However, there is no external interference that prevents the College from achieving the objectives of these standards. The College and its faculty exercise a great deal of authority in both the administrative and academic operations of the College. Curriculum decisions pertaining to such things as degree requirements, new courses or changes in courses are all made within the College, subject to the procedural guidelines and requirements of the University, and final approval of University curriculum oversight committees (graduate and undergraduate). New degree programs, on the other hand, begin with a proposal and must receive approval at the university level as well as from the Alabama Commission on Higher Education (ACHE) and the Board of Trustees of the University of Alabama System.