Not Applicable

The School of Allied Health proposes a 34-Credit Master of Science in Health Administration (MSHA) to replace our current Master of Science in Health Sciences (MSHS).  We plan to begin implementation in Summer Semester of 2021. While staying consistent with student success and workforce expansion goals of both NKU and the state of Kentucky, the proposed program will be targeting early and mid-careerists in medical and health services management. Our proposed MSHA features an integrated curriculum based on core competencies that drive success in the contemporary health care industry and align with accreditation standards for the Commission on Accreditation of Healthcare Management Education (CAHME). The MSHA provides students with skills for employment in a variety of health services settings including hospitals, pharmaceutical companies, community health organizations, multispecialty services, insurance companies, biomedical research organizations, long-term care facilities, and emergency preparedness organizations in both the public and private domains. 

The program differs from existing programs in many respects including target population, curriculum, focus, objectives.  The program would be very competitive in terms of affordability, ease of access, completion time, and job prospects for graduates. The proposed program would also be the only completely online graduate health administration program in the state of Kentucky for early and mid-careerists and would be the program with the lowest credit requirements in Kentucky and the greater Cincinnati region. An analysis of Health Administration programs in the US by Academic Partners reveals that the most competitive Health Administration programs have a 30 to 36 credit hour requirement. We propose a 34-credit hour program, which makes it very competitive. Program credits nationwide range from 30 credits to slightly above 60 credits. In addition, all the other comparable programs require GRE or GMAT for admission.

Our proposed program will be completely online.

Our 100% online   program, will exclusively serve early to mid-careerists making it the only online program serving this population in the state of Kentucky. Our student population is distinct from all other programs in Kentucky by geography and career characteristics.  Our primary service area will be Northern Kentucky and the greater Cincinnati area, which is separate and distinct from the primary service area for any other master’s level Health Administration program in Kentucky. Most of our students are non-traditional students who are challenged by commuting cost, work schedules, and family obligations. Our one hundred percent online offering provides flexibility of attendance and eliminates commuting and work schedule barriers.

Both Northern Kentucky University and the College of Health and Human Services are well positioned to launch and run this program successfully. The program will be administered by faculty with decades of experience in developing and implementing health administration graduate programs. Besides, the university and college has robust library resources, instructional technology support, online teaching support, office space, office equipment, and  graduate education advising infrastructure. The college also recently hired a Director of Online Education who will support this program. Additional details on resource capacity are provided below.

1. Library Resources

The NKU library provides robust resources and services to support graduate healthcare management education and research. The W. Frank Steely Library provides comprehensive resources and services for undergraduate and graduate students and faculty. Steely Library is the place for finding information, studying quietly, working on group projects, making an appointment for research consultation, receiving library instruction as a class, exploring primary resources about the history of the region, and much more. The five-floor facility has multiple computer labs, seven high-tech group-study rooms, self-check stations, and a cafe in the outer lobby. Steely Library offers comprehensive remote access to existing services and resources for its patrons. There are a variety of digital scholarship and communications services to help students learn how to use digital tools to discover, organize, share, and publish research and ideas.

                                    ii. Instructional Technology Support

Instructional technology in the form of hardware and software is sufficient and appropriate for MSHA program needs. Computer labs with 30 stations are housed in several academic building across the campus. The Office of Information Technology installs, services, repairs, and replaces computers. In addition, the office provides extensive technical support through the helpdesk and the technical staff, available to faculty, staff, and students on campus and remotely. The hours for the IT Help Desk are M-F: 7am-10pm; Saturday: 8:30am – 5pm and Sunday 12pm-8pm.  Faculty, staff, and students can reach the help desk via phone, instant chat, or email.  Information Technology (IT) provides a wide range of services to the campus community.

Through the Center for Innovation and Technology (CITE), housed under the library, faculty have access to instructional designers who assist faculty in the creation, design, implementation and delivery of high-quality instruction for online, traditional and hybrid classes. Faculty in the CHHS also have onsite and remote access to Academic Technology Analysts who can assist both faculty and students with integrating technology into the classroom as well as troubleshooting any issues as they arise.

Faculty have available production resources including a digital video editing suite, a professional audio recording studio, and multimedia production workstations for high quality scanning and image manipulation. All faculty are orientated to the computing facilities and technical infrastructure of the school. Further, NKU offers a variety of other software packages to support instructional delivery including Zoom for video conferencing and instruction, Kaltura (a streaming video solution), and SafeAssign and Turnitin (for plagiarism detection). Ally software is enabled in all courses in Canvas. Ally is a tool that works within Canvas to identify potential accessibility issues that may arise within an online course. Ally checks Word documents and PowerPoints, as well as PDFs and images, looking for alt text, proper heading structures, and more. 

IT provides ongoing classes throughout the year. Training opportunities are customized specifically for faculty in CHHS.  Written materials are available for all software programs. Further video lessons are also available 24/7 on topics related to online learning and CANVAS. The Center for Innovation and Technology in Education https://inside.nku.edu/cite.html assists the university community with integrating technology into academia and administration. CITE provides a variety of services to faculty, staff, and students including learning management support, instructional design assistance, academic technology support as well as academic technology training. Training is available to both full time and adjunct faculty.

iii. Resources to Support Online Teaching

All faculty teaching online courses are required to complete basic IT training prior to offering an online course. This training includes an introduction to CANVAS and an introduction to online classroom tools. Adjunct faculty are encouraged to meet with the CHHS IT specialist as part of their orientation.  In addition, faculty can self-enroll in a recently developed Online Faculty Orientation course designed to provide tips and resources for online instruction. The course was developed by the Associate Director of Online and Professional Education and a panel of online faculty. Faculty are also encouraged to participate in a wide variety of training opportunities that provide detailed “how-to” instruction in the use of available technologies and software options. As the techniques and technologies have become more sophisticated, new classes are available for all faculty every semester. NKU is committed to upgrading technology as new products become available.

iv. Office Space and Office Equipment

The College of Health and Human Services (CHHS) has a large office suite housing the Dean, college leadership, academic coordinators, compliance and contracts personnel and academic advisors. Faculty offices are located on the same floor as the suite and on the above and the floor below near the learning labs.  Online faculty are provided with hoteling cubicles. Faculty with hoteling spaces have access to private conference rooms for student counseling, computer hookup and printer. All online faculty receive an NKU laptop computer.  Office equipment for faculty includes a desk, file cabinets, bookshelves, two chairs, a computer (laptop or desktop) with internet access and a telephone with voice mail. The School Director and Program Directors have private offices. Several conference rooms are available for use for faculty or program meetings; distance technology equipment is available in these rooms.

v. Advising

The CHHS suite has a large academic advising center. This area provides a welcoming, environment for advising activities. Academic advisors have private offices. Office equipment includes a desk, file cabinet, bookshelf, two chairs, a computer (laptop or desktop) with internet access and a telephone with voice mail.

Pending

1. Describe administrative oversight to ensure the quality of the program.

The MSHA Program Director will provide day to day administrative oversight of the Program. School and College oversight will be provided by the Director of the School of Allied Health and the Dean of the College of Health and Human Services.  Program quality is further assured through oversight and collaboration with the university Associate Director of online services, the Assistant Vice Provost for Assessment, the Office of Graduate Education, and the Director of Online Education in the College of Health and Human Services.

SOURCE:  US DEPT. OF LABOR, BLS. (2018) https://www.bls.gov/ooh/management/medical-and-health-services-managers.htm

The proposed program will be supported by both the MBA program in the College of Business and the Informatics programs in the College of Informatics. Both programs will contribute both courses and content to the proposed program. Also, faculty from informatics and MBA programs will serve on the Advisory Board of the MSHA program. In addition, the MSHA will support the MBA program by delivering the six courses for MBA healthcare administration stacks. Our MBA program will be strengthened because we will provide healthcare administration electives from a Health Administration program that will eventually be accredited by CAHME.

Our proposed  program differs from existing programs in many respects including target population, curriculum, focus, objectives.  The program would be very competitive in terms of affordability, ease of access, completion time, and job prospects for graduates. The proposed program would also be the only completely online graduate health administration program in the state of Kentucky for early and mid-careerists and would be the program with the lowest credit requirements in Kentucky and the greater Cincinnati region. An analysis of Health Administration programs in the US by Academic Partners reveals that the most competitive Health Administration programs have a 30 to 36 credit hour requirement. We propose a 34-credit hour program, which makes it very competitive. Program credits nationwide range from 30 credits to slightly above 60 credits. In addition, all the other comparable programs require GRE or GMAT for admission.

Below we identify a list of similar programs in Kentucky and the Greater Cincinnati region as well as a list of programs nationally within the same credit range which is 40 credits and below. We also compare existing programs to our proposed program.

1. This is a summary of characteristics for similar programs in Kentucky and the Greater Cincinnati region:

1. Western Kentucky University:  Hybrid, 42 credits
2. UK:  F2F, 42 credits
3. UOL:  57 credits
4. UC:  Online, 40 credits
5. Xavier:  64 credits.

ii. We also provide below, a number of competitive MSHA programs in the United States of America, which offer less than 40 credits.

The table below further compares existing programs to our proposed program along the lines of program differentiation, population characteristics, access, excess demand and collaboration.

Our student population is distinct from all other programs in Kentucky by geography and career characteristics.  Our primary service area will be Northern Kentucky and the greater Cincinnati area, which is separate and distinct from the primary service area for any other master’s level Health Administration program in Kentucky. Most of our students are non-traditional students who are challenged by commuting cost, work schedules, and family obligations. Our one hundred percent online offering provides flexibility of attendance and eliminates commuting and work schedule barriers. Our program will also exclusively serve early to mid-careerists making it the only online program serving this population in the state of Kentucky.

50. RESPONSES TO  INQUIRIES AND CONCERNS RAISED BY UOL, WKU, AND CPE DURING THE  PRE-PROPOSAL REVIEW PHASE

We are presenting below the inquiries and our responses arising from the preprosal review process. We hope that this will act as a quick reference for reviewers and will complement our responses to the quality, duplication, and distinctiveness components above.

1. 1. NKU MSHA: RESPONSE TO UOL  PREPROPOSAL COMMENT -5-19-2020

University of Louisville has added the following comment to the pre-proposal for the proposed Master's in Health Administration (CIP 51.0701 - Health/Health Care Administration/Management.) from Northern Kentucky University:

The UofL School of Public Health & Information Sciences has a program with two options - one that is on-campus and an executive program that is online. This proposed program at NKU would directly compete with this existing program. Obviously, students could be from anywhere, but the question clearly would be – should the state invest in another MSHA program? Is this a retooling of an existing MS in health sciences—moving it to a much more narrowly focused program in health administration? That would appear to be a significant shift in focus.

Response:

Our proposed program should not compete with the UOL program because we do not duplicate any of the options in the existing UOL program and we target different student communities both geographically and in terms of career levels.

1. The  NKU  proposed  MSHA program is completely online, so it would not conflict with , or duplicate the on-campus  option of the UOL program

2. Our program is not an executive program, so it will not be in conflict with the UOL executive online program. We target early and mid-careerists and we will not admit executive health management students because we cannot meet their needs and our program is not designed to meet the needs of executive management students.

3. Our primary service area will be Northern Kentucky and the greater Cincinnati area, which is separate and distinct from the primary service area for any other master’s level health administration program in Kentucky.

4. Our MSHS program has a health administration focus. In the past three years, there has been no student from the UOL service area.

Will this 35 hour program in health administration be accredited by CAHME? The UofL program is closer to 60 hours—which in not unusual. It is accredited by CAHME.

Response:  We are confident the proposed program will gain CAHME accreditation. CAHME eligibility requirements do not specify minimum credit requirements.  In addition, there are accredited programs that offer less than 60 credits. The question for accreditors is whether the program credit level meets program objectives, specified competencies, and the five buckets of competencies specified by CAHME accreditation standards. Noting the broad diversity of health administration programs, CAHME leadership has repeatedly clarified that no two programs are alike.

Also, the NKU proposal appears to only adopt 10 of the 26 National Center for Health Care Leadership competencies.

Response: There is no CAHME requirement to adopt a certain number of competencies or a certain competency model. Competencies are to align with program objectives and characteristics of students, provided they address the five buckets of competencies recommended by CAHME. The competencies we have deliberately selected meet our program objectives and the professional needs of our target population. These 10 competencies also address all the five buckets of competencies recommended in the CAHME accreditation eligibility document (criteria 111A 1-6, curriculum design), last revised 06/1/2018.

1. 2. NKU MSHA RESPONSE TO: WKU PREPROPOSAL COMMENT-6-11-2020

RE: Northern Kentucky University Proposal for MSHA degree

Rheanna Plemons, Ed.D. Special Assistant to the Provost Western Kentucky University Office: WAB 224

Web: www.wku.edu/academicaffairs

Dear Dr. Plemons:

In response to Northern Kentucky University’s (NKU) application to transfer their existing Master of Science in Health Sciences (MSHS) program to a Master of Science in Health Administration (MSHA) program, the WKU Master of Health Administration Program (MHA) and the WKU Department of Public Health would like to offer our concerns.

Our first major concern surrounds the need for another graduate degree in health administration/management offered by a public university. With a population of approximately 4.6 million people, the state of Kentucky is the 36 most populated state in the United States. Thus, we believe that Kentucky as a whole, does not have the population density to support four graduate health administration programs. Other states in the region (e.g., Tennessee, Alabama, Georgia, and Ohio) are more populated and have fewer graduate programs in health administration. In addition, across the nation and in Kentucky, there has been a significant decline in the number of students graduating high school and attending college. This in turn affects graduate programs, as there are even less qualified students seeking graduate education. This decline in post-secondary education enrollments are projected to continue well into the future. The state of Kentucky is not immune from this occurrence. This is illustrated on page six of NKU’s application. From 2014- 2020, both UK and WKU’s graduate health administration programs experienced an overall decline in the number of students enrolled. Also, it is worth mentioning, the chart does not contain the information from the University of Louisville’s MSHA program, which was started a few years ago. To compound the declining enrollment trend, programs in public universities all operate in a resource constrained environment. As a result, the focus is for all Kentucky programs to become more efficient and productive. This is supported by information required in the state mandated Academic Program Review (APR) report. The WKU MHA program believes that the addition of another program in health administration could adversely influence the quality and efficiency measures we work to achieve.

Our second concern surrounds program differentiation. The applicant stated that they would have the only online program to serve the state of Kentucky and that the NKU MSHA program will not duplicate other programs in the state. This is not accurate. The proposed program seems to be remarkably similar to the one already offered at WKU. Specifically, since 2011, the WKU MHA program has two separate options to complete the graduate

degree in health administration: an online option and a residential in-person option. Please see the link below for more details on the WKUMHA program: https://www.wku.edu/hca/index.php

Our third concern surrounds the target market of the proposed MSHA program. NKU has stated that their target population will be different from the other programs in Kentucky. We have concerns regarding the likelihood of this focus. Due to its location, the proposed program will have to compete against other established programs in the Cincinnati area. As already noted in the application, these areas are served by Xavier University and the University of Cincinnati, both of which have graduate programs in health administration.

Thus, in order to obtain the enrollment numbers outlined by NKU on page 12 of the application, it is a strong possibility that the program will have to be marketed to students across Kentucky – a state that is already served by three existing graduate health administration programs.

Finally, the type of degree being proposed is an area of concern. The MHA programs at University of Cincinnati, WKU, and UK require 40, 42, and 48 hours, respectively. While, Xavier University and the University of Louisville offer MSHA programs, which are 54 and 56 hours, respectively. To date, we could not find any MSHA programs in the nation which only require 36 hours. As a result, we would like to see NKU’s proposed courses to determine if there is any similarity to an MHA degree. Considering these concerns, we have significant apprehensions toward approval of this program. Thank you for reviewing this document and please do not hesitate to contact me via email at gregory.ellis- griffith@wku.edu if you have any questions.

RESPONSE:  NKU MSHA PROPOSED PROGRAM.

Concern One: The need for Another MSHA degree in Kentucky.

Our proposed MSHA program enhances the value proposition for our  state educational system because it meets a critical workforce need in the state of Kentucky and offers a ladder to prosperity for unserved and underserved segments of  state residents. Our program grows out of a re-imagination of an existing program in order to serve the state of Kentucky and its citizens with significant efficiency in terms of completion time, access, and cost. There is inherent unfairness in placing the burden of relieving efficiency and productivity challenges facing state health administration programs on one new program.

Further, we are responding to state and national trends in the industry and healthcare management education with market segmentation and product differentiation. Trend data does not link low and falling post- secondary enrollment rates to  the number of graduate health administration programs in our state  or vice versa. We are familiar with the trends in higher education as a whole and graduate education in particular. These trends vary from program to program and they are not a suicide path for educational program development. Nation-wide, health administration programs are doing well and many public universities have expanded access to citizens through online offerings. The broader trends call for sharper market segmentation and more intentional product differentiation as key success factors. Our program offers a well-differentiated product to a segment of the health administration market not currently served in the state of Kentucky and the Greater Cincinnati region. The customer is an early and mid-careerist who needs one hundred percent online programming, and will tremendously benefit from ease of access, shorter completion times, and lower cost. Our program also offers participants an opportunity for economic mobility.

Second concern: program differentiation.

Our proposed program should not compete with the WKU program because we do not duplicate any of the options in the existing WKU program and we target different student communities both geographically and in terms of career levels. WKU offers a regular option of face-to-face programming on campus. This option seems to target early careerists. WKU also offers a hybrid Executive MSHA program. As the WKU Public Health website states, the Executive program is predominantly online with a requirement that students come to the campus three times a semester. In other words, it is a hybrid program. Our program creates value for a defined market segment and a customer who is in search of a well-differentiated product as follows:

5. The NKU proposed MSHA program is completely online, so it would not conflict with, or duplicate the on-campus option of the WKU program, which is not 100 percent online.

6. Our program is not an executive program, so it will not be in conflict with the WKU executive hybrid program. We target early and mid-careerists, the executive program at WKU by their own description targets advanced careerists.  Our proposed program will not admit executive health management students because we cannot meet their needs and our program is not designed to meet the needs of executive management students. Unlike, the WKU program, our proposed program has no requirement for on campus meetings.

7. Our primary service area will be Northern Kentucky and the Greater Cincinnati area, which is separate and distinct from the primary service area for the master’s level health administration program in Western Kentucky. We do not share a geographic market space with WKU.

8. Our MSHS program has a health administration focus. In the past three years, there has been no student from the WKU service area.

9. Our program would be the only 100 percent online MSHA program in the Kentucky state educational system serving early and mid-careerists.

Third concern: the target market of the proposed MSHA program.

In the preceding paragraphs, we have already explained the market segment we are targeting and the production differentiation that drove our programming. Our colleagues seem to be concerned that we will not compete with the programs in the Greater Cincinnati region. If that argument holds, then NKU would never have developed any educational program in this region. We understand the market in the Greater Cincinnati region. Our proposed program’s competitive advantage in the region is embedded in ease of access, short completion time, flexibility in scheduling, and low cost.

Final Concern: The type of degree being proposed and number of credits offered.

We believe that degrees, which provide students a pathway to lucrative careers and economic mobility, should be driven by industry-based competencies and not number of credits. Our program content is guided by industry-competencies that are relevant to program goals. However, contrary to the assertions of our WKU colleagues, it is not unusual for MSHA programs to offer less than 40 credits. We provide below, a number of competitive MSHA programs in the United States of America, which offer less than 40 credits.

1. 1. 1. 1. NKU MSHA: RESPONSES TO ADDITONAL QUESTIONS FROM CPE- July 15, 2020

• What employers, if any, were involved in the development of the curriculum?

Two employers and two chapters of the American College of Healthcare Executives participated in curriculum development. These are St Elizabeth Healthcare System in Northern Kentucky, Gateway Rehabilitation Hospital in Florence Kentucky, American College of Healthcare Executives Kentucky Chapter, and American College of Healthcare Executives Ohio Chapter.  There were additional consultations with Children Hospital and Christ Hospital in Ohio.

• Does the university have internship sites lined up for students or do students identify their own?
  • If the university has sites lined up, can you please provide some examples?

The program plans to identify internship opportunities for students as well as allow students to choose their own internship projects and sites. Regardless of the option pursued by the student, internships relationships will be formalized through the compliance staff at the Dean’s office, the program office, and the university Legal Department within preset parameters.

Unlike our clinical programs, the health administration program does not plan to have permanent internship sites or assignments. However, we are in conversation and have tentative commitments from a number of employers in Northern Kentucky and Ohio to become formal internship partners who will supply internship projects and facilitate the appointment of preceptors for students who desire and need internships. These include St Elizabeth Healthcare System in Northern Kentucky, Gateway Rehabilitation Hospital in Florence, Children’s Hospital in Ohio, and Christ Hospital in Ohio.

These employers currently supply about 95% of the internship projects for our Masters in Health Sciences, which will be replaced by the MSHA. We plan to diversify and increase the number of internship partners once the full proposal is approved.

• Does the program target any one sector of health care (e.g. nursing homes or hospitals) or is the market more general?

Our proposed program would prepare students for a more general market with foundational skills for employment in a variety of health services settings including hospitals, pharmaceutical companies, community health organizations, multispecialty services, insurance companies, biomedical research organizations, long-term care facilities, and emergency preparedness organizations in both the public and private domains. 

50. RESPONSES TO  INQUIRIES AND CONCERNS RAISED BY UOL, WKU, AND CPE DURING THE  PRE-PROPOSAL REVIEW PHASE

We are presenting below the inquiries and our responses arising from the preprosal review process. We hope that this will act as a quick reference for reviewers and will complement our responses to the quality, duplication, and distinctiveness components above.

1. 1. NKU MSHA: RESPONSE TO UOL  PREPROPOSAL COMMENT -5-19-2020

University of Louisville has added the following comment to the pre-proposal for the proposed Master's in Health Administration (CIP 51.0701 - Health/Health Care Administration/Management.) from Northern Kentucky University:

The UofL School of Public Health & Information Sciences has a program with two options - one that is on-campus and an executive program that is online. This proposed program at NKU would directly compete with this existing program. Obviously, students could be from anywhere, but the question clearly would be – should the state invest in another MSHA program? Is this a retooling of an existing MS in health sciences—moving it to a much more narrowly focused program in health administration? That would appear to be a significant shift in focus.

Response:

Our proposed program should not compete with the UOL program because we do not duplicate any of the options in the existing UOL program and we target different student communities both geographically and in terms of career levels.

1. The  NKU  proposed  MSHA program is completely online, so it would not conflict with , or duplicate the on-campus  option of the UOL program

2. Our program is not an executive program, so it will not be in conflict with the UOL executive online program. We target early and mid-careerists and we will not admit executive health management students because we cannot meet their needs and our program is not designed to meet the needs of executive management students.

3. Our primary service area will be Northern Kentucky and the greater Cincinnati area, which is separate and distinct from the primary service area for any other master’s level health administration program in Kentucky.

4. Our MSHS program has a health administration focus. In the past three years, there has been no student from the UOL service area.

Will this 35 hour program in health administration be accredited by CAHME? The UofL program is closer to 60 hours—which in not unusual. It is accredited by CAHME.

Response:  We are confident the proposed program will gain CAHME accreditation. CAHME eligibility requirements do not specify minimum credit requirements.  In addition, there are accredited programs that offer less than 60 credits. The question for accreditors is whether the program credit level meets program objectives, specified competencies, and the five buckets of competencies specified by CAHME accreditation standards. Noting the broad diversity of health administration programs, CAHME leadership has repeatedly clarified that no two programs are alike.

Also, the NKU proposal appears to only adopt 10 of the 26 National Center for Health Care Leadership competencies.

Response: There is no CAHME requirement to adopt a certain number of competencies or a certain competency model. Competencies are to align with program objectives and characteristics of students, provided they address the five buckets of competencies recommended by CAHME. The competencies we have deliberately selected meet our program objectives and the professional needs of our target population. These 10 competencies also address all the five buckets of competencies recommended in the CAHME accreditation eligibility document (criteria 111A 1-6, curriculum design), last revised 06/1/2018.

1. 2. NKU MSHA RESPONSE TO: WKU PREPROPOSAL COMMENT-6-11-2020

RE: Northern Kentucky University Proposal for MSHA degree

Rheanna Plemons, Ed.D. Special Assistant to the Provost Western Kentucky University Office: WAB 224

Web: www.wku.edu/academicaffairs

Dear Dr. Plemons:

In response to Northern Kentucky University’s (NKU) application to transfer their existing Master of Science in Health Sciences (MSHS) program to a Master of Science in Health Administration (MSHA) program, the WKU Master of Health Administration Program (MHA) and the WKU Department of Public Health would like to offer our concerns.

Our first major concern surrounds the need for another graduate degree in health administration/management offered by a public university. With a population of approximately 4.6 million people, the state of Kentucky is the 36 most populated state in the United States. Thus, we believe that Kentucky as a whole, does not have the population density to support four graduate health administration programs. Other states in the region (e.g., Tennessee, Alabama, Georgia, and Ohio) are more populated and have fewer graduate programs in health administration. In addition, across the nation and in Kentucky, there has been a significant decline in the number of students graduating high school and attending college. This in turn affects graduate programs, as there are even less qualified students seeking graduate education. This decline in post-secondary education enrollments are projected to continue well into the future. The state of Kentucky is not immune from this occurrence. This is illustrated on page six of NKU’s application. From 2014- 2020, both UK and WKU’s graduate health administration programs experienced an overall decline in the number of students enrolled. Also, it is worth mentioning, the chart does not contain the information from the University of Louisville’s MSHA program, which was started a few years ago. To compound the declining enrollment trend, programs in public universities all operate in a resource constrained environment. As a result, the focus is for all Kentucky programs to become more efficient and productive. This is supported by information required in the state mandated Academic Program Review (APR) report. The WKU MHA program believes that the addition of another program in health administration could adversely influence the quality and efficiency measures we work to achieve.

Our second concern surrounds program differentiation. The applicant stated that they would have the only online program to serve the state of Kentucky and that the NKU MSHA program will not duplicate other programs in the state. This is not accurate. The proposed program seems to be remarkably similar to the one already offered at WKU. Specifically, since 2011, the WKU MHA program has two separate options to complete the graduate

degree in health administration: an online option and a residential in-person option. Please see the link below for more details on the WKUMHA program: https://www.wku.edu/hca/index.php

Our third concern surrounds the target market of the proposed MSHA program. NKU has stated that their target population will be different from the other programs in Kentucky. We have concerns regarding the likelihood of this focus. Due to its location, the proposed program will have to compete against other established programs in the Cincinnati area. As already noted in the application, these areas are served by Xavier University and the University of Cincinnati, both of which have graduate programs in health administration.

Thus, in order to obtain the enrollment numbers outlined by NKU on page 12 of the application, it is a strong possibility that the program will have to be marketed to students across Kentucky – a state that is already served by three existing graduate health administration programs.

Finally, the type of degree being proposed is an area of concern. The MHA programs at University of Cincinnati, WKU, and UK require 40, 42, and 48 hours, respectively. While, Xavier University and the University of Louisville offer MSHA programs, which are 54 and 56 hours, respectively. To date, we could not find any MSHA programs in the nation which only require 36 hours. As a result, we would like to see NKU’s proposed courses to determine if there is any similarity to an MHA degree. Considering these concerns, we have significant apprehensions toward approval of this program. Thank you for reviewing this document and please do not hesitate to contact me via email at gregory.ellis- griffith@wku.edu if you have any questions.

RESPONSE:  NKU MSHA PROPOSED PROGRAM.

Concern One: The need for Another MSHA degree in Kentucky.

Our proposed MSHA program enhances the value proposition for our  state educational system because it meets a critical workforce need in the state of Kentucky and offers a ladder to prosperity for unserved and underserved segments of  state residents. Our program grows out of a re-imagination of an existing program in order to serve the state of Kentucky and its citizens with significant efficiency in terms of completion time, access, and cost. There is inherent unfairness in placing the burden of relieving efficiency and productivity challenges facing state health administration programs on one new program.

Further, we are responding to state and national trends in the industry and healthcare management education with market segmentation and product differentiation. Trend data does not link low and falling post- secondary enrollment rates to  the number of graduate health administration programs in our state  or vice versa. We are familiar with the trends in higher education as a whole and graduate education in particular. These trends vary from program to program and they are not a suicide path for educational program development. Nation-wide, health administration programs are doing well and many public universities have expanded access to citizens through online offerings. The broader trends call for sharper market segmentation and more intentional product differentiation as key success factors. Our program offers a well-differentiated product to a segment of the health administration market not currently served in the state of Kentucky and the Greater Cincinnati region. The customer is an early and mid-careerist who needs one hundred percent online programming, and will tremendously benefit from ease of access, shorter completion times, and lower cost. Our program also offers participants an opportunity for economic mobility.

Second concern: program differentiation.

Our proposed program should not compete with the WKU program because we do not duplicate any of the options in the existing WKU program and we target different student communities both geographically and in terms of career levels. WKU offers a regular option of face-to-face programming on campus. This option seems to target early careerists. WKU also offers a hybrid Executive MSHA program. As the WKU Public Health website states, the Executive program is predominantly online with a requirement that students come to the campus three times a semester. In other words, it is a hybrid program. Our program creates value for a defined market segment and a customer who is in search of a well-differentiated product as follows:

5. The NKU proposed MSHA program is completely online, so it would not conflict with, or duplicate the on-campus option of the WKU program, which is not 100 percent online.

6. Our program is not an executive program, so it will not be in conflict with the WKU executive hybrid program. We target early and mid-careerists, the executive program at WKU by their own description targets advanced careerists.  Our proposed program will not admit executive health management students because we cannot meet their needs and our program is not designed to meet the needs of executive management students. Unlike, the WKU program, our proposed program has no requirement for on campus meetings.

7. Our primary service area will be Northern Kentucky and the Greater Cincinnati area, which is separate and distinct from the primary service area for the master’s level health administration program in Western Kentucky. We do not share a geographic market space with WKU.

8. Our MSHS program has a health administration focus. In the past three years, there has been no student from the WKU service area.

9. Our program would be the only 100 percent online MSHA program in the Kentucky state educational system serving early and mid-careerists.

Third concern: the target market of the proposed MSHA program.

In the preceding paragraphs, we have already explained the market segment we are targeting and the production differentiation that drove our programming. Our colleagues seem to be concerned that we will not compete with the programs in the Greater Cincinnati region. If that argument holds, then NKU would never have developed any educational program in this region. We understand the market in the Greater Cincinnati region. Our proposed program’s competitive advantage in the region is embedded in ease of access, short completion time, flexibility in scheduling, and low cost.

Final Concern: The type of degree being proposed and number of credits offered.

We believe that degrees, which provide students a pathway to lucrative careers and economic mobility, should be driven by industry-based competencies and not number of credits. Our program content is guided by industry-competencies that are relevant to program goals. However, contrary to the assertions of our WKU colleagues, it is not unusual for MSHA programs to offer less than 40 credits. We provide below, a number of competitive MSHA programs in the United States of America, which offer less than 40 credits.

1. 1. 1. 1. NKU MSHA: RESPONSES TO ADDITONAL QUESTIONS FROM CPE- July 15, 2020

• What employers, if any, were involved in the development of the curriculum?

Two employers and two chapters of the American College of Healthcare Executives participated in curriculum development. These are St Elizabeth Healthcare System in Northern Kentucky, Gateway Rehabilitation Hospital in Florence Kentucky, American College of Healthcare Executives Kentucky Chapter, and American College of Healthcare Executives Ohio Chapter.  There were additional consultations with Children Hospital and Christ Hospital in Ohio.

• Does the university have internship sites lined up for students or do students identify their own?
  • If the university has sites lined up, can you please provide some examples?

The program plans to identify internship opportunities for students as well as allow students to choose their own internship projects and sites. Regardless of the option pursued by the student, internships relationships will be formalized through the compliance staff at the Dean’s office, the program office, and the university Legal Department within preset parameters.

Unlike our clinical programs, the health administration program does not plan to have permanent internship sites or assignments. However, we are in conversation and have tentative commitments from a number of employers in Northern Kentucky and Ohio to become formal internship partners who will supply internship projects and facilitate the appointment of preceptors for students who desire and need internships. These include St Elizabeth Healthcare System in Northern Kentucky, Gateway Rehabilitation Hospital in Florence, Children’s Hospital in Ohio, and Christ Hospital in Ohio.

These employers currently supply about 95% of the internship projects for our Masters in Health Sciences, which will be replaced by the MSHA. We plan to diversify and increase the number of internship partners once the full proposal is approved.

• Does the program target any one sector of health care (e.g. nursing homes or hospitals) or is the market more general?

Our proposed program would prepare students for a more general market with foundational skills for employment in a variety of health services settings including hospitals, pharmaceutical companies, community health organizations, multispecialty services, insurance companies, biomedical research organizations, long-term care facilities, and emergency preparedness organizations in both the public and private domains. 

Our proposed  program differs from existing programs in many respects including target population, curriculum, focus, objectives.  The program would be very competitive in terms of affordability, ease of access, completion time, and job prospects for graduates. The proposed program would also be the only completely online graduate health administration program in the state of Kentucky for early and mid-careerists and would be the program with the lowest credit requirements in Kentucky and the greater Cincinnati region. An analysis of Health Administration programs in the US by Academic Partners reveals that the most competitive Health Administration programs have a 30 to 36 credit hour requirement. We propose a 34-credit hour program, which makes it very competitive. Program credits nationwide range from 30 credits to slightly above 60 credits. In addition, all the other comparable programs require GRE or GMAT for admission.

Below we identify a list of similar programs in Kentucky and the Greater Cincinnati region as well as a list of programs nationally within the same credit range which is 40 credits and below. We also compare existing programs to our proposed program.

1. This is a summary of characteristics for similar programs in Kentucky and the Greater Cincinnati region:

1. Western Kentucky University:  Hybrid, 42 credits
2. UK:  F2F, 42 credits
3. UOL:  57 credits
4. UC:  Online, 40 credits
5. Xavier:  64 credits.

ii. We also provide below, a number of competitive MSHA programs in the United States of America, which offer less than 40 credits.

The table below further compares existing programs to our proposed program along the lines of program differentiation, population characteristics, access, excess demand and collaboration.

Our student population is distinct from all other programs in Kentucky by geography and career characteristics.  Our primary service area will be Northern Kentucky and the greater Cincinnati area, which is separate and distinct from the primary service area for any other master’s level Health Administration program in Kentucky. Most of our students are non-traditional students who are challenged by commuting cost, work schedules, and family obligations. Our one hundred percent online offering provides flexibility of attendance and eliminates commuting and work schedule barriers. Our program will also exclusively serve early to mid-careerists making it the only online program serving this population in the state of Kentucky.

Besides the advantage of online delivery that our proposed programs offers, unlike our program, existing programs tend to have a GMAT requirement for admissions, which provides an additional access barrier. Similar programs also require more credits for completion, which increases both the time of completion as well as cost of completion to students.

RESPONSES TO  INQUIRIES AND CONCERNS RAISED BY UOL, WKU, AND CPE DURING THE  PRE-PROPOSAL REVIEW PHASE

We are presenting below the inquiries and our responses arising from the preprosal review process. We hope that this will act as a quick reference for reviewers and will complement our responses to the quality, duplication, and distinctiveness components above.

1. 1. NKU MSHA: RESPONSE TO UOL  PREPROPOSAL COMMENT -5-19-2020

University of Louisville has added the following comment to the pre-proposal for the proposed Master's in Health Administration (CIP 51.0701 - Health/Health Care Administration/Management.) from Northern Kentucky University:

The UofL School of Public Health & Information Sciences has a program with two options - one that is on-campus and an executive program that is online. This proposed program at NKU would directly compete with this existing program. Obviously, students could be from anywhere, but the question clearly would be – should the state invest in another MSHA program? Is this a retooling of an existing MS in health sciences—moving it to a much more narrowly focused program in health administration? That would appear to be a significant shift in focus.

Response:

Our proposed program should not compete with the UOL program because we do not duplicate any of the options in the existing UOL program and we target different student communities both geographically and in terms of career levels.

1. The  NKU  proposed  MSHA program is completely online, so it would not conflict with , or duplicate the on-campus  option of the UOL program

2. Our program is not an executive program, so it will not be in conflict with the UOL executive online program. We target early and mid-careerists and we will not admit executive health management students because we cannot meet their needs and our program is not designed to meet the needs of executive management students.

3. Our primary service area will be Northern Kentucky and the greater Cincinnati area, which is separate and distinct from the primary service area for any other master’s level health administration program in Kentucky.

4. Our MSHS program has a health administration focus. In the past three years, there has been no student from the UOL service area.

Will this 35 hour program in health administration be accredited by CAHME? The UofL program is closer to 60 hours—which in not unusual. It is accredited by CAHME.

Response:  We are confident the proposed program will gain CAHME accreditation. CAHME eligibility requirements do not specify minimum credit requirements.  In addition, there are accredited programs that offer less than 60 credits. The question for accreditors is whether the program credit level meets program objectives, specified competencies, and the five buckets of competencies specified by CAHME accreditation standards. Noting the broad diversity of health administration programs, CAHME leadership has repeatedly clarified that no two programs are alike.

Also, the NKU proposal appears to only adopt 10 of the 26 National Center for Health Care Leadership competencies.

Response: There is no CAHME requirement to adopt a certain number of competencies or a certain competency model. Competencies are to align with program objectives and characteristics of students, provided they address the five buckets of competencies recommended by CAHME. The competencies we have deliberately selected meet our program objectives and the professional needs of our target population. These 10 competencies also address all the five buckets of competencies recommended in the CAHME accreditation eligibility document (criteria 111A 1-6, curriculum design), last revised 06/1/2018.

1. 2. NKU MSHA RESPONSE TO: WKU PREPROPOSAL COMMENT-6-11-2020

RE: Northern Kentucky University Proposal for MSHA degree

Rheanna Plemons, Ed.D. Special Assistant to the Provost Western Kentucky University Office: WAB 224

Web: www.wku.edu/academicaffairs

Dear Dr. Plemons:

In response to Northern Kentucky University’s (NKU) application to transfer their existing Master of Science in Health Sciences (MSHS) program to a Master of Science in Health Administration (MSHA) program, the WKU Master of Health Administration Program (MHA) and the WKU Department of Public Health would like to offer our concerns.

Our first major concern surrounds the need for another graduate degree in health administration/management offered by a public university. With a population of approximately 4.6 million people, the state of Kentucky is the 36 most populated state in the United States. Thus, we believe that Kentucky as a whole, does not have the population density to support four graduate health administration programs. Other states in the region (e.g., Tennessee, Alabama, Georgia, and Ohio) are more populated and have fewer graduate programs in health administration. In addition, across the nation and in Kentucky, there has been a significant decline in the number of students graduating high school and attending college. This in turn affects graduate programs, as there are even less qualified students seeking graduate education. This decline in post-secondary education enrollments are projected to continue well into the future. The state of Kentucky is not immune from this occurrence. This is illustrated on page six of NKU’s application. From 2014- 2020, both UK and WKU’s graduate health administration programs experienced an overall decline in the number of students enrolled. Also, it is worth mentioning, the chart does not contain the information from the University of Louisville’s MSHA program, which was started a few years ago. To compound the declining enrollment trend, programs in public universities all operate in a resource constrained environment. As a result, the focus is for all Kentucky programs to become more efficient and productive. This is supported by information required in the state mandated Academic Program Review (APR) report. The WKU MHA program believes that the addition of another program in health administration could adversely influence the quality and efficiency measures we work to achieve.

Our second concern surrounds program differentiation. The applicant stated that they would have the only online program to serve the state of Kentucky and that the NKU MSHA program will not duplicate other programs in the state. This is not accurate. The proposed program seems to be remarkably similar to the one already offered at WKU. Specifically, since 2011, the WKU MHA program has two separate options to complete the graduate

degree in health administration: an online option and a residential in-person option. Please see the link below for more details on the WKUMHA program: https://www.wku.edu/hca/index.php

Our third concern surrounds the target market of the proposed MSHA program. NKU has stated that their target population will be different from the other programs in Kentucky. We have concerns regarding the likelihood of this focus. Due to its location, the proposed program will have to compete against other established programs in the Cincinnati area. As already noted in the application, these areas are served by Xavier University and the University of Cincinnati, both of which have graduate programs in health administration.

Thus, in order to obtain the enrollment numbers outlined by NKU on page 12 of the application, it is a strong possibility that the program will have to be marketed to students across Kentucky – a state that is already served by three existing graduate health administration programs.

Finally, the type of degree being proposed is an area of concern. The MHA programs at University of Cincinnati, WKU, and UK require 40, 42, and 48 hours, respectively. While, Xavier University and the University of Louisville offer MSHA programs, which are 54 and 56 hours, respectively. To date, we could not find any MSHA programs in the nation which only require 36 hours. As a result, we would like to see NKU’s proposed courses to determine if there is any similarity to an MHA degree. Considering these concerns, we have significant apprehensions toward approval of this program. Thank you for reviewing this document and please do not hesitate to contact me via email at gregory.ellis- griffith@wku.edu if you have any questions.

RESPONSE:  NKU MSHA PROPOSED PROGRAM.

Concern One: The need for Another MSHA degree in Kentucky.

Our proposed MSHA program enhances the value proposition for our  state educational system because it meets a critical workforce need in the state of Kentucky and offers a ladder to prosperity for unserved and underserved segments of  state residents. Our program grows out of a re-imagination of an existing program in order to serve the state of Kentucky and its citizens with significant efficiency in terms of completion time, access, and cost. There is inherent unfairness in placing the burden of relieving efficiency and productivity challenges facing state health administration programs on one new program.

Further, we are responding to state and national trends in the industry and healthcare management education with market segmentation and product differentiation. Trend data does not link low and falling post- secondary enrollment rates to  the number of graduate health administration programs in our state  or vice versa. We are familiar with the trends in higher education as a whole and graduate education in particular. These trends vary from program to program and they are not a suicide path for educational program development. Nation-wide, health administration programs are doing well and many public universities have expanded access to citizens through online offerings. The broader trends call for sharper market segmentation and more intentional product differentiation as key success factors. Our program offers a well-differentiated product to a segment of the health administration market not currently served in the state of Kentucky and the Greater Cincinnati region. The customer is an early and mid-careerist who needs one hundred percent online programming, and will tremendously benefit from ease of access, shorter completion times, and lower cost. Our program also offers participants an opportunity for economic mobility.

Second concern: program differentiation.

Our proposed program should not compete with the WKU program because we do not duplicate any of the options in the existing WKU program and we target different student communities both geographically and in terms of career levels. WKU offers a regular option of face-to-face programming on campus. This option seems to target early careerists. WKU also offers a hybrid Executive MSHA program. As the WKU Public Health website states, the Executive program is predominantly online with a requirement that students come to the campus three times a semester. In other words, it is a hybrid program. Our program creates value for a defined market segment and a customer who is in search of a well-differentiated product as follows:

5. The NKU proposed MSHA program is completely online, so it would not conflict with, or duplicate the on-campus option of the WKU program, which is not 100 percent online.

6. Our program is not an executive program, so it will not be in conflict with the WKU executive hybrid program. We target early and mid-careerists, the executive program at WKU by their own description targets advanced careerists.  Our proposed program will not admit executive health management students because we cannot meet their needs and our program is not designed to meet the needs of executive management students. Unlike, the WKU program, our proposed program has no requirement for on campus meetings.

7. Our primary service area will be Northern Kentucky and the Greater Cincinnati area, which is separate and distinct from the primary service area for the master’s level health administration program in Western Kentucky. We do not share a geographic market space with WKU.

8. Our MSHS program has a health administration focus. In the past three years, there has been no student from the WKU service area.

9. Our program would be the only 100 percent online MSHA program in the Kentucky state educational system serving early and mid-careerists.

Third concern: the target market of the proposed MSHA program.

In the preceding paragraphs, we have already explained the market segment we are targeting and the production differentiation that drove our programming. Our colleagues seem to be concerned that we will not compete with the programs in the Greater Cincinnati region. If that argument holds, then NKU would never have developed any educational program in this region. We understand the market in the Greater Cincinnati region. Our proposed program’s competitive advantage in the region is embedded in ease of access, short completion time, flexibility in scheduling, and low cost.

Final Concern: The type of degree being proposed and number of credits offered.

We believe that degrees, which provide students a pathway to lucrative careers and economic mobility, should be driven by industry-based competencies and not number of credits. Our program content is guided by industry-competencies that are relevant to program goals. However, contrary to the assertions of our WKU colleagues, it is not unusual for MSHA programs to offer less than 40 credits. We provide below, a number of competitive MSHA programs in the United States of America, which offer less than 40 credits.

1. 1. 1. 1. NKU MSHA: RESPONSES TO ADDITONAL QUESTIONS FROM CPE- July 15, 2020

• What employers, if any, were involved in the development of the curriculum?

Two employers and two chapters of the American College of Healthcare Executives participated in curriculum development. These are St Elizabeth Healthcare System in Northern Kentucky, Gateway Rehabilitation Hospital in Florence Kentucky, American College of Healthcare Executives Kentucky Chapter, and American College of Healthcare Executives Ohio Chapter.  There were additional consultations with Children Hospital and Christ Hospital in Ohio.

• Does the university have internship sites lined up for students or do students identify their own?
  • If the university has sites lined up, can you please provide some examples?

The program plans to identify internship opportunities for students as well as allow students to choose their own internship projects and sites. Regardless of the option pursued by the student, internships relationships will be formalized through the compliance staff at the Dean’s office, the program office, and the university Legal Department within preset parameters.

Unlike our clinical programs, the health administration program does not plan to have permanent internship sites or assignments. However, we are in conversation and have tentative commitments from a number of employers in Northern Kentucky and Ohio to become formal internship partners who will supply internship projects and facilitate the appointment of preceptors for students who desire and need internships. These include St Elizabeth Healthcare System in Northern Kentucky, Gateway Rehabilitation Hospital in Florence, Children’s Hospital in Ohio, and Christ Hospital in Ohio.

These employers currently supply about 95% of the internship projects for our Masters in Health Sciences, which will be replaced by the MSHA. We plan to diversify and increase the number of internship partners once the full proposal is approved.

• Does the program target any one sector of health care (e.g. nursing homes or hospitals) or is the market more general?

Our proposed program would prepare students for a more general market with foundational skills for employment in a variety of health services settings including hospitals, pharmaceutical companies, community health organizations, multispecialty services, insurance companies, biomedical research organizations, long-term care facilities, and emergency preparedness organizations in both the public and private domains. 

The proposed program will be supported by both the MBA program in the College of Business and the Informatics programs in the College of Informatics. Both programs will contribute both courses and content to the proposed program. Also, faculty from informatics and MBA programs will serve on the Advisory Board of the MSHA program. In addition, the MSHA will support the MBA program by delivering the six courses for MBA healthcare administration stacks. Our MBA program will be strengthened because we will provide healthcare administration electives from a Health Administration program that will eventually be accredited by CAHME.

We will utilize the two existing faculty lines in our MSHS program to start the MSHA program. We need one additional faculty beginning the third year of program in addition to 4-5 adjunct faculty teaching 24 classes each per year from the program onset. We will also need additional resources to cover support staff, faculty professional development, supplies, and accreditation and professional affiliation fees. The projected cost and revenue tables below show that the program should be adding students and revenue to the university every year of the its first five years.

Cost/Funding Explanation

1. Funding Sources, by year of program

1. Breakdown of Budget, Expenses/Requirements

None

Both Northern Kentucky University and the College of Health and Human Services are well positioned to launch and run this program successfully. The MSHA Program Director will provide day to day administrative oversight of the Program. School and College oversight will be provide by the Director of the School of Allied Health and the Dean of the College of Health and Human Services.  Program quality is further assured through oversight and collaboration with the university Associate Director of online services, the Assistant Vice Provost for Assessment, the Office of Graduate Education, and the Director of Online Education in the College of Health and Human Services.

The program will be administered by faculty with decades of experience in developing and implementing health administration graduate programs. Besides, the university and college has robust library resources, instructional technology support, online teaching support, office space, office equipment, and  graduate education advising infrastructure. Additional details on resource capacity are provided below.

1. Library Resources

The NKU library provides robust resources and services to support graduate healthcare management education and research. The W. Frank Steely Library provides comprehensive resources and services for undergraduate and graduate students and faculty. Steely Library is the place for finding information, studying quietly, working on group projects, making an appointment for research consultation, receiving library instruction as a class, exploring primary resources about the history of the region, and much more. The five-floor facility has multiple computer labs, seven high-tech group-study rooms, self-check stations, and a cafe in the outer lobby. Steely Library offers comprehensive remote access to existing services and resources for its patrons. There are a variety of digital scholarship and communications services to help students learn how to use digital tools to discover, organize, share, and publish research and ideas.

                                    ii. Instructional Technology Support

Instructional technology in the form of hardware and software is sufficient and appropriate for MSHA program needs. Computer labs with 30 stations are housed in several academic building across the campus. The Office of Information Technology installs, services, repairs, and replaces computers. In addition, the office provides extensive technical support through the helpdesk and the technical staff, available to faculty, staff, and students on campus and remotely. The hours for the IT Help Desk are M-F: 7am-10pm; Saturday: 8:30am – 5pm and Sunday 12pm-8pm.  Faculty, staff, and students can reach the help desk via phone, instant chat, or email.  Information Technology (IT) provides a wide range of services to the campus community.

Through the Center for Innovation and Technology (CITE), housed under the library, faculty have access to instructional designers who assist faculty in the creation, design, implementation and delivery of high-quality instruction for online, traditional and hybrid classes. Faculty in the CHHS also have onsite and remote access to Academic Technology Analysts who can assist both faculty and students with integrating technology into the classroom as well as troubleshooting any issues as they arise.

Faculty have available production resources including a digital video editing suite, a professional audio recording studio, and multimedia production workstations for high quality scanning and image manipulation. All faculty are orientated to the computing facilities and technical infrastructure of the school. Further, NKU offers a variety of other software packages to support instructional delivery including Zoom for video conferencing and instruction, Kaltura (a streaming video solution), and SafeAssign and Turnitin (for plagiarism detection). Ally software is enabled in all courses in Canvas. Ally is a tool that works within Canvas to identify potential accessibility issues that may arise within an online course. Ally checks Word documents and PowerPoints, as well as PDFs and images, looking for alt text, proper heading structures, and more. 

IT provides ongoing classes throughout the year. Training opportunities are customized specifically for faculty in CHHS.  Written materials are available for all software programs. Further video lessons are also available 24/7 on topics related to online learning and CANVAS. The Center for Innovation and Technology in Education https://inside.nku.edu/cite.html assists the university community with integrating technology into academia and administration. CITE provides a variety of services to faculty, staff, and students including learning management support, instructional design assistance, academic technology support as well as academic technology training. Training is available to both full time and adjunct faculty.

iii. Resources to Support Online Teaching

All faculty teaching online courses are required to complete basic IT training prior to offering an online course. This training includes an introduction to CANVAS and an introduction to online classroom tools. Adjunct faculty are encouraged to meet with the CHHS IT specialist as part of their orientation.  In addition, faculty can self-enroll in a recently developed Online Faculty Orientation course designed to provide tips and resources for online instruction. The course was developed by the Associate Director of Online and Professional Education and a panel of online faculty. Faculty are also encouraged to participate in a wide variety of training opportunities that provide detailed “how-to” instruction in the use of available technologies and software options. As the techniques and technologies have become more sophisticated, new classes are available for all faculty every semester. NKU is committed to upgrading technology as new products become available.

iv. Office Space and Office Equipment

The College of Health and Human Services (CHHS) has a large office suite housing the Dean, college leadership, academic coordinators, compliance and contracts personnel and academic advisors. Faculty offices are located on the same floor as the suite and on the above and the floor below near the learning labs.  Online faculty are provided with hoteling cubicles. Faculty with hoteling spaces have access to private conference rooms for student counseling, computer hookup and printer. All online faculty receive an NKU laptop computer.  Office equipment for faculty includes a desk, file cabinets, bookshelves, two chairs, a computer (laptop or desktop) with internet access and a telephone with voice mail. The School Director and Program Directors have private offices. Several conference rooms are available for use for faculty or program meetings; distance technology equipment is available in these rooms.

v. Advising

The CHHS suite has a large academic advising center. This area provides a welcoming, environment for advising activities. Academic advisors have private offices. Office equipment includes a desk, file cabinet, bookshelf, two chairs, a computer (laptop or desktop) with internet access and a telephone with voice mail.

As stated above, we will utilize the two existing faculty lines in our MSHS program to start the MSHA program. We need one additional faculty beginning the third year of program in addition to 4-5 adjunct faculty teaching 24 classes each per year from the program onset. In the very unlikely situation in which projected resources from additional enrollment above the current enrollment in our MSHS program do not materialize, we will not add the additional faculty called for in our business plan.

The Institutional assessment process is led by the Assistant Vice Provost for Assessment.  A standard assessment process is established and implemented with the support of the University Assessment Committee, which is populated by faculty members from a broad range of colleges, departments, and academic offices. The purpose of the committee is to promote and support a culture of assessment and continuous improvement as well as serve as a resource for assessment practices on campus.  In order to expand the culture of assessment, NKU offers departments and programs the flexibility to define and pilot their own assessment cycles. The AVP of Assessment and the Assessment Committee does not prescribe or specify a timeframe or deadlines, seeking instead to accommodate the different nature and varying needs of each program. Programs have also been given the flexibility to decide how many Student Learning Outcomes (SLOs) to assess in a given year. While some programs follow an annual assessment cycle during which all SLOs are assessed every year, other programs chose to follow a multiyear assessment cycle in which one or two SLOs are assessed per year. Program SLOs are located in WEAVE, where they are updated by each program at least annually.

However, NKU’s Assessment Guidebook provides a simple annual schedule that goes from October to September. Assessment plans are due no later than October 15th, and assessment reports are due no later than September 15th of the following academic year. The assessment process begins at the start of the fall semester (August) with an email to all departments from the AVP of Assessment. The email offers an overview of the assessment cycle and significant deadlines as well as instructions for updating information in WEAVE. Email reminders and offers of assistance follow, and the AVP offers workshops and individualized help for all programs and departments.  The WEAVE application shows that an assessment plan has been updated with a green “completed” indicator, and the AVP can run a report to identify programs that may need extra support.                    

Program assessments are part of the institutional-wide annual assessments that are entered into weave and centrally tracked by the Assistant Vice Provost for Assessment. Each year, the most significant or most salient outcomes assessment results based on prioritized program objectives, are used to draft and implement limited program improvements via assessment action plans in the year following the assessment year. Program faculty and advisory boards prioritize short term and long-term program objectives to be assessed and formulate action plans for program improvement. Program related findings gained over a five-year review period are gathered on an on-going basis for summative decision-making. Both the timeline for review, and program objectives to be reviewed, and action plans, are aligned with institutional, state, or national accreditation requirements.

Student post-graduate success will be measured through annual alumni and employer surveys to determine student employment levels and student performance on program identified competencies as well as the congruity between program competencies and industry success factors.

Not Applicable

Not Applicable

Not Applicable

Not Applicable

Not Applicable

N/A

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