Category Six addresses the support processes that help provide an environment in which learning can thrive. It examines processes and systems related to:

Student support
Administrative support
Identification of needs
Contribution to student learning and accomplishing other distinctive objectives
Day-to-day operations
Use of data
Measures
Analysis of results
Improvement efforts

Answer the following questions about Category Six.

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Context for Analysis (C)

6C1
What are your key student and administrative support service processes? What are the support service process needs of students and other stakeholder groups?

Student support services could include, for example, admissions, advising, athletics, bookstore, campus activities, campus safety, career services, computing, disability services, financial aid, food services, health, library, registration, residential life, and tutoring. Administrative support services could include, for example, accounting, business office, cashiering, custodial services, facilities planning and management, financing, maintenance, purchasing, and risk management. Address which services, if any, are outsourced

6C2
How do your key student and administrative support services reinforce processes and systems described in Category One, Helping Students Learn, and Category Two, Accomplishing Other Distinctive Objectives?

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Processes (P)

6P1
How do you identify the support service needs of your students?

6P2
How do you identify the administrative support service needs of your faculty, staff, and administrators, as well as other key stakeholder groups (e.g., oversight board, alumni)?

6P3
How are your key student and administrative support service processes managed on a day-to-day basis to ensure that they are meeting the needs of students and key stakeholder groups? How do you document your processes and encourage knowledge sharing, innovation, and empowerment?

Address how feedback from students and key stakeholder groups (including faculty and staff) is used to change processes.

6P4
How do your key student and administrative support areas use information and results to improve their services?

Address how information and results are used on a day-to-day and summative basis.

6P5
What measures of student and administrative support service processes do you collect and analyze regularly?

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Results (R)

6R1
What are your results for student support service processes?

6R2
What are your results for administrative support service processes?

Address patterns of financial capacity as well as other indicators of institutional health and viability.

6R3
Regarding 6R1 and 6R2, how do your results compare with the results of other higher education institutions and, if appropriate, organizations outside the education community?

For 6R1 through 6R3, address historical trends and patterns, as appropriate

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Improvement (I)

6I1
How do you improve your current processes and systems for supporting institutional operations?

6I2
With regard to your current results for student and administrative support processes, how do you set targets for improvement? What specific improvement priorities are you targeting, and how will these be addressed? How do you communicate your current results and improvement priorities to students, faculty, staff, administrators, and appropriate stakeholders?