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Compliance Process

QEP Process

Deadline
Please submit your draft report to Carol Smith one week before the meeting when you are scheduled to present it to the Compliance Team. Carol will convert your report into a web document, return it to you for your review, and then distribute it to the rest of the Team in advance of the meeting.

Content of the Report
Prepare a separate document for each criterion assigned to you. See Distribution of Responsibilities (http://www2.acs.ncsu.edu/UPA/accreditation/responsibilities.htm).

Title: At the top of each document, identify the number of the criterion (e.g., Core Requirement #7 or Comprehensive Standards: Faculty Requirement #20) and state the requirement exactly as stated in SACS' Principles of Accreditation.

Compliance Judgment: State whether NC State is in compliance, in partial compliance, or is non-compliant.

Compliance Information: Briefly describe the NC State policy and/or practices that demonstrate compliance with the criterion. Provide relevant and persuasive information that is sufficient to inform an external reviewer whether NC State complies with the criterion. A history of NC State's practices and editorial comments are not appropriate; just provide the facts. However, if changes to a policy or practice are pending, this should be explained.

Each criterion applies equally to on-campus and distance education programs. If the relevant policies and practices for distance education programs are the same as for on-campus programs, a simple note to that effect should be sufficient. When policies and practices for distance education programs are different from those for on-campus programs, include a separate section describing them as well.

If NC State is in partial compliance or non-compliance with the criterion, briefly describe the reasons for this judgment and describe what we are doing to come into compliance. Describe the steps to be taken, a timetable, and assignment of responsibility.

Include in the text or as a separate list the URLs for information pertinent to demonstrating compliance or partial compliance. (For example, for a requirement that we have a certain policy, this would be a link to the policy statement itself.) If the pertinent material is not currently on the web, please arrange to place that material on the web in an appropriate place (not the SACS site) prior to submitting your report.

When supporting documentation cannot be placed on the web (e.g., credentials of every instructor), indicate that the information is available upon request and where this information could be found on campus.

Supplementary Information: Provide additional information that is beyond what is necessary to demonstrate compliance but that would provide a fuller understanding of NC State's practices in this area. This section would flesh out the topic for the curious reader and might include, for example, information that explains why NC State has an usual or exemplary way of doing something, the history of why something came to be, etc. This information explains and adds interest but is not essential to demonstrating compliance.

Include in the text if appropriate the URLs for information pertinent to this supplementary information. (For example, for a requirement that we have a certain policy, this might be a link to the minutes showing approval of the policy.)

References: List all references cited in either the compliance or supplementary section. Include the URL.

If the pertinent material is not currently on the web, please arrange to place that material on the web in an appropriate place (not the SACS site) prior to submitting your report. When supporting documentation cannot be placed on the web, indicate where this information could be found on campus.

Technical Specifications
All compliance reports will eventually become part of a single document used to create a web document as well as an Adobe Acrobat file. To facilitate the merging into one document, please follow the following outline and formatting standards. Email the report as a Word document attachment to carol_a_smith@ncsu.edu.

General: Use Arial 10pt font for body, 12pt bold for titles, 10pt bold for subtitles. Margins should be 1" for top/bottom and 1.25" for left/right. Use blank line between paragraphs, no indents for paragraphs. Make links dark red from drop-down font formatting tool. Titles should be left aligned.

• Use Word default disk bullets with .25" left indent, .25" hanging in body of report

References: Label links appropriately so that others readily know what to expect when following the link.

• Use suare bullets for References.

Revisions: DO NOT edit your original document and send back. Save the Word version of the report from the Compliance Reports web site, and edit using Word's Tools, Track Changes, Highlight changes function. Email this document to carol_a_smith@ncsu.edu by the requested date. When naming the file, give it the type of report and date (core_1_040102). You can determine the name of the report by looking at the URL. If it is a very slight edit, such as a missing word, just send an email describing the change.

Questions?
Content questions should be directed to Will Kimler (513-2238) or Karen Helm (515-6648). Questions about format and deadlines should be directed to Carol Smith (515-6431).