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Education
Academic Affairs
The primary role
of the Academic Affairs department is to provide students with an integrated
educational pathway from entry through their baccalaureate program completion
and preparation for graduate school.
To meet this objective, the department has implemented an array of
assessment processes to provide tracking to determine if we are meeting this
objective and to ensure acceptable outcomes. In particular, we are addressing
the areas of basic skills and other related educational activities as discussed
below.
The College only
offers associate and baccalaureate degree programs at this time.
The approved program offerings are presented in the College Catalog.
Potomac students have a broad range of work experiences, as well as
formal academic learning, as evidenced on the admissions application to the
College. At this time, the College
does not have a formal program for the evaluation of experiential learning;
however, students have used Thomas Edison University’s
portfolio
program to earn transferable
college credits.
The
accelerated Upper Division and Lower Division curriculum format is delivered
consistently in a traditional classroom setting at both campus locations.
In fact, students can and have moved from one campus to another for
completion of their program to accommodate work assignments.
Full-time or adjunct faculty teach all courses at the College.
Non-credit offerings or distance education processes are not a part of
the College’s curriculum design and delivery at this time.
Academic Affairs supports the expanded Mission of Potomac College developed in
the fall of 2004, and supports the adult students who have earned a high school
diploma or equivalent and with no prior work experience. The new admission
criteria require new processes to ensure the success of these students.
These Lower Division students are
provided a varied general educational program as well as electives to prepare
them for an Upper Division program major.
In addition, the students can declare one of the Associates of Science
degrees as their major. With this new direction, the College has created
“pathways” for the first-time college student that can end with a para-professional
degree. The student will also have the option of continuing in the baccalaureate
program or transferring to a program at another college.
Lower Division
students are provided opportunities for collateral learning in particular
courses. For example, an adjunct faculty member who works at the Smithsonian
Institution has arranged for tours as a part of the African-American History
course. The instructor for the Art History course incorporated visits to several
Washington, D.C. art museums as a part of the curriculum. Instructors of
Political Science have invited guest speakers to the classroom.
These related education activities provide students with a wider
perspective of the subject matter, allow them to take advantage of our Nations
Capital’s cultural resources, and give a first-hand view of governmental
process.
Potomac
College provides students with General Education course offerings that are
comparable to General Education course offerings at other four-year colleges and
universities. As such,
General Education courses are designed for the development of managers and
professionals with broad portfolios of skills and experiences.
Many of these courses provide students with the opportunity to practice
learned managerial skills.
Proficiencies are required in the following areas: oral and written
communication, scientific and quantitative reasoning; critical thinking and
analysis; technological information; and literacy.
General
Education course offerings are appropriate and support the Mission and Goals of
the institution and its educational programs.
The College Catalog provides
summaries of all General Education courses available to students.
The faculty reviews course syllabi to determine appropriateness and
consistency with the institution’s Mission and Goals.
The breadth and depth of General Education courses are designed to
provide quality educational experiences and opportunities.
Students are challenged to think critically, communicate effectively,
achieve professional goals, and develop qualities of leadership.
As an institution that stresses the development of writing skills,
courses generally reflect an emphasis on writing.
The College’s lower-division General Education courses serve as a
foundation for its Upper-Division courses and professional programs.
All general education courses have a structured course content summary
and student learning outcomes are clearly identified for each course.
The educational offerings, as well as
the initial design of the curriculum and course delivery methods, have evolved
since Potomac College was established in 1989.
Originally, the College had a student base from the high tech sector, with an
average of five years work experience and 50 plus hours of college credit.
This model was not financially sustainable nor did it reflect the
background of students in the larger National Capital Area. These changes are a
direct result of the “mission expansion” to align the College’s educational
programs to the educational needs of our service area.
The Lower Division program has been enhanced with more general
education course offerings and five associate degree programs, to provide
students with an internal termination point in their educational pathway of
life-long learning. Students with no
college experience can now complete an associate program, continue in the
lock-step Upper Division program, or enroll in another institution for a more
specialized baccalaureate degree.
Our objective is to ensure that the academic content of the
Upper Division programs provides students with a rigorous curriculum of business
and information technology theory, and the general education foundation for the
first semester student in Lower Division. The foundation of the Upper Division
program design is the linkage of theory to practice.
This has not changed since the College was established and continues to
be what makes Potomac College
unique from our peers in the proprietary academic community.
Processes were designed and implemented to link curriculum
development to identified student learning goals and objectives.
These processes are a primary responsibility of the faculty and are more
than textbook selection; they require the continual review and modification of
the various programs. Each program
is reviewed as a complete learning unit with an analysis on the relationship and
how each course supports the degree program’s overall learning objectives.
In addition, Potomac College’s
program delivery is designed for the working adult student.
Classes are offered on weekday evenings and Saturdays and the College
operates on extended business hours with a flexible policy for student
appointments with faculty or administrators. An overview of Potomac College’s educational offerings is
presented below.
Several processes link teaching with student learning. One is the faculty’s
collective assessment of the quality of research projects (Theoretical
Application Projects) completed by the students in the Upper Division programs.
Resulting faculty discussions determined the need for a research and
writing course to better prepare the student for the rigors of the writing
curriculum. The faculty developed
the general education course,
ENGL 295 -Research and Report
Writing,
that students are required to complete before moving to the Upper Division
program effective with Module 1, 2006 (Cohort 63).
In
the development of the eight new degree programs, the expertise of the faculty
was extensively consulted.
Full-time faculty assisted in the development of the accounting and computer
information systems programs at the associate and bachelor degree levels.
Full-time faculty and part-time faculty employed by the World Bank lent
their expertise in the development of the international business degrees;
current and former high-level employees for the Government Services
Administration (GSA), Office of Personnel Management (OPM), and military
officers who teach at Potomac College assisted in the development of the
government contract management degrees.
Students complete an evaluation of the instructor, courses
and textbooks at the end of each module.
A compilation of the evaluations is given to the instructor after grades
are submitted, and is also placed in the personnel file of each instructor.
The Associate
Dean discusses the summary of course evaluation with the instructor, reviews the
comments and provides feedback. The Academic Dean and full-time faculty
visit classrooms to evaluate instruction and provide feedback to the
instructors.
The
faculty members at Potomac College are well qualified with the appropriate
in-field teaching credentials. The
full-time, full-time equivalent and
part-time adjunct faculty members have highly diverse backgrounds.
The faculty brings to the classroom real world experiences.
Full-time faculty provide
the foundation core proficiency for the College’s Lower Division and Upper
Division programs. Adjunct faculty provide expertise in specific fields offering
further excellence.
In addition to developing and teaching six courses
annually, the full-time faculty member is an advisor to the students.
As academic advisors they:
Prepare
an academic plan with the student based on the students program and previous
academic credit;
Ensure
that the student is enrolled in the correct courses;
Prepare
a clearance form for the students ready to move to the upper division;
Review
the application of the research projects to the workplace with the mentors and
employers for Upper Division students;
Complete
the second read on all research papers;
Develop a
schedule for the student’s Capstone presentation;
Discuss
career decisions with the student; and
Confer with
Admissions staff regarding courses in the majors and contact the Registrar and
Student Service departments on issues concerning attendance and/or grades.
Faculty members are also required to participate in College
events, such as graduation and orientation and server on the following Faculty
Committees:
-
Academic Assessment
and Planning
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Curricula/Program
Review and Development
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Textbook Evaluation
and Selection
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Library Collection and
Services
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Professional
Development and In Service Training
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Course Sequence and
Schedule
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Academic Surveys and
Data Collection
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Student Honors and
Recognition
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Academic Affiliations
and Agreements
The Potomac College
faculty periodically assesses the programs and curriculum and reaches out to the
community for its expertise in various fields and activities.
It is the feedback from the part-time faculty, mentors, employers and
student surveys that affords the full-time faculty an opportunity to reevaluate
the programs and textbooks on a continual basis.
New developments in the various fields, along with changing student and
community needs, determine the revision of courses and the selection of
textbooks. Part-time faculty offer
improvements to the syllabi for the courses they develop and teach.
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