Section 3: Comprehensive Standards
3.4.7 The institution ensures the quality of educational programs/courses offered through consortia relationships or contractual agreements, ensures ongoing compliance with the comprehensive requirements, and evaluates the consortial relationship and/or agreement against the purpose of the institution.
Judgment of Compliance:
Compliance
Narrative/Justification for Judgment of Compliance:
Christopher Newport University is in compliance with this comprehensive standard. CNU is a member of the Virginia Tidewater Consortium for Higher Education, which is designed to provide maximum educational opportunities for the citizens of this geographic area. The consortium was established by the Virginia State Legislature in 1973 as one of six regional consortia in Virginia. Members are non-profit and regionally accredited by the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools. Other institutions or organizations involved in education may be invited to become Associate or Affiliate members. Associative and Affiliate members' participation in consortium programs is limited.
CNU does not participate in any cooperative degree programs within the consortium. However, it does participate in the cross-registration program. CNU students may register for credit or audit basis for courses offered by other Consortium institutions. Students from other Consortium institutions may cross-register at CNU. A CNU student participating in cross-registration must be a declared, degree-seeking major in good academic standing. The student may not repeat courses at another institution in which a grade of D or F has been earned at CNU, and may register only for courses unavailable at CNU during the current or subsequent regular semester.
When a student enrolled at a Consortium institution cross-registers, the student's home institution treats the credit as its own, posting it on the transcript as resident credit. The grading system of the student's home institution is used by the instructor at the host institution. The student is charged tuition by his or her home institution for a cross-registered course. CNU students are allowed a maximum of nine semester credit hours of cross-registered course work. Since fall semester 2003, Hampton University, Norfolk State University, Old Dominion University, Tidewater Community College, and Thomas Nelson Community College have hosted 88 CNU students. CNU has hosted 51 students from Hampton University, Norfolk State University, Old Dominion University, Thomas Nelson Community College, and Virginia Wesleyan.
An additional advantage of the Consortium is that CNU students and faculty may check out library materials from any member institution's library by using the Consortium borrowing card.
Christopher Newport University also participates in contractual agreements. One agreement is with the Governor's School program in Hampton, Virginia. The Governor's School at New Horizon is a public school program through which high school students may obtain college level credit for courses taught under CNU supervision and listed on a CNU transcript. The CNU Admissions Office is the primary contact with the Governor's School. Admissions is responsible to relay the tuition rates, enroll the students, and determine CNU costs. CNU pays for the faculty teaching the courses. The College of Liberal Arts and Sciences (CLAS) oversees the courses taught at the Governor's School, ensuring that faculty are qualified and that their official transcripts and resumes are on file. CLAS also ensures that the appropriate CNU departments review course content, textbook selection, and equivalence to CNU courses. No course is taught at the Governor's School that has not gone through the appropriate review. If CNU does not have a similar course in its catalog, the course cannot be approved. Signed agreements with the Governor's School New Horizon's are kept in the Office of the Dean of CLAS.
CNU approves contract courses with organizations outside of CNU (e.g., Newport News Public Schools) or for a sponsored program or grant activity. Contract courses may be taught by CNU faculty or by personnel with the organization. Such persons are then considered CNU adjunct faculty and must meet CNU standards. These adjuncts must have graduate faculty status to teach a graduate level contract course. A student in a contract course will receive the grade on a CNU transcript, but there is no commitment to that student by CNU to offer other courses. A proposed contract course is presented to the appropriate dean's office or to the Associate Provost for Research and Graduate Studies. Subsequently, the Provost reviews the request and then asks the Chief of Staff to set the tuition and fee rates. The organization sponsoring the course collects the student enrollment forms and the tuition. Depending on the nature of the contract, the course faculty may be paid through CNU.
An example of a contract course is Reading Recovery taught through the Newport News Public Schools (NNPS). The course is taught by specially trained instructors selected by NNPS. The instructors are paid by CNU. Because this is a graduate level course, the instructors must be approved by the Graduate Faculty Council before the semester begins.
Support Documentation:
VA Tidewater Consortium Brochure
VA Tidewater Consortium's Guide to Higher Education
VA Tidewater Consortium By-laws
VA Tidewater Consortium Legislation
VA Tidewater Consortium Libraries
VA Tidewater Consortium Cross-Registration
VA Tidewater Consortium Educational Opportunity Center
Form:
Contract Course Proposal Form
CNU's Use Cross-Registration
Additional Live Web Resources:
Virginia Tidewater Consortium: http://www.vtc.odu.edu/