University: Worksheet for keeping the "barbarians" at bay

Bundle unit	Question for university	Your response/ Comments
Screening	How selective is your screen?	For every 100 applicants, how many do you let in?
	How dependent is your screen on quantitative measures?	How much do you weight SAT scores and GPAs in your admission screens?
	If you have qualitative screens, do they result in "better output"?	If you use interviews or other qualitative screens, do they work at delivering "better" students? How do you know?
Structuring	How much has the structure of your product (a university degree) changed over time?	How often do you change the basic ingredients of the degrees that you offer? (Core classes, length of program, number of credit etc.)
	How much customization do you offer your students?	Do you allow your students to create customized degree programs? If so, how much real customization do you allow?
Classes- Content	How unique or new material do your instructors offer in class?	Do you use overheads supplied by textbook publishers? How much do your lecture notes change over time?
Classes- Classroom	How much interaction is there in the classroom?	If there is participation, what form does it take? How much deviation from your script do you allow?
	How much "magic" do your instructors create in class?	Will your students still come to class if you webcast your lectures and give them the lecture notes?
Classes- Group learning	How much group work do your classes require?	Do you have group assignments? How extensive are they?
	How creative is the group work (in terms of requiring the group to work together and learn from each other)?	Is your group work designed to make the group interact or is it work that can be subdivided and each group member can do a piece?
Classes- Monitoring	Do you take physical attendance?	If yes, how do you do it?
	How do you check on mental attendance (listening, assimilating)?	Do you grade participation? If so, how?
Classes – Testing	Do you test learning or memorization?	Do you use test banks (provided by publishers)?
	How mechanized is your scoring?	Do you use multiple-choice questions?
	How fair are your tests?	Do you repeat exams? Are they open book or closed book?
Classes - Grading	How diverse are the criteria that you use in assigning grades?	Do you base grades only on exam/test scores? If not, what else do you grade upon?
	How accurate is your grading in reflecting student standing?	Is there a correlation between those who get As in your classes & learning in your class?
Classes – Mentoring	Do you spend a lot of time outside class with your students?	If yes, how much of the time do you spend answering administrative questions? Do students come to you for advice after they are finished with your class?
The Network	How strong is the college spirit at your university?	How strong is the alumni network in your school? Do alumni give to the school and do they return to offer their physical presence?
	How strong are the small group networks in your university?	How strong are fraternities & sororities on campus? How about student run clubs & activities?
Career Advice	How much has the university invested in its career & placement services?	Does the university just pay lip service or has it invested money in infrastructure & personnel?
	How much career-oriented advice to students get from those services?	Do you encourage sophomores and juniors to come in for advice? How much do you coordinate with their academic advisors?
	How effective is the placement service at finding "good jobs" for graduates?	What percentage of your students are placed in their preferred jobs (or close to them)? What do you do to follow up with those who do not get those jobs?
Entertainment	How strong is your sports tradition?	Do your students show up for games? How many of your alumni come back for games?
	How much "extracurricular" fun is there to be had?	Are you a party school? If no, what other form of entertainment do you offer students?
	How "strong" is your "semester abroad" program?	What proportion of your students go on a semester abroad program? How much "fun" do they have abroad?
Education	What do you do to make your students more "educated" during their time with you?	Do you have a mission statement? Is there any attempt to measure performance on that mission or is lip service?