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Initiatives and Information

Textbook affordability

The Office of the Provost is committed to providing CSI students an optimal educational experience through instructional excellence and commitment to teaching and learning. Important elements in this experience are the learning resources required, including textbooks, learning systems, tools, and others. Our team is dedicated to balancing the best learning resources available with the cost of those resources. Textbook costs in particular are a growing point of contention. While duly respecting the academic freedom rights of the faculty, there comes a responsibility that the balance between quality and cost is under constant consideration. CSI faculty have done an exemplary job or mitigating these costs through careful textbook adoption: nearly 40% of all course sections have zero or low cost textbooks adopted. But more work is being done. 

This document was submitted to the Idaho State Board of Education as a requirement of their Policy III.U. It outlines the current plan for further mitigation of textbook costs for CSI students. In 2021 the Idaho Legislature appropriated $1 million to the four community colleges in the interest of adoption and development of Open Education Resources. This activity is underway and has been entitled Project Z-Degree. CSI acts as the fiscal agent for this statewide project. 

AAC&U High Impact Practices (HIP’s)

The Office of the Provost is committed to furthering the use of High Impact Practices as defined by the American Association of Colleges and Universities. More information can be found at the AAC&U website.

Complete College Idaho/Complete College America

Idaho has been a long standing Complete College America (CCA) member which has helped formulate strategy and practice supporting student success. The Office of the Provost works collaboratively with the Enrollment Services unit to support these activities in conjunction with the Idaho State Board of Education.

Program and Curriculum Management

Each year the Office of the Provost submits a 3-year program planning summary to the Idaho State Board of Education. The plan is vetted through the CSI Curriculum Committee and presented to the CSI Board of Trustees before a thorough discussion between the eight Idaho institutions, State Board of Education staff, and State Board Committees. The final plan is presented to the full State Board of Education. This document is not intended to be a commitment so much as an aspirational communication. 

Institutional Stabilization and Optimization (ISO)

In 2021 the College of Southern Idaho undertook an effort to conduct institution-wide analysis of program and unit efficacy. Formulated along the lines of Program Prioritization (a requirement of Idaho four-year colleges and universities), all instructional and non-instructional units undergo a cyclical deep-dive analysis of adherence to core function and program value. For instructional programs, the Office of the Provost considers various factors beyond the scope of annual Program Review processes and report the outcomes to the Office of the President on two-year rotating basis.