Running Head: PROFESSIONAL STATEMENT OF LEARNING

Professional Statement of Learning

Andrew Buckle

PROFESSIONAL STATEMENT OF LEARNING

Indiana State UniversityProfessional Statement of Learning

Summary of Internship Plan:
As a full time faculty member my primary responsibilities involve managing my online
and face to face courses on a weekly basis. Many of the courses I teach I have personally
developed. In addition to managing these courses and grading papers I also serve students
outside of class as a faculty advisor for the education program as well. This role requires me to
advise students in what courses they should take each semester and helping them map out their
educational journey through graduation. Outside of these roles I may be a part of a committee
with some specific task, but otherwise am left to maintain these responsibilities only. I am
especially excited for this spring internship experience as I have a unique opportunity to take an
extended look at the academic affairs budget within our Central Indiana Region. Working
alongside our Assistant Vice Chancellor of Academic Affairs and other administrators, I will
review and research historical budgets within our institution as well as review the current fiscal
years budget for planning and recommending changes to the 2016-2017 academic year. What
will be of special interest in this project will be the challenge of reducing costs of the division by
an estimated 4%, the current shortfall that is expected this coming year. Ivy Tech Community
College saw unprecedented growth in 2009 and warranted much needed changes and with this
enrollment boom, funds were coming in at much higher rates. Since this increase, the college as
a whole and more specifically our region has experienced a decline in enrollment. Although in
Central Indiana our decline is much less than other regions, every percentage point is an
important one with regard to enrollment numbers and requires administrators to consider what
changes need to be made. This semester I will be learning about how our budget is created,
maintained and how decisions are made that involve our operating processes on a day to day
basis. Some areas of specific focus will include our adjunct budget which compiles over 8
million dollars annually, and making our adjunct contracts more competitive with surrounding
institutions. Additionally I will learn about the grant monies and how funds are managed, spent
and proposals are made for continued financial support from specific donors. Attending
meetings, compiling financial research and creating a budgetary recommendation list will be the
primary focus of this project as well as weekly personal reflections.
Cognitive Objectives:
Objective 1: To learn about how budgets are created, managed, evaluated and set for short term
and long term goals.
Measures of Achievement:
I will shadow our current Assistant Vice Chancellor of Academic Affairs and attend regional
academic officer meetings that involve budgetary discussions.
I will review past budgetary documents and discuss these with the Assistant Vice Chancellor of
Academic Affairs.
I will read a professional book regarding financial practices within institutions of higher
education.

PROFESSIONAL STATEMENT OF LEARNING

Objective 2: To learn how money is prioritized for certain functions and how reductions to
budgets are decided and new recommendations made for future budgets.
Measures of Achievement:
I will study former spreadsheets of previous budget cycles as well as review current initiatives
within the division of academic affairs.
I will read a book on college finances and provide reflections on this reading.
Objective 3: To learn how financial decision are requested and approved in academic affairs and
learn how money is allocated to expanding areas within the division in an effort to foster further
growth.
Measurements of Achievement:
I will attend our regional academic officer meetings that involve budgetary requests, proposal
and decisions.
I will interview our Assistant Vice Chancellor of Academic Affairs and other regional academic
officers on priorities and division initiatives.
I will study programs with high growth and expansion.
Affective Objectives:
Objective 1: To learn budgetary issues that is arising in my academic affairs division.
Measures of Achievement:
I will interview our Assistant Vice Chancellor of Academic Affairs on budgetary concerns within
the institution as well as other academic officers.
I will attend academic officer meetings that involve budgetary discussions.
Objective 2: To learn about power dynamics that revolves around financial decisions within the
college. More specifically, learning who is in charge of the money and how these individuals
decide if and how money is spent.
Measures of Achievement:
I will interview our current Director of Finance and other personnel who work in finance.
I will interview our Assistant Vice Chancellor and other academic administrators on the
experiences they have had in spending money, specifically with concerns and issues in getting
their own individual departments funds for specific tasks, objectives or initiatives.
I will provide a written reflection on what is learned from interviews.
Objective 3: To learn who approves/denies funds and at what level these decisions are made.
Measurements of Achievement:
I will shadow our Assistant Vice Chancellor on Perkins Grant proposals and reviews.
I will shadow our Assistant Vice Chancellor of Academic Affairs and our Adjunct Coordinator to
learn about adjunct pay scales, researching competitive pay among other institutions and
recruitment of new highly qualified adjunct faculty.

PROFESSIONAL STATEMENT OF LEARNING

Objective # 4: To learn how are resources allocated between personnel.

Measurement of Achievement:
I will review past, present and our proposed budget for the oncoming academic year and
compare how funds have been spent and will be spent in the coming term.
I will provide written reflections on my observations regarding these individual budgets.
Applicative Objectives:
Objective 1: Create recommendations for 2016-2017 budget in a specific area.
Measures of Achievement:
I will create a set of recommendations to be used in the 2016-2017 academic year in a specific
academic affairs budget line.
Objective 2: To learn about grant funds and their differences in the regular operating budget.
Measures of Achievement:
I will attend meetings that are devoted to the Perkins Grant
I will review previous Perkins grant spreadsheets.
I will provide written reflections on my learning regarding the differences between grant money
purchases and the general operating budget monies.
Objective 3: To learn the budgetary review process within my institution.
Measures of Achievement:
I will attend the budgetary review that occurs every spring term with other senior level
administrative personnel.
I will provide a written reflection of my learning on this process.
Spring 2016 Internship Experience
Dr. Lori Handy (Mentor)
Assistant Vice Chancellor of Academic Affairs- Ivy Tech Community College- Central Indiana
Region
50 West Fall Creek Parkway North Drive, Indianapolis IN 46208
317-921-4921
Lhandy1@ivytech.edu