through the traditional NCA re-accreditation process involving self-study and a comprehensive on-site evaluation visit. Participation is subject to approval by AQIP and the Commission. The Academic Quality improvement Project's goal is to create a culture, a set of shared understandings, with its Participant Institutions that will:

• enhance communication, ongoing learning, and public understanding of systematic academic quality improvement,'
• encourage systems-thinking and provide resources that will stimulate continuous improvement and accountability.
• promote, within and among institutions, a culture of involvement and shared responsibility for academic quality, and
• develop the critical judgment, skills, and capabilities required for systematic quality improvement.

Participant institution Responsibilities:

Establish and align systems, processes, and structures to stimulate and sustain institutional quality improvement initiatives, organizing human, financial, physical, and technological resources to enhance the success of these efforts, by:

• engaging faculty, staff, and other constituents in defining and implementing quality improvement efforts so that an institution-wide culture and understanding of systematic academic quality improvement evolves;
• providing broad-based involvement in activities and in professional development that build an awareness and understanding of the principles and practices of systematic quality improvement at all levels of the institution; and
• establishing systems for communication across staff, students, and other constituents and stakeholders regarding the institution's involvement and progress in systematic Academic Quality Improvement.

Participate in AQIP for the foreseeable future (with the understanding that ceasing to pursue continuous quality improvement systematically will return the institution to the traditional accreditation process with a comprehensive visit within five years) by:

• participating in a Strategy Forum (formerly known as the Collaborative Goal-Setting Workshop) within one year after becoming an AQIP Participant Institution, and a Comprehensive Quality Review approximately three years later;
• continuing to participate in Strategy Forums and Comprehensive Quality Reviews on a 3 - 5 year cycle;
• informing AQIP promptly of major institutional conditions, events, or changes that could negatively affect the institution's viability, operations, or quality improvement efforts;
• continuing to observe other Commission policies and obligations of membership (e.g., concerning institutional change and dynamics, complaints, public information, etc.); and
• continuing to satisfy the Commission's General Institutional Requirements (or their successor requirements), responding promptly to any inquiries the Commission receives regarding possible violations of these fundamental NCA membership expectations

Support Academic Quality Improvement Project operations and activities by:

• identifying an official institutional liaison with AQIP and the Commission, notifying AQIP promptly of temporary or permanent changes affecting this liaison role;
• completing an Annual Results Inventory for AQIP and the standard Commission Annual Report;
• paying fees charged for participation in AQIP Workshops, Reviews, and other activities promptly;
• keeping AQIP informed about major institutional leaders who should receive information and notices of events, activities, and services; and
• evaluating AQIP 1 P processes, criteria, policies, services, and staff frankly. and promptly in order to provide AQIP with the information required for its continuous improvement.

Responsibilities of the Academic Quality Improvement Project, its staff, and the Commission:

Respect each Participant Institution's mission, goals, culture, values, perceptions, and personnel by:

• collaborating with Participant Institutions to help them accomplish their goals;
• making information about an institution public only with the institution's consent;
• inviting participating institutions to evaluate, comment on, and suggest improvements in all aspects of AQIP, attending seriously to all feedback institutions provide; and
• soliciting from institutions the names of faculty, staff, and administrators able to play roles in AQIP (e.g., as peer reviewers, peer quality consultants, feedback report editors, etc.), providing them opportunities to participate.

Respond to institutions' needs and requirements by:

• identifying tools and resources institutions can employ to support their quality efforts;
• providing workshops, publications, and other resources at affordable costs to Participant Institutions;
• responding energetically, quickly, and courteously to requests by Participant Institutions for assistance or information in all quality-related areas identified; and
• keeping program costs and the fees charged to Participant Institutions as low as possible, thereby promoting opportunities for broader involvement in AQIP's activities and services.

  The fees that will be assessed for participation in required AQIP activities such as the Strategy Forums and Comprehensive Quality Reviews are estimates only at this point. Through June 2002, the period during which the Project is supported by a grant from the Pew Charitable Trusts, fees for Participant institutions will be discounted; from July 2002 forward, all Project activities must be completely supported by user fees. Workshops will be held regionally, to reduce travel costs, and require the attendance of five or more persons from each Participant Institution. A safe but probably inflated projection for institutional participation is $1000 per person for the three-day Workshop, an estimate which covers registration, housing, food, and all materials, but not travel to and from the Workshop location. Costs for a Comprehensive Quality Review should fall in the $2500 -$4000 per institution range, with an additional charge to cover the travel and related costs of Quality Mentors if a site visit option is selected as part of the Review. A site visit will be required at least once every seven years. Annual Quality Updates will not require an institutional fee. Other activities will be optional and charged independently.

Share information on institutional quality improvement by:

• serving as a network to promote the sharing of institutional quality strategies, experiences, and results, both positive and negative;
• identifying, evaluating, validating, sharing, and celebrating best and innovative practices discovered by Participant and associate institutions; and
• sharing with Participant Institutions and with the rest of the higher education community information about AQIP's and the Commission's own quality improvement efforts and results.

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