For Release October 10

Regents Approve Sioux Falls Facility Project(s), Hear Proficiency Exam Report

ABERDEEN-Facility planning in Sioux Falls and student proficiency exams were among key topics before the Board of Regents, which is meeting today and tomorrow in Aberdeen. Regents took up a facility proposal for the university system's Sioux Falls Center for Public Higher Education, and granted approval for a Health Sciences Information Center at the USD School of Medicine's Health Science Center in Sioux Falls.) The Board also received an update on the progress of the universities' student proficiencies exam initiative, approved by the Board last December.

This morning Regents approved a plan to prepare legislation that would provide for construction of a facility to house the Center for Public Higher Education in Sioux Falls. The Center, a joint venture of Dakota State University, South Dakota State University, and the University of South Dakota, has been in operation since 1992 and currently offers 23 programs to approximately 2,500 students per year at nine sites in the Sioux Falls area, at least one of which will be unavailable in the near future.

The Board authorized a facility not to exceed 57,500 square feet and $7.3 million, which are maximums; actual size and cost could be lower. The project is to be funded through bonding and available cash from the university system's Higher Education Facilities Fund (HEFF), not from additional state appropriations.

Two major site proposals are currently on the table for the project. One has been offered by the Good Samaritan Society, a Sioux Falls-based nursing care provider, for construction of a facility on Good Samaritan property at 57^th and I-29 in Sioux Falls, with Good Samaritan leasing a portion of the building from the CPHE. The second major proposal has been put forward by Southeast Technical Institute, and calls for construction of a facility on its current property at 2301 Career Place.

The Board will submit its plan to the Legislature in January for authorization.

Also on the subject of facilities, the Board approved an amendment to the USD Medical School's lease on its Health Sciences Center in Sioux Falls, allowing construction of a Health Science Information Center. The 22,000 square foot facility, to constructed adjacent to the Health Sciences Center, is intended to be a state of the art medical information resource for health care providers and citizens throughout South Dakota. It will combine the clinical component of the University's Lommen Health Sciences Collection with computer based and multi-media health science instruction, as well as on-line access for clients at remote sites. The estimated cost of the project stands at $2.6 million, and will be funded by donations from South Dakota physicians and businesses, School of Medicine alumni, and foundations and individuals. In granting approval, however, the Board directed the School of Medicine to adjust project budgets to account for maintenance and repair contingencies, and provide additional information on governance and staffing of the facility.

According to Regents' Executive Director Robert T. Tad Perry, both projects demonstrate the potential of partnerships in meeting state needs with limited resources. "Both the Center for Public Higher Education and the Health Sciences Information Center will offer expanded educational opportunities for South Dakotans, particularly health care providers statewide and non-traditional and place-bound students in our largest metropolitan area. By working together as a system and in partnership with other institutions in Sioux Falls, we can enhance opportunity without additional state funding," Perry said.

In committee action, the Board's Committee on Academic and Student Affairs heard a report on the first year of a student proficiency testing initiative in the university system. Under the initiative, passed by the Board in December 1995, current university students completing between 47 and 68 credit hours are tested in areas such as writing skills, mathematics, critical thinking, and social and natural sciences. In a two-year pilot phase, the universities are comparing two examinations-the Collegiate Assessment of Academic Proficiencies (CAAP), created by the American College Test (ACT), and the Academic Profile (AP), created by Educational Testing Service-to determine which test to use and to determine appropriate proficiency levels. The two tests will be evaluated after the second pilot year (1997), and one will be selected for ongoing use and proficiency levels established (beginning in 1998). Following the pilot phase, students not meeting the minimum proficiencies in a given area will be required to correct any deficiencies.

Preliminary results from the 1996 administration of both tests show that students at South Dakota institutions performed at or above national averages in most major areas, and well within the standard range of deviation for national norms in all areas.

Collegiate Assessment of Academic Proficiency (CAAP)

Academic Profile (AP)

Regent Pat Lebrun of Rapid City, who chairs the committee, applauded the results, stating, "The preliminary data speak well of the quality of instruction at our institutions. I firmly believe that these tests will be useful in helping both students and faculty to identify areas that are strong and areas that need improvement. This will not only help students successfully complete degrees, but also equip them to compete professionally and contribute in their communities. It is important to note, though, that we are still in the early part of this project, and decisions such as which test to use and where to set minimum proficiency standards for our students are still before us."

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