Montana University System Tuning Initiative

 

With support from the Lumina Foundation and College!NOW, the Montana University System will engage in a pilot initiative to tune Associate of Science program of study in business with Bachelor of Science in business degrees.

Tuning encourages faculty to identify the learning that constitutes the core of their discipline and to scale student proficiency in that discipline according to degree levels. The initial results of this process should be a body of explicit proficiency and outcome statements that make clear to students what they are expected to learn.

Generally speaking, Tuning enables faculty to better establish quality and relevance of degrees in various academic disciplines and professional fields. More specifically, Tuning produces the following six key benefits:

1. Facilitates student success and retention, especially among students from underserved groups, by creating clear expectations for, and pathways to, degree completion;
   
   
2. Simplifies the process for students transferring credits between institutions;
   
   
3. Emphasizes lifelong learning and important, but often undervalued, transferable skills;
   
   
4. Aligns the roles of higher education institutions;
   
   
5. Increases higher education’s responsiveness to changes in knowledge and its application; and
   
   
6. Ensures the knowledge and applied skills associated with coursework align with civic, societal, and workforce needs.

Resources:

• General Discipline Profile - Business
• Montana Tuning Impact Presentation  (Daniel J. McInerny, Utah State University)
• Tuning American Higher Education:  The Process  (Institute for Evidence-Based Change)
• "Tuning" the Disciplines  (Prof. Norm Jones, PhD) 
• Tuning-A Brief Overview for Montana Presentation (Institute for Evidence-Based Change)
• The Discipline Core Document has generated a large number of suggestions, amendments, and alterations from historians across the nation. As a professional society, the AHA does not intend to state a set of “standards” for the profession or a group of required conceptual frameworks for historical study. The “discipline core” should be viewed as “reference points.” Those participating in the AHA Tuning project are asked to take the suggestions back to their campuses, discuss the points with colleagues, determine what points are most appropriate to the faculty, students, resources, and mission of their institution, and frame a set of competencies and learning outcomes suited to their needs. The basic message? “Tuners” know their campus; they should shape the project in a way that they and their colleagues believe will work. (Daniel J. McInerny, Utah State University)