CLIPs provide opportunities for faculty and others to study issues that require in-depth inquiry and collective efforts. They complement ongoing assessment, program review, and institutional planning. Positioning the CLIPs within the college to complement other work is key to accomplishing their intended purpose.

As a CLIP Guide, you determine how to coordinate the CLIP work with related college activities to promote the sustainability and college-wide support of CLIPs. You also are responsible for recruiting CLIPs and handling CLIP applications. By maintaining attention to the big picture, you can ensure that the CLIPs' work benefits students.

To help position CLIPs we suggest that you:

• Strategically link the CLIP work to the other work on campus that is focused on student learning and success
• Stay informed about the college’s student and program assessment activities
• Keep up to date on how the CLIP work coordinates with the institutional planning and staff development at the college

As you’re coordinating the CLIP work with other college activities, consider:

• campus perspectives about assessment
• faculty norms for working together   
• other institutional activities

We recommend that you begin by pilot testing the process at your college. This gives you the opportunity to see how to keep the CLIP process complementary, but separate, from required assessment, program review, and accreditation work on campus.

Pilot testing helps you adjust to changes at the college and to tailor the CLIPs to your college environment. It also models the use of inquiry to make decisions and enhance your professional practice.

Also consider ways to link CLIPs to strategic initiatives of the college. The voluntary nature of the CLIP work, motivated by personal interest and collegial relationships that go beyond required implementation, adds energy to implementation of special initiatives.

We encourage you to have a broad-based committee that helps you shape the CLIP work. This may be an existing committee on campus or a committee formed specifically for this work.