responsibilities

1、1,Balancing a Myriad of Assessment Strategies: Coordination of Assessment in the Age of Academic Accountability,Chris Crawford, Assistant Provost Larry Gould, Provost Fort Hays State University,2,The Assessment Imperative,“The higher education community has not found a satisfactory way to measure, r

2、eport on, and improve performance.” The Futures Project (2005) “colleges will need to be more accountable to their customers, more responsive to the marketplace, and more accountable for results.” Current Minnesota Governor Tim Pawlenty (2005),3,The Status Quo of Assessment at FHSU,Mission of assess

3、ment at FHSU The purpose of assessment activity at FHSU is to implement our assigned mission through the systematic collection and analysis of information which can be used to measure and continuously improve the effectiveness of institutional academic and nonacademic programs, policies, and practic

4、es.,4,The Status Quo of Assessment at FHSU, cont.,Vision of assessment at FHSU Fort Hays State University will have an assessment program that provides systematic, usable information about the effectiveness of the institution including learning outcomes and support services that helps us fulfill our

5、 responsibilities to the students who come to us for an education and to the citizens whose trust supports our work.,5,The Status Quo of Assessment at FHSU, cont.,Good assessment can only be derived from good instruction Best practices of instruction Empower faculty and student interaction Facilitat

6、e cooperation between students Promote and encourage active learning Communicate expectations, course objectives, and standards,6,The Status Quo of Assessment at FHSU, cont.,Best practices of instruction, cont. Accept and respect others Demonstrate knowledge of the subject material and discipline sp

7、ecific methodologies, and Provide opportunities for reflection, assessment, and integration,7,The Status Quo of Assessment at FHSU, cont.,Principles of assessment at FHSU All university stakeholders play a crucial role in effective assessment practice The faculty are responsible for setting and asse

8、ssing educational goals The focus of assessment is improvement of the educational process and outcomes at FHSU The unit of study is the program rather than the individual student or faculty member,8,The Status Quo of Assessment at FHSU, cont.,Principles of assessment at FHSU Assessment activities wi

9、ll be conducted as unobtrusively as possible, using existing points of contact as much as possible Single measures are not as effective as multiple measures; Assessing a large number of goals is not as effective as multiple measures Assessment results will be reported in aggregate and used for the i

10、mprovement and development of programs; and Units should include assessment results in their reports,9,Levels of Assessment at FHSU,University Level National benchmarking (Noel Levitz, NSSE, FSSE) Admission exams (ACT, SAT, GRE, GMAT) Alumni/stakeholder surveys College Level General education/Senior

11、 survey Proposed MBA/Business SLO assessment Graduate comps (Grad college),10,Levels of Assessment at FHSU, cont.,Program/Department Level Limited national benchmarking (MCSE, CPA) Competency exams (PLT, NCLEX) Departmental exit/portfolio/thesis/experience Embedded assessment (LIMITED, but some) Cou

12、rse Level Student assessment Embedded assessment source,11,Strategic Plan,Needed to answer the questions What are generally relevant characteristics of all graduates? How are our graduates doing related to those characteristics? What course of action is required based on the data?,12,Role of NSSE/FS

13、SE,PhilosophyFHSU is an AQIP school Quality improvement is a journey not a destiny, NSSE is a yearly pit stop for FHSU NSSE and other institutional assessments are widely shared transparentesque culture Very interested in assessment for the sake of improvement, but compliance is still the “bottom li

14、ne”,13,Role of NSSE Formal,The pivotal tool in providing documentation on the general characteristics Used by colleges to provide basis for strategy (College of Arts and Sciences) NSSE data used by different stakeholders Freshmen data more useful for Student Affairs, Senior data more useful as a pro

15、xy for student learning in Academic Affairs, and Both are useful to Admin & Finance,14,Role of NSSE Informal,Many departments use NSSE items as “big picture” indicators Useful as a means of assessing strategy and priority for quasi-academic programs (ADP, service learning) The fodder for those depar

16、tment meetings that we all remember “Just another piece of the puzzle”,15,Big Plans,Find ways to incorporate NSSE more directly into departmental assessment (primarily for Gen Ed classes) Continue to share NSSE widely Many want data on seniors/graduates: Alumni, Endowment, Student Affairs Use the freshmen data much more in Academic Affairs,16,The Bottom Line,Has the data made us more accountable? Are we using the data to make improvements? Five years outdoes the data still meet our needs? Where are we in reference to our