April 4

KEYNOTE SPEAKER

Jennifer Fager is Chair of the Middle and Secondary Education department at Saginaw Valley

State University in Michigan. She earned her doctorate in Curriculum, Instruction, and Assessment

from the University of Nebraska. Dr. Fager serves as a consultant-evaluator for the Higher Learn-

ing Commission, a mentor in the HLC Assessment Workshops, and is a member of the NCATE Board of

Examiners. Prior to returning to a faculty position, Dr. Fager directed academic assessment of-

fices at Central Michigan University and the University of Nevada, Las Vegas.

ASSESSMENT IS :

ENGAGED FACULTY AND STAFF , MEANINGFUL DATA , USABLE FOR IMPROVEMENT

M a r c h 2 0 0 8

Assessment Academy Retreat at IU East

In 2006 the Higher Learning Commission established the Academy for Assessment of Student Learning. All colleges and universities within the North Central accreditation area were invited to apply, and IU East was accepted into the 2007 cohort. By joining, IU East made a 4-year commitment to strengthen and improve our assessment efforts.

We have two main projects in the Acad-emy: the assessment of general education led by TJ Rivard and the assessment of the co-curricular areas led by Cheryl Stafford. The other Academy Team members are Larry Richards, David Frantz and Mary Blakefield.

The Academy Team traveled to Lisle, Illinois in June 2007 for the first meeting of the Assessment Academy. The pro-jects were outlined during three intense days of work. On the final day of the Academy, only TJ and Mary were left standing to represent the team, and in their assessment delirium the EMU was created. (The original art may be viewed in WZ 101D.)

Our progress on the two assessment pro-jects will be presented in a poster session at the Higher Learning Commission an-nual meeting in Chicago on April 11. The poster is entitled “Comprehensive As-sessment—First Steps.”

The Academy Team would like to thank Matt Dilworth for his help in printing and assembling the poster.

Assessment plans for each

baccalaureate degree

should be sent to Mary

Blakefield by April 30.

News from the Assessment Academy

Assessment of General Education

9:30a.m. to 12:00 p.m., Community Room

All faculty are invited!

Assessment of the Co-Curricular

3:00p.m. to 4:30p.m., Community Room

Cohorts 1 and 2

Self Assessment is

Universal Truth

~Sun Tzu~

TJ Rivard and Mary Blakefield proudly display the

IU East Certificate

Group members hard at work

Assessment of General Education poster

Page 2

Page 3

Assessment of Co-Curricular Programs is

the apt if not particularly poetic title for our program to implement on-going assessment

in all areas apart from the academic schools. The list of such programs is extensive, in-

cluding departments with missions clearly connected to student learning—Academic

Advising Center, Student Support Services.

It also includes those which provide essen-tial services—Financial Aid, Student Ac-

counts. It includes Campus Life and Athlet-ics--programs which have sometimes been

perceived as non-essential but whose impor-tance has increased with our changing mis-

sion.

To initiate assessment that is on-going, com-prehensive, and integrated into our work,

we are phasing in small cohorts each semes-

ter. In this way the Assessment Team can

more effectively provide assistance to de-partment directors and their staffs in the

early stages of implementation. Also, we hope to develop mentors along the way as

each cohort gains experience and shares what they have learned with those starting

their individual projects.

Co-curricular assessment started at IU East this past summer when the first cohort,

including Athletics, Student Support Ser-vices, and Academic Advising, began the

cycle. These groups gathered data during the fall 2007 semester. As they analyzed

their data at the end of the semester, the

next cohort, including Financial Aid, Stu-dent Accounts, and Campus Life was get-

ting ready to begin their projects—

identifying and refining their departmen-

tal mission statement and setting goals in preparation for gathering data. Now, as

we move through the spring semester, the first cohort repeats the cycle, perhaps

expanding on their initial goals and em-ploying different tools, or by adding a

new assessment goal.

We have encouraged the assessors to keep their projects simple as they learn the

process. The scope is narrow, focusing on two to three goals that are apparent from

the mission. The chosen tools are basic—surveys and focus groups, for example.

As we gain experience and knowledge,

we will answer more complex questions and improve our selection of a larger vari-

ety of assessment tools.

The work proved to take its toll. By the

time the General Education Team finished their work on Sunday morning, adopting

an EMU as their mascot (yes, please ask), only two of the original five re-

mained. Nevertheless, the team triumphed and developed a plan that would establish

a General Education Process by the end of

2008 – 09. Indeed, in the fall of 2008, a team of arts and sciences faculty were con-

scripted, I mean volunteered, to develop General Education rubrics by the end of

the fall semester. Searching for best prac-tices across the nation, they managed to

create a set of assessment rubrics that they

believed would establish a baseline for the campus and then could be used to make

changes as additional data are collected

and analyzed. In spring 2008, this team

piloted the rubric in select classes to see what results they might get. From the

results, which are being gathered even as this is being written, they hope to be able

to see what rubrics work and which ones will need additional tweaking before the

fall semester of 09 when the Gen Ed As-

sessment plan (we hope) will be fully im-plemented, complete with the ability to

use the data as a means to recommend and enact change. So, the next time you

see a majestic flock of emus streaking through the sky toward the horizon, you

can thank your friends on the Assessment

Academy for the protection as well as the improvement they bring you through

General Education Assessment.

On a rainy weekend in 2006, five wayward

IU East faculty and administrators wan-dered westward to the outskirts of Chicago

to sit at the feet of the Higher Learning Commission’s Assessment gurus. In 2007,

three returned with two others to replace the wiser souls who stayed home from the previ-

ous year. In 2006, the focus was to sit-and-

listen. In 2007, our ragtag crew had to cre-ate some plans to bring back and implement

on the campus, so they split into two groups – one to work on a plan to assess co-

curricular activities and the other to work on a plan that would assess general educa-

tion. They dug in and began their work

with the exception of one who mysteriously found her way to a Cubs game which they,

of course, lost.

Our beginning...

Assessment of Co-Curricular Programs

The Business Division has begun implemen-

tation of a program assessment strategy. The

first step taken by the Division was the ap-

proval of seven learning outcomes in the

areas of Communication, Business Knowl-

edge and Technical Skills, Leadership and

Team Skills, Analytical and Quantitative

Skills and International and Global Perspec-

tives. As an initial starting point, the Divi-

sion is participating in a pilot project spon-

sored by the Association of Collegiate Busi-

ness Schools and Programs. This is focused

on utilizing a rubric to assess student per-

formance on a business case study used in

J401 Administrative Policy, a capstone

course in the division. The Business Divi-

sion faculty members have conducted an

initial review of student performance on

these cases and is now beginning to define

more specific learning outcomes at the field

or discipline level (such as accounting,

finance, and marketing). This will be fol-

lowed in the 2008-2009 academic year with

more intensive course mapping.

Those That Know, Do

Those That Understand, Teach

~Aristotle~

News from the Business Division

Note from the Editor: No one really went to a Cubs game, and we know that emus don’t fly.

Assessment Lending Library

WZ 101D

Introduction to Rubrics: An Assessment Tool to Save Grading Time, Convey Effective Feedback and Promote Student Learning, by Dannelle Stevens

and Antonia Levi

Making Teaching and Learning Visible, by Bernstein, Burnett, Goodburn and Savory

Creating a New Kind of University, by Percy, Zimpher, and Brukardt

The Learning Paradigm College, by John Tagg

Putting Students First: How Colleges Develop Students Purposefully, by Braskamp, Trautvetter and Ward

Hallmarks of Effective Outcomes Assessment, by Trudy Banta

Assessing Student Competence in Accredited Disciplines: Pioneering approaches to assessment in higher education, by Catherine Palomba and Trudy

Banta

Assessing for Learning: Building a Sustainable Commitment Across the Institution, by Peggy Maki

Assessing Online Learning, by Patricia Comeaux

Classroom Assessment Techniques: A Handbook for College Teachers, by Thomas Angelo and Patricia Cross

Assessing General Education Programs, by Mary Allen

Assessment Clear and Simple: A Practical Guide for Institutions, Departments, and General Education, by Barbara Walvoord

Assessing Conditions to Enhance Educational Effectiveness: The Inventory for Student Engagement and Success, by George Kuh, Jillian Kinzie, John

Schuh and Elizabeth Whitt

Student Success in College: Creating Conditions That Matter, by George Kuh, Jillian Kinzie, John Schuh and Elizabeth Whitt

A Practitioner’s Handbook for Institutional Effectiveness and Student Outcomes Assessment Implementation, by James Nichols

Assessing Student Learning: A Common Sense Guide, by Linda Suskie

Assessing Character Outcomes in College, by Dalton, Russell, and Kline

Assessment and Placement of Minority Students, by Ronald J. Samuda and Shiu L. Kong

Assessing Faculty Work: Enhancing Individual and Institutional Performance, by Larry A. Braskamp and John C. Ory

Making a Difference: Outcomes of a Decade of Assessment in Higher Education, by Trudy Banta

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