The following information was derived from an article published by American Association of University Professors entitled, “Establishing a Culture of Assessment: Fifteen elements of assessment success – how many does your campus have?” by Wendy F. Weiner. Each bullet point below is in response to an element listed in this article. Areas in need of improvement are listed below in the “Areas for Improvement” section, with the description from the article included verbatim.

Evidence of the culture of assessment at MSU includes:

• General Education Goals. The requirement to approve measures and rubrics for Essential Studies courses, as well as the inclusion of capstone courses in LEAP ELO approval process.

• Common Use of Assessment Terms. A common use of assessment terms which was introduced at the beginning of the quality initiative.

• Faculty Ownership. Faculty-led involvement in development and implementation of the assessment programs. Director of Assessment, Assessment Coordinators and Essential Studies committee members designed the processes and tools used to implement it, as well as how to use the findings and data.

• Ongoing Professional Development. Faculty training program that began by introducing the concepts of assessment, demonstrating and supporting the use of Taskstream, workshops by outside experts and ongoing education for adjunct and incoming faculty.

• Initially, in 2010, the assessment team participated in an HLC workshop, “Making a Difference in Student Learning: Assessment as a Core Strategy.” Since then teams have attended every annual HLC conference.

• Next steps for this area of faculty development will be incorporated into future plans for the assessment program and will include higher-level workshops.

• Administrative Support and Understanding. Administrative support is demonstrated by the priority and urgency with which the need for an assessment program was established. The institution consistently sends five to six representatives, including VPAA and VPSA, to the HLC annual conferences and has provided financial support for coordinators to attend various assessment workshops. A significant financial commitment was made with the purchase of Taskstream to support assessment data collection.

• Practical, Sustainable Assessment Plan. The assessment plan is systematic and sustainable. Faculty create biannual curriculum maps and schedules defining which SLOs their courses will measure. Most choose one or two SLOs per year and employ measures that are already embedded in their courses. The Essential Studies program is very clearly defined in its measure of ELOs 1 to 4 across a four year span. All courses are assessed according to delivery mode/instructor combinations across the board each semester.

• Systematic Assessment. Each division has identified measurable student learning outcomes for each major and stand-alone minor.

• Student Learning Outcomes. Each course contains a set of measurable objectives. This is ascertained through a syllabi compliance check conducted each semester and a rubric used to evaluate instructional design of online courses. SLOs are communicated to students in a PDF document that is included in every course shell in the LMS.

• Comprehensive Program Review. Program review occurs regularly and is managed by the university system. The purpose of the program review is to assess the current level of program quality, means to improve program quality, relationship of the program to the mission of the institution, and program productivity.

• Information Sharing and Celebration of Success. Assessment results are shared between faculty within divisions and among divisions during an annual sharing event. Faculty present an overview of the division’s assessment results and discuss success and failures. Faculty participate in concurrent roundtable discussions in which stimulates an atmosphere of excitement, sharing and learning among colleagues.

Areas for Improvement

Assessment of Co-curricular Activities

Discussions of assessment all too often focus entirely on courses and academic programs, even though learning can and does take place outside the classroom. On many campuses, significant sums of money support co-curricular activities that may provide learning opportunities. For example, if a college offers a global awareness series through a student activities program, the series should be included in the assessment plan. As part of the plan, it should also have its own set of desired outcomes and be systematically assessed for student learning.

Institutional Effectiveness

There are many areas to assess in addition to student learning outcomes. Considering all areas, and how well the college is meeting its mission and goals, is essentially assessing institutional effectiveness. This makes assessment everyone’s business.

Assessing campus climate is an important part of evaluating an institution’s effectiveness. Students’ perceptions and attitudes about their campuses and college communities have been shown to affect student learning. “Taking the temperature” of a campus will reveal how students view its commitment to their success. Areas to assess include opportunities for student-faculty interaction, academic support services, personal support, academic challenge, enrichment, and library services. In addition, the president’s office, administrative services, the board of trustees, workforce development, the foundation, public relations, and all components of student services should not be overlooked. Every area ultimately has an impact on students and their success.

Planning and Budgeting

Often, faculty are turned off by the budgeting process. It does not have to be so. All faculty can contribute to their department’s plan and provide data for informed budgeting. The operational plan should highlight areas that need to be improved and have specific objectives to guide the department in working toward improvement. Assessment results can demonstrate areas of need within a department, and faculty can evaluate how much money might be necessary to rectify a problem. Also, if faculty engagement in assessment has yielded positive results, faculty can think about rewards that could be put in their department’s budget to continue the good work.

Although some faculty may resist supporting budgeting and planning efforts as additional work that the department head is paid to do, others who are regularly involved in improving teaching and learning will gladly provide input that will move them closer to the level of success they seek. Likewise, for an administration committed to a culture of assessment, the planning and budgeting process can help it accomplish this goal. When an administration explains the budgeting process to the entire college community and invites interested parties to participate, it signals that it is going to close the loop in planning, assessment, and budgeting. Of course, administrators must follow through and make sure that more money flows into classrooms as a result.

Work Cited

Weiner, W.F. (2009). Establishing a culture of assessment. Fifteen elements of assessment success – how many does your campus have? American Association of University Professors. Retrieved from http://www.aaup.org/article/establishing-culture-assessment#.Vqfm6fn_5_g