Outcomes Assessment Reports

a newsletter and Web log by Frank Vozzo   Director of Student Learning Outcomes Assessment

 

February 20, 2006

In this report:

• Some suggestions for departments on preparing Academic Plans.
• The Federal Commission on the Future of Higher Education contemplates assessment and accountability.
• What do employers actually want our graduates to be able to do?

Department Chairs at Sage are in the process of preparing Academic Plans.  The outline to be used in preparing the plans is available at CampusCruiser/My Cruiser/My Committees/TSC Faculty Staff &  Administrators/Shared Files/Institutional Research and Planning/Departmental Plan Outline.doc. 

We should all be contributing to this process, and I urge those of you with expertise and experience in assessment to step forward and assist your department chairs.  There are two points to keep in mind as plans are written:

1) Assessment is not an event—it is what we all do on a regular basis to inform ourselves of the level of student learning taking place in our courses and programs for the purpose of making improvements.  Inaction is no longer an option; however…

2) No department can possibly be expected to invent a comprehensive assessment plan from scratch in a matter of weeks.  The point of writing about assessment in the Academic Plan is to move forward with assessment beyond where we are now (for some of us that means to begin).  If you are unfamiliar with assessment, write about how you will become familiar with it and/or take an inventory of what you already measure.  If you have started down the path already, reflect on the resulting improvements in courses and programs.

These newsletters are intended to keep you informed and to give you ideas on assessment tools and techniques.  Remember that no single technique will meet everyone’s needs, and utilizing only one technique is considered inadequate assessment.  I am available to meet with department chairs, individually or in groups, alone or at department meetings, to offer concrete suggestions on what to do with this.  Send me an invitation today!

The federal Department of Education has appointed a commission to study outcomes assessment and institutional accountability in higher education.  The chairman of the commission, Charles Miller, wrote in an open memorandum to the commission members:

“We need to assure that the American public understand through access to sufficient information, particularly in the area of student learning, what they are getting for their investment in a college education.”

These remarks have stirred fears and speculation that the commission might recommend that all colleges and universities receiving federal funding be required to do entrance/exit testing on students and to make the results public for comparison purposes.  Some are speculating that the commission might be persuaded to follow the lead of public higher education in Texas, where the National Survey of Student Engagement (NSSE) and the Collegiate Learning Assessment (CLA) instruments are used widely.  Note that Educational Testing Service just introduced MAPP, a competitor test to the CLA.

The commission will make its recommendations to Education Secretary Margaret Spellings on August 1.  We should keep our eyes on this!

What do employers want our graduates to be able to do?  Is this an appropriate question to ask, given that a college education is not supposed to be mere job training?

It turns out that employers and college professors are looking for some of the same things in college graduates*:

1)    The capacity for life-long learning.

2)    Self awareness.

3)    The ability to think critically.

4)    The ability to write and to speak competently.

5)    A sense of ethics and responsibility.

6)    Some detailed knowledge about a subject.

Employers are among our assessment stakeholders—those who have something to gain or something to lose as a result of what students actually learn in college.  Employers are not just “out there”—they are with us all the time—they are our adjunct instructors, internship and clinical supervisors, departmental advisory board members, and members of our Board of Trustees.

Include prospective employers of your students in your discussions about assessment-- via surveys, focus groups; guest lectures/panel discussions, and paid or unpaid consultations.

*Douglas J. Eder, “General Education Assessment Within the Disciplines.”  JGE: The Journal of General Education, Vol. 53, No. 2, The Pennsylvania State University, 2004.

In next week's OARs: the First Year Experience.

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