Academic Quality Improvement Program - Assessment of Student Learning Action Project
September, 2006
AQIP Action Project Update
1. Describe the past year’s accomplishments and the current status of this Action Project.
This is the final year of this Action Project and we are well on our way to establishing a culture of assessment on campus. One of the main accomplishments this year was the development of a new structure for submitting annual assessment reports. We created a Moodle (Augsburg’s course management system) site for submitting these reports. The site included areas on which to report in each area of assessment within the department (both general education and major/graduate program). It was understood that the committee did not expect that assessment had been occurring in each area but that we wanted to know where their assessment efforts had been focused. 73% of the academic departments (24/33) submitted an annual report as of the submission of this update. We plan on contacting the remaining departments this fall.
The other major accomplishment focused on the Student Affairs division of the college. They developed an overall assessment plan for their division. Each department, rather than focusing on their own assessment plan, focused on how they contributed to the overall goals of the division. Each department would then submit a report on the aforementioned Moodle site. We are still in the early stages of instituting this plan so only a few departments submitted an annual report.
2. Describe how the institution involved people in work on this Action
Project.
This project involved the following areas of the college: the Assessment Committee, the Dean of Academic Affairs, the Dean of Student Affairs, the Associate Dean of General Education, the Assessment Director, Director of the Center for Teaching and Learning. All of the above were critically involved in overseeing and orchestrating efforts involved in assessment. In addition, most curricular and co-curricular departments were involved in the assessment of
student learning.
3. Describe your planned next steps for this Action Project.
Twenty seven percent (9/33) of the academic departments did not submit an annual report this year but two of these departments have submitted an annual report in the past. Therefore, 21% (7/33) of academic departments are not fully engaged in assessment. We believe that assessment is probably occurring, but these departments have not labeled their work as such. The assessment consultants will focus their efforts in the coming year on assisting these departments.
Another “next step” is the development of an assessment budget. We are currently collecting data on the resources that departments need to effectively accomplish assessment in their departments.
The next major step is to integrate curricular (major and general education) and co-curricular (academic and student affairs) assessment efforts into a holistic College level assessment plan. A group of faculty and staff (Assessment Consultants from the co-curriculum and curriculum, Assessment Director, Associate Dean of General Education, and Institutional Research Staff) attended a week-long retreat sponsored by The Collaboration at St. Olaf College to work on this effort
4. What challenges, if any, are you still facing in regards to this Action
Project?
The major challenge is time and money. Many departments still view assessment as an “add-on.” We will continue to help departments to integrate assessment into their “normal routine.” As mentioned in #3, we are working on the development of a budget to provide departments with the money they need to effectively accomplish assessment.
5. Describe an “effective practice(s)” that resulted from work on this Action project.
Two best practices have emerged from our work on this Action Project. The first is the structure we developed for submitting annual reports (see #1). The second is our assessment consultant structure. We have four assessment consultants who provide direct assistance to departments (Natural and Social Science, Fine Arts and Humanities, Professional and Graduate Studies, and Co-curriculum). Each consultant works in these areas so is very familiar with the content, problems, and the people. This has been a very effective way to assist departments in their assessment efforts.