• Assessment Committee Update (September 2002)

• Assessment Committee Update (January 2003)

• Assessment Committee Update (January 2004)

• Assessment Committee Update (April 2004)

• NSSE and FSSE Information Sent out 2006-2007

Assessment Committee Update (September 2002)
The ad hoc Assessment Committee originally brought together by Dr. Ann Freeberg last year had its first meeting this year Wednesday, September 18, 2002. Members of the committee include: Greg Conderman, Brenda DuBois, Ann Freeberg, Martin Hansen, Paul Koch, Ann Preston, Lew Sanborne, and James Van Speybroeck, with Rich Legg as a frequent visitor. The committee will work on several projects this year, including, but not limited to: developing an assessment calendar, planning a spring assessment activity for our students, providing feedback to faculty members regarding assessment, planning a spring assessment workshop, and revising the 1995 Assessment Plan.

Of critical importance is a reexamination of institutional policies regarding the assessment of our students. A senior assessment has been included in catalogs for several years now as a graduation "requirement." This requirement has most recently been listed in an area of the catalog where most students, faculty, and staff might not take note of it. In addition, this graduation requirement has not been a requirement in practice for many years and no longer appears on audits; students who did not participate in the senior assessment were not prevented from graduating. Some students who were selected to participate in the critical thinking assessment conducted last spring were angry because they received a letter saying that participation was a graduation requirement. They felt as if the assessment requirement was sprung on them at the last minute. They may have received conflicting information from different offices on campus about this assessment. Just as importantly, the behavior of telling students that something was a requirement when, in reality, refusing to participate would not prevent them from graduating did not model behavior that we want our students to engage in. Nor did it help to create a positive culture of assessment on the St. Ambrose University campus. Therefore, the Assessment Committee began drafting copy for the coming catalog, removing language that identifies participation in the senior assessment as a requirement and replacing it with language that explains and encourages participation in the assessment process. Although this step will not, by itself, build a culture of assessment that is positive and appropriate, it is part of the process. This proposal will be brought to the Educational Policies Committee for consideration this fall in time for inclusion in the catalog.

Please feel free to contact any member of the Assessment Committee or me - we would appreciate your assistance in the process.

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Assessment Committee Update (January 2003)
The assessment committee’s discussions the second half of fall 2002 centered around what the institution might do as a spring assessment activity and how we might begin to assess the "attitudes/values" goals and objectives of our general education program.

1. The committee discussed several options for a spring assessment. One possibility is to use the Academic Profile, a test produced by the Educational Testing Service. This test has been used in the past and provided us with some usable information (the results of our previous use of the Academic Profile are published on the General Education web pages in the "Reports" section - http://web.sau.edu/assessment/http___web.sau.edu_GeneralEducation_reports_assessment97.pdf). You are encouraged to go to the following web site for more information (it is likely that we would use the short version).

Academic Profile 

We are considering administering the test to both first- and fourth-year students. Results from fourth-year students could be compared to 1997 results. First-year results would provide a baseline for longitudinal study of learning outcomes.

2. The goals and objectives for the Attitudes/Values area are printed below for you (more on these later).

ATTITUDES/VALUES ("Think About") Values significant to enriching one's own and others' lives.

The General Education Program provides students opportunities for exposure to the following values and attitudes, which may be expressed in the following ways:

Respect for differences

• recognize the broad range of differences and develop an understanding and sensitivity for differences
• broaden knowledge, understanding, and personal community by interacting with persons who are different
• encourage maintenance and sharing of differences among persons of different cultures and ethnic backgrounds without expectations for others to assimilate
• recognize a person's weaknesses as well as a person's strengths

Freedom of inquiry and dissent

• recognize that freedom of inquiry must include the possibility of dissent
• test premises rather than take them at face value
• appreciate the right to take an adversarial stance against bodies of information in order to test them
• develop tolerance

Justice and equality

• explain from a Judeo-Christian perspective why all persons are considered to be created in the image of God and thus worthy of respect
• describe at least one way in which one's personal actions may have an adverse effect on the life or living conditions of people elsewhere in the world
• recognize how policies or practices embodied in institutions, intentionally or unintentionally, lead to inequities in the treatment of others, especially the poor, marginalized, or powerless

Self-responsibility and autonomy

• exhibit behaviors that illustrate that they have taken ownership of various dimensions of their lives
• accept the consequences of their own actions and words
• recognize when independent work is necessary and when collaboration is appropriate

Caring, service, community responsibility

• acknowledge and accept themselves as members of both local and world-wide communities whose interests, concerns, and issues are shared
• demonstrate care for one another by offering challenges and support to peers
• fulfill civic duties and become involved in community issues and activities
• volunteer time to both on- and off-campus groups dedicated to helping underprivileged, minorities, the environment, children, the homeless, and any who are in need
• show concern for the global community by gathering for discussion or prayer about current issues

Aesthetic sense

• develop a personal set of values and tastes in order to perceive and respond to the arts and the artistic
• appreciate artistic and other events
• recognize the roles that such events have in a historical context and in current society
• assimilate artistic awareness into various aspects of personal, professional, and public life

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Assessment Committee Update (January 2004)

Assessment activities fall 2003 centered on re-implementing institutional-level assessment of goals and objectives related to general education.  We decided to use The Academic Profile (see http://www.ets.org/hea/ for more information about this instrument) during the initial phase of assessment. 

Approximately 180 first-year and 180 graduating seniors were randomly selected in the hopes that close to 300 students would agree to participate in taking The Academic Profile.  Letters and follow-up e-mails were mailed to potential participants.  The letters and e-mails explained to students why we were asking them to participate and gave them the option of one of multiple sessions that they could attend (total time to take the instrument, including instructions, was about 60 minutes).  E-mails were also sent to SAU faculty and staff members informing them of the assessment.  Unfortunately, very few students responded to the invitation.  Because of the low response rate, and although a random sample was clearly preferred, we decided to open up the testing session to all first-year and graduating students with an inducement of a chance to win one of three gift certificates.  Although participation increased, the total number of students who took the instrument was only 34. 

We will be looking at ways to increase student participation in the very near future.  It is likely that we will be looking at welcome week in the fall for opportunities to administer assessment instruments to first-year students.  We will be also looking at ways to increase the likelihood of getting graduating students to participate.  In the meantime, we still have 266 copies of The Academic Profile left to administer.  If you have a class this spring (ideally one that lasts more than 50 minutes as it takes about 60 minutes to complete the administration) that you would be willing to let a member of the Assessment Committee attend to administer The Academic Profile, please let me know.  This could be any class at any level as we would still be able to get cross-sectional data if we had second- and third-year students participating in addition to first-year and graduating students.  Let Brad Thiessen or me know if you would like to talk more to about this possibility.

Additional plans for the spring include finalizing a new Assessment Plan with a calendar of activities and presenting this plan to the Educational Policies Committee for review late in the spring.  This is important as our last formal assessment plan dates to 1995.  We, as an institution, need to also begin the process of examining how new accreditation criteria from the Higher Learning Commission of the North Central Association of Colleges and Schools will impact us (see http://www.ncahlc.org/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=83&Itemid=111) during our next site visit, as we will be reviewed under the new criteria.  Assessment continues to play an expanding role in accreditation.

For additional information related to assessment please see the following web site, which is still in process and will be updated on a regular basis: http://web.sau.edu/assessment/. 

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Assessment Committee Update (April 2004)

Assessment activities spring 2004 have primarily been focused on the development of an omnibus assessment plan for the institution.  The intent of this plan is that it be dynamic and that it will change as needed to reflect its usefulness in promoting an enhanced culture of learning on campus. 

Paul Koch and Brad Thiessen met with the Staff Assembly to explain what will be expected of administrative and co-curricular units of the university regarding assessment and improving student learning outcomes.  Paul also met with the Academic Support Committee to have an initial conversation about what role the committee will play in reviewing assessment plans and program reviews from the administrative and co-curricular units.  Paul and Brad are scheduled to meet with the Educational Policies Committee at the last meeting in April to have a brief conversation about assessment.

Much of the discussion at the Assessment Committee’s April meeting dealt with how best to communicate broadly with the campus community about how we are approaching assessment.  It is critical that the assessment plan be distributed broadly, so that all who wish to give input can.  It is also important that assessment be seen as an institutional activity that focuses on enhanced student learning rather than an activity that is the responsibility of one person or a few people.  Paul suggested that faculty members might want to consider putting general education goals/objectives that their courses teach to on their syllabi as a means to communicate additional information to students about what we hope they are getting out of their courses.  Brad Thiessen will be chairing the Assessment Committee with active support from Paul Koch.

Please see the following link for the first public draft of an omnibus assessment plan for St. Ambrose University: 2004 Assessment Plan Draft

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