IV.
Assessment of the
Department and its Programs
A.
Departmental
Assessment Plan
1.
Departmental
The
Master of Organizational Leadership at
2.
Learning
Objectives:
#
Learn
multiple theoretical frameworks to better understand themselves, their strengths
and weaknesses as leaders, and how to enhance their personal development as
leaders.
#
Develop
constructive means for leaders to communicate and participate effectively in
organizational and community settings including oral, written, and electronic
forms.
#
Empower
individuals to act competently and confidently in leadership roles.
#
Identify
and address the relationships between leaders and systemic processes such as
organizational, behavioral, political, incremental, and global influences on
policy change.
#
Develop
an understanding of and embrace diversity and tolerance as essential to
organizational success and effective leadership.
#
Become
more reflective as ethical human beings and ethical leaders.
#
Develop
research competencies founded in accepted methodological, philosophical, and
scientific principles as they relate to organizational and leadership practices.
Developmental
Aspects:
1.
Instructors have
been selected on the following criteria. First
preference is given to SAU faculty with a Ph.D.
All instructors have demonstrated experience in accelerated teaching.
The Director of the MOL met with each instructor prior to the course
being offered to assure clarity and consistency as to rigor and course content.
2.
Each entering
class of students has been required to receive library training while enrolled
in MOL 501. This experience not only
assists the students but has provided strong evidence that the SAU library is
meeting both quality and quantity expectations associated with a Master’s
degree.
3.
In 2003-2004, the
MOL for the first time in the five years of the program has benefited from the
services of a full-time faculty member. Additionally, four faculty members from
the college of arts and sciences and the college of business have been
designated as members of the MOL Department in addition to their position as
full-time faculty in their “home” departments.
4.
Marketing surveys
have been periodically conducted. Most recently, a 2003 marketing study
indicated interest in the MOL in locations outside the QCA. The program and
University are currently exploring those opportunities, namely in
Operational
Aspects:
1.
Course
evaluations have been consistently administered.
Feedback has been quite positive and has reinforced the practical need
for a Master of Organizational Leadership.
2.
LTPS instructors
have been extremely cooperative and aware of the grade option for MOL students
enrolled in the course. The MOL
student’s performance in LTPS is well documented.
3.
The MOL director
and MOL student have worked together to secure thesis committees and approve
thesis projects. Demonstration for
readiness for the thesis has occurred in two ways.
Thesis students attend workshops held by the Director in preparation for
the project. The student, director,
and committee members meet with the student to finalize the project before
enrollment in the course is approved. The
student’s work in previous courses is reviewed by the Director and MOL faculty
before approving a thesis project.
4.
As Thesis
students complete their projects, interviews are scheduled with the student and
thesis committee. The student engages in a defense of their thesis project.
Final copies of these works will be placed in the special collections at
the library.
5.
Students also
have the option of completing their degree program by passing comprehensive
exams. The exams are evaluated by two faculty members. A minimum score is
required to pass the test. A small
number of students have been required to re-write some test questions in order
to pass the test. These tests, as with the thesis, not only assess the quality
of the performance of individual students but are also used by the faculty
involved with the MOL to measure the overall rigor and effectiveness of the
curriculum.
Summative
Aspects:
1.
The exit
interviews are conducted during thesis defenses. These discussions have
generated valuable information vital to accurately assessing the current state
and future of the MOL. For instance,
Early graduates produced exceptional works and conveyed their overwhelming
support for the curriculum, goals, and objectives.
Greater satisfaction was conveyed about courses taught by SAU full-time
faculty than the adjuncts. The
curriculum itself was rated as sound and practical. At the same time, it became
clear during the thesis projects and defense of thesis projects, that the rapid
growth of the MOL was making reliance on the thesis as the only exit option
unmanageable. Discussions with the thesis students helped frame the proposal to
include comprehensive exams as an acceptable and comparable alternative.
2.
Arsenal employees
completing the MOL have indicated the degree has solidified their career paths.
Several have agreed to provide testimonials as to the benefits of earning
an MOL degree from
3.
Recent graduates
have enthusiastically agreed to meet with and talk to current students about
their MOL experience. Several have spoken in class to new students MOL students
and to those enrolled in the capstone
courses.
b.
The
materials flowing from the assessment plan outlined above will be documented,
filed, stored, and reviewed annually by the relevant faculty and staff including
the Director of the MOL, Assistant Director of the MOL, MOL Departmental
faculty, and relevant staff (administrative assistant in the Arts & Sciences
graduate programs, ACCEL staff, etc.)
c.
Procedural
aspects include storing of evaluated comprehensive exam discs in the
administrative assistant’s office, binding and cataloging of completed thesis
projects in the library, at least one meeting per year with faculty serving as
members of the MOL department to review student progress.
a.
Materials
will be collected each semester. As this is typically a two-year program it is
vital that the assessment process be implemented frequently. The primary
feedback on assessment of the program will occur during the capstone seminar,
typically offered twice per year and during oral defense of thesis projects. On
the front end of the curriculum student materials are also collected during the
MOL 501 Leadership Theory course. Faculty
examine progress of students throughout the 2- year process examining course
evaluations, reflecting on student work in preparation for the thesis or
comprehensive exams.
b.
Students
engage in course requirements throughout the curriculum to prepare for the
comprehensive exams or the thesis. Advising
is key to this ongoing reflection as to where the student had been and where the
student is heading as they prepare to choose one of the degree program exit
options. Further connections are
made as students complete one or both of the certificates.
These serve as mid-course checks on decisions on where to go next in the
curriculum including opting for either the MOL or MBA upon completion of the
organizational management certificate.
6.
Evaluation
of the Assessment Plan
a.
Indeed
the assessment plan is evaluated at the regular interval of the end of each
semester as the students complete either the comprehensive examination or thesis
option. Additionally, this is
counterbalanced by the inclusion of the introductory MOL 501 course at least
once a semester. Combined these two factors create bookends that establish the
parameters for the assessment plan to be implemented and evaluated each and
every semester of the student’s studies in the MOL at SAU.
1.
Data
that assess student learning of program objectives:
Course
evaluations, comprehensive examination results, oral defense and approved thesis
projects, participating MOL faculty coordinating efforts for course delivery and
grading of comprehensive examinations.
This information spurred the changes made in the curriculum last year.
This is firm evidence that the assessment plan is generating important
information on the development of the MOL.
2.
Evaluation
of program in terms of requirements, sequences, prerequisites:
Requirements reflect both planned
sequencing as well as flexibility to accommodate students educational needs.
MOL 501 is normally a prerequisite for all other courses. MOL 501 serves
as a foundational course. MOL
501’s emphasis on leadership and organizational theory is vital for students
to develop a sufficient grounding or foundation that then proceeds to courses in
the curriculum that are either a mix or theory and practice or specifically are
practical applications courses. Normally
the student completes the required courses in the first year of study and
electives during the second year of study. Students may enroll in the
organizational management certificate option for their first year and then enter
either the MOL or MBA for degree completion (second year).
Every effort is made to offer all MOL courses at least once per year to
assist in making sure students are progressing through the curriculum in a
timely fashion.
C.
General
Education Assessment of Teaching – Not applicable
UPDATE
ON THE IMPLEMENTATION OF THE ASSESSMENT PLAN
Date:
March 01, 2004
Prepared
by: Dr. William W.
Parsons, Director
The
following entries respond to assessment activities in the assessment plan as
outlined on pages six and seven of the MOL Program of Study (presented above).
Developmental
Aspects:
2.
Each entering class of students has been required to receive library
training while enrolled in MOL 501. This
experience not only assists the students but has provided strong evidence that
the SAU library is meeting both quality and quantity expectations associated
with a Master’s degree.
3.
In 2003-2004, the MOL for the first time in the five years of the program
has benefited from the services of a full-time faculty member. Additionally,
four faculty members from the college of arts and sciences and the college of
business have been designated as members of the MOL Department in addition to
their position as full-time faculty in their “home” departments.
4.
Marketing surveys have been periodically conducted. Most recently, a 2003
marketing study indicated interest in the MOL in locations outside the QCA. The
program and University are currently exploring those opportunities, namely in
Cedar Rapids, IA; Peoria, IL. Some preliminary discussions and inquiries
regarding offering the MOL abroad have also occurred. From strictly a program
and departmental perspective, the most important question to be satisfactorily
answered in these discussion is… How do we secure and provide the resources
(including instructional) to provide a quality and rigorous MOL offering outside
the QCA?
Operational
Aspects:
2.
LTPS instructors have been extremely cooperative and aware of the grade
option for MOL students enrolled in the course.
The MOL student’s performance in LTPS is well documented.
3.
The MOL director and MOL student have worked together to secure thesis
committees and approve thesis projects. Demonstration
for readiness for the thesis has occurred in two ways.
Thesis students attend workshops held by the Director in preparation for
the project. The student, director,
and committee members meet with the student to finalize the project before
enrollment in the course is approved. The
student’s work in previous courses is reviewed by the Director and MOL faculty
before approving a thesis project.
4.
As Thesis students complete their projects, interviews are scheduled with
the student and thesis committee. The student engages in a defense of their
thesis project. Final copies of
these works will be placed in the special collections at the library.
5.
Students also have the option of completing their degree program by
passing comprehensive exams. The exams are evaluated by two faculty members. A
minimum score is required to pass the test.
A small number of students have been required to re-write some test
questions in order to pass the test. These tests, as with the thesis, not only
assess the quality of the performance of individual students but are also used
by the faculty involved with the MOL to measure the overall rigor and
effectiveness of the curriculum.
Summative
Aspects:
1.
The exit interviews are conducted during thesis defenses. These
discussions have generated valuable information vital to accurately assessing
the current state and future of the MOL. For
instance, Early graduates produced exceptional works and conveyed their
overwhelming support for the curriculum, goals, and objectives.
Greater satisfaction was conveyed about courses taught by SAU full-time
faculty than the adjuncts. The
curriculum itself was rated as sound and practical. At the same time, it became
clear during the thesis projects and defense of thesis projects, that the rapid
growth of the MOL was making reliance on the thesis as the only exit option
unmanageable. Discussions with the thesis students helped frame the proposal to
include comprehensive exams as an acceptable and comparable alternative.
2.
Arsenal employees completing the MOL have indicated the degree has
solidified their career paths. Several
have agreed to provide testimonials as to the benefits of earning an MOL degree
from Saint Ambrose University.
3.
Recent graduates have enthusiastically agreed to meet with and talk to
current students about their MOL experience. Several have spoken in class to new
students MOL students and to those enrolled in the capstone courses.
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