ASSESSMENT PLAN ( 2003-2005)
1.
The
2. Overview
Structure of the College as it Relates to Accomplishing the
The
(1) Humanities, (2) Natural Sciences and Mathematics, (3) Social Sciences, and (4) Visual and Performing Arts. In the Humanities Division are the departments of English Language and Literature, Foreign Languages, History, Philosophy, and Women’s and Gender Studies and interdisciplinary programs in American Studies, General Studies, Humanities, Law and Social Thought, Medieval and Renaissance Studies and Religious Studies. In the Natural Sciences and Mathematics are the departments of Biological Sciences, Chemistry, Earth, Ecological and Environmental Sciences, Mathematics, and Physics and Astronomy. In the Social Sciences are the departments of Communication, Economics, Geography and Planning, Political science and Public Administration, Psychology, and Sociology and Anthropology, and interdisciplinary programs in Africana Studies, Asian Studies, Disability Studies, European Studies, Global Studies, Latin American Studies, Middle East Studies, and Urban Studies. In the Division of the Visual and Performing Arts are the departments of Art, Music, and Theatre and Film.
These departments and programs offer major programs of study for forty-three different single discipline or cross-disciplinary undergraduate (baccalaureate) degrees. They also offer forty-five different single or cross-disciplinary minors. The College offers as well pre-professional programs in Pre-Law, Pre-Dental Studies, Pre-Medical Studies, and Pre-Veterinary Science Studies, and an undergraduate certificate program in Medical Technology/Clinical Laboratory Sciences. Masters programs are offered in Biological Sciences, Chemistry, Geology, Ecology, Economics, English, French, German, Spanish, History, Liberal Studies, Mathematics, Music, Philosophy, Physics, Political Science, Public Administration, Psychology, and Sociology. Doctoral programs are offered in Biological Sciences, Chemistry, Ecology, History, Mathematics, Physics, and Psychology. In all there are about 3,200 undergraduate and 645 graduate students pursuing degree programs offered by the college.
The
As the above description of the
College indicates in terms of courses of study and degree programs offered, the
Furthermore, it must be recognized
that, unlike the professional colleges in our university where the demands of
external accreditation agencies, of certification, or of licensure provide an
incentive for learning outcomes assessment, there are very few such external pressures,
nor a strong tradition of assessment among the departments in the
As noted above, the College has a major commitment to the General Education Core Curriculum. The College participates in several initiatives to assess General Education learning outcomes. Four members of the College’s faculty, for example, serve on the Faculty Senate’s Core Curriculum Committee (formed in Spring, 2002), including the Chair of the Committee. In February 2004, the Core Curriculum Committee is piloting the standardized, nationally normed ACT General Education test for a selected number of students across the University. A widespread implementation of this test is expected to follow in Fall 2004. The Core Curriculum Committee also is examining current course offerings and rationales underpinning the Core Curriculum’s distributive requirements in the Arts and Humanities, Natural Sciences, and Social Sciences. The Committee aims to strengthen the focus of distributive courses on specific learning outcomes.
The College has for a number of years tracked retention data generated by Institutional Research and also has participated with the University Retention Committee in efforts to improve retention. The College recognizes that its retention rate is below the average of the University’s professional colleges. However, the College’s open admissions policy may be the most significant factor in accounting for the College’s retention rate. In addition, one must consider that the College admits a significant number of “undecided” students as either General Studies majors or Pre-Majors (students less prepared for college-level work). Nationally, retention is lower among such “undecided” majors. Still, since 1986 the College’s first year retention rate has remained fairly consistent year after year, running around 68% on average.
The College has supported a project since Fall 2001 to assess retention and learning outcomes in the required Composition I and II courses. As a result of this project, several steps were taken to significantly improve instruction and retention in composition. Similarly, from Fall 2000 through Spring 2002, the College supported the Department of Mathematics in a student intervention and retention study. As a result of this study, the Department of Mathematics took steps (1) to refine placement of students in the appropriate course for their level of mathematical skill and knowledge and (2) to elevate retention rates in lower level math classes. Tracking retention rates in lower level math classes is ongoing. The Department of Chemistry also has done important work on student placement and success rates. In 2002-2003, the College conducted a preliminary study of retention rates in the arts departments (Art, Music, Theatre and Film). The College is concerned about its retention rates, and its Strategic Plan has made a steady, measurable increase in retention and graduation rates both college-wide and program-by-program a priority goal in the years 2004-2007. The College also has supported a number of new FYE (First Year Experience) initiatives in Mathematics, Chemistry, Composition, and an Arts Living-Learning Community. Retention improvement is the overarching goal of these FYE initiatives.
The complexity and diversity of programs in the College constrains a capstone experience shared by all students in the college. Many departments and programs, however, do require a culminating senior research course or field experience where a student demonstrates skills or knowledge obtained in the course of the major. In the context of assessment, the College may explore developing a standard, comparable set of outcomes for these various capstone/field experiences.
At the College level, the Student Services division of the College is engaged in several assessment activities. Since Fall 2001, the College has conducted each fall term a survey of students and course evaluations in the required freshmen orientation (FYI) classes. Since Fall 2000, the College also has conducted an exit survey of graduating seniors. In 2003-2004, both of these surveys have been revised and transferred to an electronic format (using the eListen program) to facilitate delivery, return rates, and data compilation and analysis. In Fall 2002, the College initiated a Transfer Student “satisfaction” survey that also was transferred to an electronic format in Fall 2003. Since 2000-2001 students at risk after their first semester – i.e., students with less than a 2.0 GPA who have been placed on academic probation – have been interviewed by College advisors and from this interview an Academic Action Plan for each student was constructed. In 2002-2003, the College’s pre-medicine, ‑veterinary, and ‑ dentistry advisor initiated an evaluation of the success rate of these programs in actually placing students in medical, dental, or veterinary schools. Although not directly linked to learning outcomes, fostering cultural pluralism and diversity is a central element in the College’s mission. A Diversity Plan for the College is scheduled for completion in Spring 2004. As an integral part of this plan a survey of student, faculty, and staff attitudes towards diversity—again in electronic format-- has been developed and is to be implemented in Spring 2004.
The collection and analysis of assessment data at both the college and department level has as its goal ongoing, continual improvement of the learning/teaching process. Student outcomes measure the degree to which the College (and its many departments and programs) is succeeding in delivering quality educational experiences for its students. In the future assessment also may be used to direct or refine strategic planning and resource allocation within the College.
The College is committed to student outcomes assessment planning and practice. All departments in the College have designated one or two members of their faculty to serve as departmental assessment liaisons. In 2003 the College appointed a College Assessment Advisory Committee comprised of both faculty and staff members broadly representative of the College’s divisions and key disciplines. This Committee is charged with evaluating departmental assessment plans, with reviewing the results of departmental assessment implementations, and with providing advice to departments and individual faculty members about assessment planning, strategies, and tools. An Associate Dean whose duties include College assessment planning and implementation chairs this committee.
Beginning in Spring 2004, departments will be required to report the results of their student outcomes assessment activities to the College Assessment Advisory Committee. These reports should identify not only what has been assessed, but also what needs to be improved along with a plan to implement such changes. The Advisory Committee will evaluate these reports and make recommendations to the departments and to the Dean about assessment progress for the academic year just completed. Based on the results of the previous year’s assessment and the recommendations of the Advisory Committee, departments will submit, no later than October, an outline of assessment goals for the current academic year. The Advisory Committee also will evaluate College-level assessment surveys in a similar fashion. This cycle of planning, or goal setting, assessing, checking, and acting on the results with a new set of assessment goals will be repeated annually. To support this process of ongoing, continuous assessment, the College will explore initiating a program of incentives or rewards for faculty, staff and departments engaged in assessment innovation, and, in partnership with the Center for Teaching and Learning, a program of in-service workshops and seminars on assessment principles and practices.
The Dean of the College has declared assessment planning and actual practice a college priority. In annual reviews of their performance, chairs are held responsible for making concrete progress in their respective departments towards student outcomes assessment. In the letters appointing new faculty members in the college, there is a statement indicating that they will be expected to participate in student outcomes assessment. The appointment in 2002 of a College Data Coordinator with special skills in collecting and analyzing data and creating electronic surveys has facilitated College-level assessment activities. Lastly, moving the College towards creating a “culture of assessment” in accordance with the criteria in the NCA’s Level Three of Shared Responsibility by 2007 is a priority goal of the College’s Strategic Plan.