Transcript From Despair to Too Much Fun: Creating a Campus

From Despair to Too Much Fun:
Creating a Campus
Accreditation/Assessment
Culture
Dr. Vernon G. Miles
Provost and Vice President for Academic Affairs
Henderson State University
AASCU Academic Affairs Winter Meeting
San Antonio, TX
2012
This presentation will address HSU’s transformation
from a university with no assessment plan to one
with a multi-faceted, comprehensive plan (including
Assessment Team initiatives, program plans, an
Assessment Team Assessment Plan, a new Strategic
Plan, and a University Assessment Plan).
The Assessment Team’s low-cost initiatives have
created an institutional culture of accreditation and
assessment that can be replicated at almost any
institution.
Metamorphosis of Assessment at
Henderson State University
o From State of Relative Assessment Emptiness,
Vacuum (2001)
o To Stage of Some Fulfillment (2007)
o To Current Stage of Quite Complete Fullness,
Recent Successes (2012)
Higher Learning Commission and HSU
o 2001 Higher Learning Commission Peer
Review Team visited Henderson State U
o Examined Assessment Campus Wide
o Found Little to No Evidence of Assessment
o Found No Accessible Assessment Plan
o Conclusion: NO Comprehensive Assessment
of Student or Other Outcomes
o Recommended Focused Visit (2007)
2001 HLC Peer Review Team Statement
“It is unclear why, when faced with increasing
pressure from the Higher Learning Commission,
the State of Arkansas, and professional
accreditation bodies, Henderson State has not
devoted the necessary time, energy, and
resources to address the assessment issue and
demonstrate progress in the assessment of
student learning.”
2001 HLC Peer Review Team Statement
“Equally puzzling is the fact that Henderson’s
Assessment Plan, apparently approved by the NCA,
could not be located during the site team visit.”
“The failure to consider assessment as an initiative
in the Bold Strokes planning process adds to the
mystery.”
“Little to no progress has been made on the
development of a campus wide assessment plan. A
systematic plan of data collection and analysis
addressing the core values of the institution is
required for ongoing accreditation.”
2001 HLC Team’s
Recommendation:
Focused Visit in the Spring
of 2007!
HSU Actions Prior to the Focused Visit
December 2001: President presented findings
to Board of Trustees, including comments on
importance of outcomes assessment
December 2001: President asked for funds to
hire full-time coordinator of assessment
Director of Assessment position included in
2002-03 budget
March 2003: Director of Assessment Hired
Spring 2003: Office of Assessment and
Institutional Research created
Actions Prior to 2007 Focused Visit
 August 2003: University Assessment Team
Established
 Student Outcomes Assessment is topic of Fall
2003 Back-to-School faculty/staff meeting
 October 2003-May 2005: Director of Assessment
conducts numerous workshops, training sessions,
and presentations to various HSU faculty and staff
groups
 Fall 2003: HSU University Assessment Plan
created; revised periodically through Spring 2005
 June 2005: University Assessment Team attends
AAHE/HLC Chicago Assessment Workshop
Actions Prior to 2007 Focused Visit
Summer 2005: HSU purchased TracDat
software for assessment management
Early Fall 2005: Assessment Team panel
discussion during Back-to-School session
Fall 2005: Assessment Director & Team
conduct 12 TracDat training sessions for 22
faculty members & 39 staff members
Spring 2006: 12 two-hour training sessions of
three different types (developing a plan; collecting
& analyzing data for change; refresher course)
Actions Prior to 2007 Focused Visit
2004-2006
Assessment/IR Budget allocations increased
Faculty & Staff development on assessment &
related topics financed
A number of consultants brought to campus
On-campus workshops increased: 34
workshops attended by 569 faculty & staff
members
“Closing the Loop” documents created
Result: Assessment Plans Developed in a
Number of Areas of the University
February 2007 Focused Visit Results
“Evidence sufficiently demonstrated. No
Commission follow-up recommended.”
“Henderson State University made a financial and
moral commitment to do whatever was necessary
to build assessment activities and protocols that
would enable it to address effectively the concerns
of the Higher Learning Commission…. It was
apparent that faculty, staff, and students are talking
about assessment methods, problems, and
opportunities and that the start of a culture
committed to assessment is present.”
February 2007 Focused Visit Results:
Items Needing Further Attention
More understanding of how to write a student
learning outcome by all (one department listed the
creation of a new major as a student learning outcome)
Too many areas attempting to rely on “grades
earned or course(s) passed” for their
assessment of student learning
More student learning objectives based on
competencies and/or skill-development
needed
Too many departments still just identifying
outcomes and measurement methods
Need for more objective measures of student
learning across departments campus wide
More baseline data needed by too many
departments, especially ones not collecting it
for outside professional accreditation bodies
Lack of evidence of “closing the loop” for the
following reasons: lack of sufficient data to
analyze; lack of time to analyze data that does
exist; lack of attention to analysis of data
Since the 2007 Focused Visit:
Creating an Accreditation/Assessment
Culture
 Change in Administration: VP for Academic
Affairs retires in January 2008 (interim serves
until October); President retires in July 2008
 New Presidential Search at HSU; new VP search
 Dr. Charles Welch takes office July 2008
 Dr. Vernon Miles arrives October 2008 as HSU’s
first Provost
 January 2009 administrative re-structuring:
Assessment and IR placed under Provost’s Office
Accreditation/Assessment Culture
 Provost charged with “supporting the faculty”
 Provost joins Assessment Team as permanent
Ex-Officio member
 All assessment plans reviewed and ranked (14, with 1 being “inadequate”)
 All departments with plans ranking of “1”
were asked to complete assessment training
session with members of Assessment Team
over Spring 2009
 Provost helps conduct these training sessions
Accreditation/Assessment Culture
 Assessment Team volunteers to meet biweekly through the HLC Peer Review visit
 Current September 2009 members agree to
stay on Assessment Team through February
2012 HLC visit
 Enhanced Assessment Newsletter created;
Provost and Team members write feature
articles
 Assessment Quick Reference Guide created:
assessment cycle, plan components, 6 steps
Assessment Quick Reference Guide
 Step 1: Mission Statement
 Step 2: Goals (Extended Statement of
Purpose)
 Step 3: Learning Outcomes/Objectives
 Step 4: Measures or Methods
 Step 5: Collect and Summarize Data/Results
 Step 6: Use Results (“Closing the Loop”)
Accreditation/Assessment Culture
 Pre-HLC visit Campus Climate Survey
conducted—over 1,000 responses
 Arts & Sciences representation on Team
expanded by two members—all schools now
significantly represented on Team
 Student representation on Team expanded
 All Non-Academic Unit mission statements
reviewed
 Continued meetings with academic units in early
Spring 2010—Team members conduct these with
Director of Assessment and Provost
Accreditation/Assessment Culture
 April 2010: Funding granted for recognition of
academic and non-academic unit successes in
assessment (luncheon and plaque presentation)
 August 2010: Additional review of all unit plans
complete; units still receiving “inadequate”
ratings meet with Assessment Team members
 Rubric for selection of Assessment Excellence
Award recipients developed
 November 2010: Athletics receives nonacademic unit Award; Computer Science receives
academic department Award
Accreditation/Assessment Culture
October 2010-November 2011
 Assessment Team meeting minutes distributed
campus wide
 University Assessment Plan reviewed and revised
significantly
 Assessment Team Handbook revised
 Assessment Team Assessment Plan created
 Sample Rubrics for common learning goals created
 Team unanimously endorsed HLC self-study
 Faculty Senate votes in support of University
Assessment Plan
Accreditation/Assessment Culture
Recent Success: Assessment Web Site Created
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Assessment Plan for Assessment Team posted
Assessment Team Minutes posted
Assessment Procedures
History of Assessment at HSU with Timeline
Bios of all Team Members on web site
Assessment Planning Guide on web
All Assessment Plans posted
Accreditation/Assessment Culture
Recent Success: Assessment Web Site Created
 Assessment Evaluation Instruments: Evaluation
Rubric; Annual Award Recipients posted
 Assessment at a Glance Handout posted
3-5 Goals
1 Outcome/objective for each goal
2 Measures for each outcome/goal
 TracDat information
 Training Presentations
 University Assessment Plan
Conclusion
• Empower your Assessment Team through your
presence, periodically if not continually
• Support the Team’s efforts visibly and
convincingly, no matter how fruitless the
support may appear at the time
• Lend them your “teeth” in getting the
cooperation of others
• Finance their efforts
• Praise them widely and often
HSU Assessment Mission
The Office of Assessment provides support for continuous
program and unit improvement for all areas by offering
various activities including training and education
workshops on assessment and what is expected in the
preparation for instructional and program accreditation.
The assessment program will insure that the university is
fostering the maximum growth and development needed
by students. The program will allow for the Office of
Assessment to gather data on students’ ability to think
logically and critically, speak and write effectively, level of
mastery of a field of study and other attributes needed to
gauge the success of the university and its programs
and/or departments.
HSU Assessment Vision
The Office of Assessment will work closely
with administrators, faculty, staff, and
students to provide assessment and
process improvement support to academic
and administrative units. The assessment
program will allow improvement in all
academic and department units to position
HSU as a top university for student
learning, not only in Arkansas, but also in
the country.
Assessment Goals
*To oversee institutional reporting in response to questionnaires and other
non-routine requests for information from state, federal, and other external
agencies
*To facilitate continuous quality improvement in the academic and
administrative educational support units of the university
*To provide data and interpretation to external constituencies on issues
related to the University
*To provide decision-support research and analysis to facilitate the
University's planning process and associated program review, accreditation,
benchmarking, and outcomes assessment activities
*To plan, implement, analyze, summarize results, and disseminate reports
for institution-wide surveys
*To work with other units to increase cooperation and coordination of
assessment on campus
*To maintain a level of expertise in higher education assessment through
staff development activities
*To engage in outreach activities
Questions? Comments?
Dr. Vernon G. Miles, Provost and Vice President
for Academic Affairs
Henderson State University
Arkadelphia, AR
[email protected]
Please email me for copy of PowerPoint
Google: http://www.hsu.edu/assessment
Click on University Assessment Team