Transcript The Top Ten Things You Need to Know (and Do!) for

Ann Boudinot-Amin
Director of Planning and Assessment
The American University in Cairo
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A systematic process of gathering and
analyzing information to see if your program
is meeting its goals/outcomes and then using
that information to make improvements
/changes.
Is all of our work – our effort – bringing about
the results we want?
PLAN
ACT
DO
CHECK
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Outstanding communications and management
tool
Clarification of mission and role of unit
Identification of key activities
Client feedback
Clear expectations
Informed decisions
Evidence of institutional effectiveness
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Academic programs
Academic support units
 Contribute directly to student learning
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Administrative units
 Provide essential services which maintain the
institution, not directly tied to instructional
programs
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Useful – help administrators and staff make appropriate
decisions about improving programs and services,
planning and resource allocation.
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Cost-effective – simple, focusing on a few key goals.
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Reasonably accurate and truthful – used with
confidence, from multiple measures.
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Planned – linked to institutional goals and plans.
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Organized, systematized and sustained – not once and
done.
Assessing Student Learning and Institutional Effectiveness: Understanding Middle States Expectations. (2005) Middle States Commission on Higher Education, Philadelphia, PA.
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Brief statement of purpose. How work
supports university mission.
Be concise/brief. Not more than a few
sentences.
WHAT you do, WHY you do it, and HOW you
do it.
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Admissions:
 The mission of the Office of Admissions is to admit a highly qualified
and diverse body of students from various nationalities and
educational and socio-economic backgrounds who will be challenged
to meet AUC’s high academic standards.
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Institutional Research
 The Office of Institutional Research partners with university officials
to support effective decision-making that advances AUC’s mission.
IR provides timely, accurate, and relevant information and analysis
to external and internal constituencies.
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Center for Learning and Teaching
 The mission of the Center for Learning and Teaching at AUC is to
help create a stimulating learning environment by promoting
excellence in teaching and by facilitating the effective application of
technology to the teaching and learning process.
Specific statements about what should occur as a
result of the core services your unit performs.
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NOT annual operational objectives
NOT: Increase training by 10%
Focus on ends not means, result not activities.
Identify at least one outcome for each functional
responsibility.
Start with the beneficiary of your service/function.
“Students are aware of…”, “Administrators have
the…”
Only key outcomes – 3 to 5 are ideal.
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Faculty increasingly use innovative and effective
teaching practices and develop, implement, and assess
new teaching methodologies.
The campus is provided with quality athletic facilities
that attract students, student-athletes, faculty, staff,
alumni and the surrounding community to campus.
The university community will have access to highquality, confidential, responsive, and cost-effective
personal health care.
Instructors will have access to reliable and
contemporary technology in the classroom to enhance
teaching and facilitate learning.
The university’s physical resources will be secure from
theft or damage.
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For each outcome, describe a method you have
used or will use to measure how well you are
performing in relation to the outcome.
 At least two methods for each outcome.
 Direct and indirect methods
▪ Direct – statistics, reports, etc.
▪ Indirect – surveys, feedback, focus groups
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Should be simple, implementable, and
provide accurate, meaningful information.
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Satisfaction surveys,
tied to outcomes
No. of complaints
No. of errors
No. of training
sessions, growth in
attendance
Participant feedback
Customer satisfaction
forms
Timeliness of response
Variance from annual
plan
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Peer studies
Level of compliance
International standards
Statistical reports
Average service time
Average wait time
Staff training hours
Focus groups
Opinion surveys
External review
Auditor’s findings
Awareness surveys
Pre- and post-workshop
tests
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Targets/Benchmarks: How will you define
success?
 More than 75% of respondents indicate that they are
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satisfied.
Cost efficiency will meet or exceed industry standards.
Growth of at least 10% in attendance over previous
year.
More than 10 new donor contacts/month.
Membership growth of 10% or more over previous
year.
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Rare Books Library
 Outcome: Library patrons have access to an
outstanding collection of specialized and unique
regional materials.
▪ Assessment Method: Databases/finding aids produced, # of
new collections, % on-time completion of conservation efforts,
% of those efforts meeting int’l standards, # of citations, user
survey
▪ Targets: Every collection has updated database or finding aid,
at least one new collection/year, 80% of conservation efforts
completed on schedule, 100% meet int’l standards, citation in
at least one major work/year, 70% respond positively.
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Medical Services
 Outcome: The AUC community will have timely access to
high-quality, cost-effective pharmaceuticals as prescribed
by their health care practitioners.
▪ Assessment Method: Availability of required pharmaceuticals,
errors in filling prescriptions, wait time for filling orders, annual
faculty/staff/student survey
▪ Targets: 95% availability, zero errors, wait time under 15 minutes,
80% of community satisfied
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Develop your plan, send to OIR to review and give you
feedback. When complete, send to your dean/area
head and cc OIR.
Implement your plan.
Discuss results at the end of the year with your unit.
Decide on changes/improvements that need to be
made.
Report on results.
 Each NOVEMBER 1, send a report on the results of the
previous academic/fiscal year’s assessment to your dean/area
head and cc OIR.
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Update your plan (if needed).
Related to 
the
mission,
important,
not timebound
Goal/Outcome 4: All academic support and administrative units at
AUC conduct ongoing and effective assessment of their activities
and services and use the results of assessment to inform planning,
decision-making, and resource allocation.
 Objective: By the end of 2009-2010, all academic support and
administrative units will have outcomes assessment plans in
place.
Specific,
measurable,
▪ Strategies:
action-oriented,
time-bound
The actions
you’ll take to
achieve your
objectives
1.Develop assessment materials in hard-copy and online
form.
2.Ensure all units have appointed assessment
coordinators to supervise and coordinate assessment
efforts at the unit/department level.
3.Meet individually with assessment coordinators to
evaluate program assessment efforts and need for
improvement, training, etc.
Contact:
Ann Boudinot-Amin
Director of Planning and Assessment
The American University in Cairo
Email: [email protected]
Website:
http://www.aucegypt.edu/research/IR/assess/Pages/default
.aspx
Templates, guides, plans, and additional resources