Transcript Evolution from Assessment Aversion to Assessment Acceptance One Community College’s Story Dr. Lorna E.

Evolution from Assessment
Aversion to Assessment
Acceptance
One Community College’s Story
Dr. Lorna E. Forster, Clinton CC
General Education Assessment as
part of a College-wide process
 SUNY’s General Education Assessment
initiative coincided with our Middle States
periodic accreditation review.
 Our Assessment Committee developed and
our Faculty Council approved an overall
policies and procedures statement on
academic assessment, of which general
education assessment was a part.
Faculty were unenthusiastic
about Gen. Ed. Assessment
 “Why isn’t the kind of
assessment we already
do good enough?”
 “I don’t have time for
this!”
 “I don’t know what
we’re being asked to
do.”
 “How are the results
going to be used?”
Creating a climate conducive to
assessment required:
 Administrative efforts
in terms of setting
institutional priorities
and dedication of
financial resources
 Faculty efforts in
terms of leadership,
trust, and courage
Administration Efforts: Making
Assessment an Institutional Priority
 Institutional goals were shifted from
program development to assessment.
 Assessment became an integral part of our
institutional Strategic Plan.
 The Vice President for Academic Affairs
devoted much time and energy to attending
faculty meetings and promoting assessment
and faculty development in assessment.
Administration Efforts: Making
Assessment an Institutional Priority
 Senior faculty were asked to chair both the
General Education and Assessment
committees.
Administration Efforts: Dedication
of Financial Resources
 A half-time Academic Assessment
Coordinator position was created (15 credit
load reduction for a full-time faculty and 9
credit overload payment for work between
semesters). Duties are described in the
College Assessment Policy.
 Key faculty members were sent to
assessment conferences.
Administration Efforts: Dedication
of Financial Resources
 The College purchased materials
concerning how to conduct student learning
outcomes assessment.
 We hosted a Saturday assessment workshop
for faculty facing assessment of courses in
the first year silos of our plan, complete
with an outside “expert” in our chosen
methodology and a catered lunch.
Administration Efforts: Dedication
of Financial Resources
 We hosted multiple luncheon meetings with our
“First-Year” faculty, both full-time and part-time,
to explain the assessment process, answer their
questions, and address their concerns.
 Prior to the start of the Year 1 assessments, FT
faculty met with PT faculty who taught sections of
targeted courses to explain the plan and
assessment procedures. This was a dinner
meeting.
Administration Efforts: Dedication
of Financial Resources
 For courses taught only by adjuncts, we
paid adjuncts a one-time stipend of $200 to
develop assessment plans.
Faculty Efforts: Leadership in
Creating the Plan
 Responsibility began and remained with the
General Education Committee, which
represents faculty from each academic
division.
 The Academic Assessment Coordinator,
also a faculty member, worked closely with
the General Education Committee as they
drafted the plan.
Faculty Efforts: Open, Honest
Communication
 Each representative on the General
Education Committee discussed plan drafts
with their divisional colleagues in a process
that was very open.
 The Academic Assessment Coordinator and
members of the Gen Ed Committee spent
much time “selling” the value of assessment
to individual faculty members, some of
whom were less receptive than others.
Faculty Efforts: Open, Honest
Communication
 Prior to reporting First-Year results, the Gen
Ed Committee and the Academic
Assessment Coordinator met with Year 1
assessors to view and discuss the results and
to elicit feedback about the strengths and
weaknesses of the process.
 First-Year results were shared during a
Faculty Council meeting so that everyone
could see our good work and how the
reporting process works.
Faculty Efforts: Time and Energy
 Faculty (FT & PT) involved the the first year
assessments spent many hours meeting and
working to create assessment plans and
instruments for their courses.
 The General Education Committee and the
Academic Assessment Coordinator also worked
with faculty (FT & PT) involved in Year 2
assessments to help them prepare pilot
assessments.
 Members of the Gen Ed Committee served as
liaisons to faculty as they developed their
assessment plans and instruments.
Faculty Efforts: Courage to Trust
 The consistent message from the Academic
Assessment Coordinator and General
Education Committee was that student
learning outcomes assessment will enhance
classroom teaching and learning.
 Faculty gradually began to accept this
message and trust that our plan was truly
ours and something by which we could all
stand.
Faculty Efforts: Wisdom
 Knowing that we had limited resources, a tight
timetable, and a majority of faculty for whom the
word “assessment” was a four-letter word, we kept
the plan simple and realistic.
 We promoted the plan as a pilot. We knew we
would make mistakes along the way, and that we
would learn from those mistakes. We said this up
front!
 We amended the plan based on feedback from
faculty. Our flexibility paid off in gratitude and
more ease among the faculty with the process.
The Result
 An approved 3 year plan
of Gen Ed assessment by
SUNY’s deadline
 A prepared, albeit
apprehensive, group of
faculty who conducted 1st
year assessments
 Faculty working on 2nd
year assessments
 A college climate more
assessment-friendly
What’s Next?
 We are still learning,
which means we expect
that we will have more
challenges.
 A major challenge will be
the issue of assessing
courses taught only by
adjuncts to which I
alluded earlier.
 But we are over the major
hurdle we faced: faculty
resistance …
 … or are we?
The SUNY Board of Trustees’
Resolution
 Much of our hard work in
building trust and
cooperation among the
faculty was threatened.
 Rather than digging into
our Year 2 assessments,
we have had to spend our
energies dealing with
questions and concerns
about campus autonomy,
academic freedom and the
inferred doubt of the
quality of our assessment
plan.
Sticking with the Plan
 We made our
collective disapproval
of the Trustees’
resolution known
through the FCCC.
 We made a decision to
stick with our plan of
assessment, believing
that the plan was a
sound one that fit us
well.
Words of wisdom from those
more wise than me!
 Learning is not attained by chance, it must be
sought for with ardor and attended to with
diligence. Abigail Adams (1744 - 1818), 1780
 Opportunity is missed by most people because it is
dressed in overalls and looks like work. Thomas
A. Edison (1847 - 1931)
 One of the symptoms of an approaching nervous
breakdown is the belief that one's work is terribly
important. Bertrand Russell (1872 - 1970),
Conquest of Happiness (1930) ch. 5
Evolution from Assessment Aversion
to Assessment Acceptance
Thank you for your kind attention!
I wish you the best on your
assessment journeys!