Meridith Drzakowski (formerly Wentz)
124 Bowman Hall, University of Wisconsin-Stout
715-232-5312 | drzakowskim@uwstout.edu
EDUCATION
Doctor of Philosophy, Educational Policy and Administration, Supporting Program: Evaluation Studies; University of
Minnesota-Twin Cities, 2007
Dissertation: A Conceptual Framework for Evaluating the Impact of Ubiquitous Computing Programs in Higher
Education
Master of Science, Applied Psychology (Concentration: Health Psychology); University of Wisconsin-Stout, 2001
Bachelor of Arts, Psychology and Biology; Saint Olaf College; Graduated Cum Laude, with Distinction in Psychology, 1999
PROFESSIONAL EXPERIENCE
Assistant Chancellor
Planning, Assessment, Research and Quality September 2010 – present
Responsibilities

Provide leadership and coordination of UW-Stout’s strategic process, including the five-year strategic plan, university action plans and priorities, serving as the liaison to UW System’s planning efforts, enterprise risk

 management, and accountability requirements.
Provide advice, counsel, and recommendation to the Chancellor on planning, and analytical issues.
Support the Chancellor, Provost, Vice Chancellor, Deans, and department heads with resource management and planning.

Plan and direct UW-Stout’s comprehensive institutional research, assessment and analysis responsibilities and requirements. Provide data for university-wide decision-making.

Plan, design, direct and perform university-wide benchmarking and other analytical studies for institutional improvement and as required for accreditation.

Direct the unclassified pay plan simulations and equity studies.

Plan, design, support and promote continuous improvement activities of the institution. Provide assistance to


 individual departments, units and colleges in the implementation of quality improvement initiatives.

Provide leadership and coordination of the review process for all university policies. Serve as the chair of the
University Policy Committee.
Serve as the UW-Stout Accreditation Liaison officer.
Direct the UW-Stout Applied Research Center.
Directly supervise six PARQ staff and the Faculty and Academic Staff Senate support position, and indirectly supervise an additional eight ARC staff.
Director of Budget, Planning and Analysis, UW-Stout
Interim Director of Budget, Planning and Analysis, UW-Stout
July 2007 – August 2010
April 2005 – June 2007
Responsibilities

Design, implement and maintain the university’s strategic planning and assessment efforts

Provide advice and recommendation on planning, budget and analytical issues

Support the senior administration with resource management and planning

Direct annual operating budget development process and manage daily budget operations

Direct the unclassified pay plan simulations and equity studies

Direct the capital planning and budget process

Plan, design, direct and perform institutional research and analysis

Support and promote continuous improvement activities of the institution

Serve as the director for the UW-Stout Applied Research Center


Supervise seven permanent staff and one LTE

Coordinate the review process for university policies

Support the university’s accreditation efforts and requirements

Provide training on quality improvement
Director of Institutional Research, UW-Stout


Supervise institutional research staff and students
Serve on the core team to write UW-Stout’s AQIP portfolio, provide data and results for all sections of the portfolio
January 2005 – April 2005
Responsibilities

Supervise, plan, design, direct and perform institutional research, analysis and institutional assessment, including survey design and analysis
Institutional Planner, UW-Stout
Associate Institutional Planner, UW-Stout May 2001 – July 2004
Responsibilities

Plan, design, direct and perform research, analysis and institutional assessment, including survey design and

 analysis
July 2004 – January 2005
Coordinate the statistical research and evaluation efforts related to the assessment of the e-Scholar program
Provide analytical and statistical support for UW-Stout’s strategic planning process, including the development of institutional performance measures

Coordinate the data collection for UW-Stout’s benchmarking efforts

Design, implement, evaluate, and monitor equal opportunity research projects, perform data analysis

Manage the development, perform statistical analysis and write the statistical analysis portion of the federal affirmative action plan

Supervise six graduate/undergraduate students on various research projects
Advanced Research Assistant, UW-Stout January 2001 – May 2001
Responsibilities

Primary writer of the Organizational Performance Results Section (Category 7) of UW-Stout’s Malcolm Baldrige
National Quality Award application

Serve as a member of the core team that developed and reviewed UW-Stout’s complete Baldrige application
Graduate Assistant, UW-Stout September 1999 – May 2001
Responsibilities

Equal Opportunity/Affirmative Action Graduate Assistant Responsibilities: developed and maintained research databases for tracking job applicants, employees, promotions and other processes; implemented, analyzed and wrote reports for surveys; presented research reports to key stakeholders

Experimental Psychology Graduate Assistant Responsibilities: Led laboratory and statistics section of an experimental psychology course; gave presentations and graded papers

STEPS Program Evaluator Graduate Assistant Responsibilities: Provided support for the design and implementation of a program evaluation of STEPS, a summer program to get girls interested in science and math
Managing Editor, HealthPartners Research Foundation May 1999 – September 1999
Responsibilities

Solicited articles, edited and helped manage Healthy Outcomes, the annual HealthPartners research newsletter

SELECTED PRESENTATIONS/PUBLICATIONS
Drzakowski, Meridith; Hopkins-Best, Mary; Cochran, Kathleen; Holsinger-Fuchs, Pam; Schnur, Kay. Validating Excellence in Education: Linking Practice and Research through the Baldrige Experience, presented at the Pre-Conference Living
Case Research Event, Midwest Academy of Management, October, 2014.
Drzakowski, Meridith and Buchanan, Elizabeth. Building and Sustaining an Effective Leadership System, presented at the
Quest for Excellence conference, April, 2013.
Gorbatenko-Roth, Kristina; Geissler, Andrew; Rodencal, Ashley; Drzakowski, Meridith, Graduate Students in Real-World
Evaluation Fieldwork: Faculty, Student and External Client Perspectives on Ethical Issues, Responsibilities and
Relationships, presented at the American Evaluation Association conference, October, 2012.
Sorensen, Charles and Drzakowski, Meridith. Strategic Planning at UW-Stout, presented to the University of Wisconsin
System Board of Regents, 2012.
Furst-Bowe, Julie and Wentz, Meridith. Lessons Learned from Ten Years of AQIP, presented at the Higher Learning
Commission Conference, March 30, 2012.
Wentz, Meridith, Marson, Wendy and Henderson, Jane. Evaluating Ubiquitous Computing Programs. Academic
Exchange Quarterly, Spring 2011.
Wentz, Meridith. Strategic Planning, presented at the Malcolm Baldrige National Quality Award Regional Conference,
September, 2010.
Wentz, Meridith and Schnur, Kay. Measurement, Analysis and Knowledge Management and Process Management, presented at the Malcolm Baldrige National Quality Award Regional Conference, September, 2009.
Bosshart, Sally; Wentz, Meridith; and Heller, Tynan. Using Alumni Perspectives for University Evaluating and Planning,
College Student Journal, June, 2009.
Wentz, Meridith. Vacancy Assessment Policy Helps to Fund Priorities, Business Officer. March, 2009.
Wentz, Meridith. Strategic Planning at UW-Stout, presented to Governor’s State University at their Stakeholder
Visioning Session, November, 2007.
Wentz, Meridith and Schnur, Kay. Measurement, Analysis and Knowledge Management and Process Management, presented at the Malcolm Baldrige National Quality Award Regional Conference, October 2007.
Furst-Bowe, Julie and Wentz, Meridith (2006). Beyond Baldrige. University Business. October, 2006. 45-48.
Sorensen, Charles and Wentz, Meridith (2004). From Crisis to Quality: Using the Malcolm Baldrige National Quality
Award Criteria to Redefine Leadership Systems. The Higher Education Digest.
Smith, Claudia and Wentz, Meridith. Measurement, Analysis and Knowledge Management and Process Management, presented at the Malcolm Baldrige National Quality Award Regional Conference, September 2004.
Wentz, Meridith and Albrecht, Donna. Laptops in the Classroom: Impact on Teaching and Learning, presented at the
American Association of Higher Education Learning to Change Conference, April 2004.
Wentz, Meridith and Smith, Claudia. Development and Implementation of a Campus-Level Governance Evaluation, presented at the Association for Institutional Research Annual Forum, May 2003.

Olson, Ross; Brown, Joe; and Wentz, Meridith. Information and Analysis (Category 4 of the Malcolm Baldrige National
Quality Award Application), presented at the Achieving and Sustaining Excellence in Higher Education conference,
November 2002.
Olson, Ross; Brown, Joe; and Wentz, Meridith (panelist). Information and Analysis (Category 4 of the Malcolm Baldrige
National Quality Award Application), presented at the Quest for Excellence Conference, March 2002.
Murphy, Shirley; Gilberts, Cindy; Hall, Pinckney (panelist); and Wentz, Meridith (panelist). Student and Stakeholder
Focus (Category 3 of the Malcolm Baldrige National Quality Award Application), presented at the Quest for Excellence
Conference, March 2002.
Wentz, Meridith and Cutsforth, Tammy. Creative Uses of the Data Warehouse at UW-Stout, presented at the Data
Warehouse Summit II, September 2002.
Tafalla, Richard; Date, Caroline; Mortenson, Michelle; Wentz, Meridith; Performance Feedback and Physical Fitness
Effects on Psychological Stress Resistance, presented at the Midwestern Psychological Association Conference, May
2000.
SELECTED UNIVERSITY SERVICE
Committees where I served in a leadership capacity:
Chair, Women’s Academic Staff Mentoring Program Steering Committee
Chair, Information Portal Design and Implementation Team
Chair, Job Satisfaction and Morale Survey Revision Task Force
Chair, University Policy Committee
2003 – 2005
2005 – 2006
2005 – 2007
2006 – present
Chair, Internal Communications Audit Committee
Co-Chair, Diversity Leadership Team
Co-Chair, AQIP Assessment Committee
Co-Chair, Voluntary System of Accountability Committee
Chair, FOCUS 2015 Goal Development Committee
Co-chair, Student Retention Committee
Sponsor, Educational Support Unit Review Committee
Coordinator, Strategic Planning Group
Chair, FOCUS 2020 Goal Development Committee
Chair, FOCUS 2020 Performance Indicators Committee
Chair, Higher Learning Commission Assurance Argument Team
Committees where I served as a member:
Member, Chancellor’s Cabinet
Member, E-Scholar (Laptop) Assessment Committee
Member, IRB for the Protection of Human Subjects in Research
Member, Chancellor’s Advisory Council
Member, Provost’s Council
Member, Administrative and Student Life Services Director’s Council
Member, Nakatani Teaching and Learning Center Advisory Council
Member, UW System Accountability Report Task Force
Member, Institutional Research Advisory Committee for the National
Association of System Head
Member, Supplemental Compensation Program Funding Committee
Member, Enrollment Management Committee
Member, MS in Applied Psychology Program Advisory Committee
Member, Thesis committee for a candidate for the MSAP degree
Member, Search and Screen Committee for UW-Stout Provost
2007 – 2008
2010 – present
2007 – 2008
2008 – 2010
2008 – 2009
2010 – present
2012 – present
2012 – present
2014 - 2015
2014 - 2015
2013 - present
2010 – present
2002 – 2011
2004 – 2010
2005 – present
2005 – 2010
2005 – 2010
2005 – 2012
2013 – 2014
2013 – present
2013 – 2014
2010 – present
2010 – present
2009, 2014
2012, 2015

Member, Search and Screen Committee for UW-Stout Library Director
Member, Search and Screen Committee for UW-Stout Vice Chancellor
SELECTED TRAINING
Performance Excellence and Accreditation Training
Examiner, Malcolm Baldrige National Quality Award
Senior examiner, Malcolm Baldrige National Quality Award
Peer Reviewer for Higher Learning Commission
AQIP Strategy Forum and other AQIP events
Higher Learning Commission Annual Meeting
Strategic Planning Training
SCUP Step I, II, III Strategic Planning Training
Snowmass Institute (Strategic Planning)
Effective Group Facilitation
Lean Office Principles
Leadership Training
Management Development Program (MDP), Harvard University
Evaluation Training:
Minnesota Evaluation Studies Institute
Selected Evaluation Courses
2013
2011
2011, 2012, 2013
2014, 2015
2012- present
2007 – 2012
2013- present
2011 – 2012
July 9-14, 2006
Fall, 2006
Fall, 2006
June 14-26, 2009
2004, 2005
Principles of Program Evaluation
Evaluation Internship (2 courses)
Research Design and Educational Policy
Doctoral Research Seminar
Cost and Economic Analysis in Educational Evaluation
Evaluation Problems
Evaluation Colloquium
Teaching
Team Taught Graduate Level Program Evaluation I Course
Team Taught Graduate Level Program Evaluation II Course
Taught Online Courses for Graduate Level Institutional Research and Evaluation Certificate Program Courses
Fall 2012
Spring 2014
Fall 2014- current
FUNDED GRANTS (EXCLUDING APPLIED RESEARCH CENTER GRANTS)
Pilot Participant in the Association for Institutional Research Statements for Aspirational Practice for Institutional
Research Program. Spring 2015.
Staggs, Susan; Gorbatenko-Roth, Kiki; Tafalla, Richard and Wentz, Meridith. Program Evaluation Certificate Program.
Curricular Incubation Center Grant, $6,858. January 2009.
Gorbakenko-Roth; Tafalla, Richard and Wentz, Meridith. Program Evaluation Certificate Program. Curricular Incubation
Center Grant. Summer 2008.
A Training Programs for the Participants in UW-Stout’s Women’s Mentoring Program. Faculty Women’s Mentoring
Program Steering Committee (coordinator, Claudia Smith) and Women’s Academic Staff Mentoring Program Steering
Committee (chair, Meridith Wentz). Funded by the UW-Stout Unclassified Professional Development Grant, $2,455.
December 2003.

Albrecht, Donna and Wentz, Meridith. Sharing UW-Stout’s e-Scholar Success, funded by the UW-Stout Unclassified
Professional Development Grant, $2,000. December 2003.
Summer Data Policy Institute, received a grant to attend a two-week Summer Data Policy Institute sponsored by
Association for Institutional Research, National Science Foundation and National Center for Education Statistics. June
2002.
Referral Practices of Physicians for Patients with Depression , funded by the UW-Stout Student Research Fund, $250.
April 2001.
Psychophysiology in Applied Settings , funded by the St. Olaf Student Research Fund, $100. January 1999.
Research Experiences for Undergraduate Program, received a grant to participate in the summer Research Experiences for Undergraduates Program at the University of Minnesota. May 1998.
SELECTED AWARDS
2011 Honoree for the NACUBO Models of Efficiency Award for project management methods. Awarded to the Planning,
Assessment, Research and Quality office.
2010 2nd Place Honoree for the CACUBO Best Practices Award for “Doing More with Less” project management methods. Awarded to the Planning, Assessment, Research and Quality office.

APPENDIX
SELECTED ARC FUNDED GRANT PARTNERSHIPS (EVALUATIONS):
Grant Title Granting
Agency
Summary
Intentional Networks
Transforming Effective
& Rigorous Facilitation of Assessment,
Collaboration &
Education
(INTERFACE)
TAACCCT Grant
Math and Science
Program Partnership
US Department of Labor
Employment &
Training
Administration
Department of
Public
Instruction
The ARC is currently working with a consortium of institutions in Wisconsin to evaluate their program which is focused on developing academic programs that are needed in the region for workers who have been displaced and need re-training in order to take advantage of employment opportunities.

Lead external evaluator on $23 million Round 3 TAACCCT grant for Northcentral
Technical College in Wisconsin.

Oversee the design and implementation of the evaluation, including data collection and analysis of data

Lead a team of five evaluators and research assistants

Reporting, dissemination, and publication of results

Work with national TAACCCT evaluation team
The ARC is currently working with two UW System entities that have received funding through the Wisconsin Department of Public Instruction. The project with the University of Wisconsin
Oshkosh is focusing on three main goals regarding increased STEM content knowledge for both students and educators. This is a collaborative project between UW-Oshkosh and four public school districts to help develop math, science, and technology competencies for K-5 educators and students. The University of Wisconsin-La Crosse project is addressing the needs of two CESA districts for support in implementing the Common Core State Standards for
Mathematics, with a focus on grades 4-8. The ARC is conducting the evaluation for both of these projects. The evaluation plan consists of

Collect baseline data.

Create and administer custom surveys to track educator and student knowledge as well as educator satisfaction.

Gather classroom state assessment data.

Gather control group data.

Analyze survey and state data.

Created customized reports for each facet of the evaluation.

S-STEM
NSF STEPS
TUES: Classroom
Research to Invigorate
Undergraduate STEM
Education (CRIUSE)
Midwest Digital
Fabrication Partnership
(MDFP)
National
Science
Foundation
National
Science
Foundation
National
Science
Foundation
National
Science
Foundation
The goal of this grant was to help more students at UW-Stout graduate with a degree in
Science, Technology, Engineering or Mathematics. The ARC evaluation implementation consisted of:

Developing and administering multiple mixed-method surveys to the target and comparison groups.

Analyzing this data and providing custom reports.

Conducting focus groups for target group, analyzing the qualitative data, and providing custom reports.
This was a collaborative project between UW-Stout and UW-Manitowoc to increase student retention and graduation from STEM majors – starting in high school and tracking students through college. The ARC created and implemented several custom, longitudinal surveys. We analyzed all data gathered from the surveys, and created custom stakeholder reports.
The goal of this grant was to improve the effectiveness of science education through classroom research.

Implement online surveys for past and present students

Conducted focus groups with past and present students from two Biology courses
This was a collaborative project between UW-Stout and three other mid-west campuses to help incubate and develop students who are interested in engineering. The ARC developed the evaluation plan, and implemented the plan by:

Implementing client-authored surveys to assess student experiences in FABLAB.

Implementing client-authored surveys to assess instructor experiences with FABLAB.

Implementing client-authored survey to track student participation.

Using student performance data to track retention and graduation.

Creating customized reports for each facet of the evaluation.

Collaborative Research:
Understanding and
Preparing Future
Computer Professionals for the Ethical
Complexities of a
Diverse World
National
Science
Foundation
The goal of this grant was to assess how ethics is taught by computing professionals, and to identify best practices. The evaluation plan consisted of

Creating and administering custom surveys to track faculty and student expectations and perceptions around ethics.

Gathering and analyzing program literature and course syllabi from each study site.

Analyzing survey data.

Creating customized reports for each facet of the evaluation.
C-NERVE
Title III
Clarifying Expectations to Improve the Learner-
Instructor Working
Relationship: A Conduit for Enhancing Learner
Engagement, Self-
Efficacy, and
Metacognition
National
Science
Foundation
Department of
Education
UW System
The goal of this grant was to investigate the impact of student participation in a specialized psychology group. The ARC conducted the grant evaluation through analyzing data collected by the Principal Investigators, analyzing student performance data, and analyzing data from national surveys. ARC created customized reports for each facet of the evaluation.
The goal of this grant was to investigate new methods and programs to improve student retention, graduation rates, and assessment of student learning outcomes. As the internal evaluator, the ARC:

Worked with Title III staff to develop and implement surveys to assess faculty development workshops;

Analyzed the resulting data;

Gathered and analyzed student retention data on target and comparison group; and,

Created customized reports for each facet of the evaluation.
The objective of this project was to improve the learner-instructor working relationship by opening a dialogue between learners and instructors regarding students’ expectations of the course, the instructor and themselves

OrgSync evaluation
Closing the
Achievement Gap
UW System
UW System
This was a collaborative project between 4 campuses to develop and evaluate a comprehensive student engagement portfolio system using OrgSync. The evaluation plan consisted of

Creating and administering custom surveys to track specific student for two purposes. o Short term: assess usability and user friendliness; and, o Long term: to assess the impact on student learning.

Analyzing survey data.
 Gathering and analyzing archival data on targeted students’ use of OrgSync software.

Creating customized reports for each facet of the evaluation.
The goal of this grant was to evaluate the effectiveness of a bridging program for new minority freshmen students. The evaluation plan consisted of:

Focus group for staff after 1 st implementation.

ARC written surveys for program participants and control group.

Analysis of student performance data with comparison groups.

Analysis of retention rates with comparison groups.
The goal of this grant was to understand what indicators are linked with student success at UW-
Stout and to identify and evaluate initiatives that are designed to improve these indicators.
Developing Leading
Indicators of Student
Success in College: The
Access to Success
Initiative
UW System
Curricular Incubation
Center Grants
K-5 STEM Project
UW-Stout
Wisconsin
Department of
Public
Instruction
The goal of these grants was to conduct needs assessments to determine if there was rationale for implementing a new academic program
A collaborative project between UW-Oshkosh and four public school districts to help develop math, science and technology competencies for K-5 educators and students.

Develop cohort and comparison groups

Implement pre/post content assessments for participants

Implement pre/post efficacy assessments

Evaluate standardized learning data from classrooms

Expanding Female
Youth Leadership in
STEM fields and
Establishing an
Evaluation Mechanism
Evaluation of Learning
Communities at a 2year
Institution
Otto Bremer
Foundation
Inver Hills
Community
College
Research Experiences for Undergraduates in
Mathematics and
Computer Science:
University of
Wisconsin-Stout
Evaluation of the eScholar Program
(Digital Learning
National
Science
Foundation
University of
Wisconsin-
Stout

Observations of teacher workshops
ARC is assisting camp administrators in implementing an evaluation plan for the annual STEPS Camp for Girls. Every summer, 160 seventh grade girls attend one of four one week camp session designed to stimulate interest in STEM fields. The evaluation plan assesses the effectiveness of the camp experience in changing attitudes towards STEM topics. ARC staff worked with the camp director to:

Revise and improve a pre-post survey measure

Administer the online survey to the girls on the first and last day of their summer camp experience.

Analysis and reporting of all quantitative and qualitative data gathered from the survey
The goal of the evaluation is to measure the effectiveness of the learning community model at a two-year institution. Date is being collected longitudinally through student and faculty surveys, collection of participation and retention data.

Utilize data from benchmarking survey on learning community effectiveness

Incorporate data from the Community College Survey of

Student Engagement (CCSSE)

Survey learning community faculty

Analyze student records for demographic comparisons; o retention and graduation outcomes

Twice yearly reporting to assist IHCC in planning Learning Communities
The goal of the evaluation is to measure increased participation in research and motivation towards graduate education and research careers. Student participants were tracked longitudinally through both surveys and student data.

Assisted grantees with survey development and deployment

Implemented pre/post surveys to program participants

Gathered data from home institutions of program participants
Yearly survey of the student population to assess impressions of the digital learning environment on campus..

Environment)
Training and
Development
Utility Study
University of
Wisconsin-
Stout
ETS Proficiency Profile
Testing
University of
Wisconsin-
Stout
History of Recruitment
Reports
Developing Leading
Indicators of Student
Success in College,
The Access to Success
Initiative
University of
Wisconsin-
Stout
UW System

Data is used in the planning process and to improve services to students
Administer bi-annual survey to faculty and staff to gauge the utility of the training and professional development sessions offered by the university.

Implement online survey for campus faculty and staff

Analysis of qualitative data with three person team

Reporting of results to Training & Development Team, used to inform University planning
Biennial administration of the ETS Proficiency Profile to both freshmen and senior students to calculate learning gains of UW- Stout students. Results are used as a comparative point across other universities, and to determine UW-Stou t’s effectiveness.

Administration of ETS Proficiency Profile

Coordination of 5 person proctor team

Annual reporting of results to Provost
Administer quarterly survey of new hires. Develop departmental reports of recruitment efforts using survey results and demographic details of hires and recruits.
The goal of this grant was to understand what indicators are linked with student success at UW-Stout and to identify and evaluate initiatives that are designed to improve these indicators.