Assessment & Accreditation Committee
12.17.15
Updates to Gen Ed Pilot:
• Last trip to Seattle, NWCCU President said that we had the strongest report. Great news!
• This semester we have made progress assessing the math and ethics groups.
• The CLA was done this fall but we need help getting senior students for the spring.
o We need help getting senior classes like capstones.
o John might be able to help us get ahold of his GLI Capstone class.
o Need to look into other GLI Capstone classes. Maybe 50 possible students.
o Mike suggested an incentive drawing.
o Waive late graduation application fee? Waive graduation fee?
• Project Innovation Survey results should be available soon.
• There will be an assessment report for the GLI coming. They are using AACU Rubrics for Critical
thinking and Cultural Competence on some papers. They will also use surveys and focus groups
focusing on the learning outcomes.
• Feb 1, Nathan has to go to NWCCU for a dress rehearsal for the March 1 Annual Meeting where
the four institutions will present to all the Presidents of the Institutions.
• We need to work on defining Mission Fulfillment.
o We need to see more examples of closing the loop—i.e., that departments have been
making changes based on their assessment and then reassessing those changes
(showing gains in learning).
• Based on discussions about what distinguishes us---using Leadership, Entrepreneurship and
possibly Health.
o Scott can provide lots of information about entrepreneurship.
• Focus of our demonstration project is gen ed but also includes student learning in general
o Can we also show how research is related to student learning? Like UG research and
field-based stuff?
o The level of field-based research that students are involved with distinguishes us.
• Is mission fulfillment a yes/no answer?
o We could think of it as a pyramid with the base being metrics, data and outcomes. The
evidence supports the theory (peak) or mission as described in visionary terms
• National Institute for Learning Outcomes Assessment featured our planning-assessment
continuum website! Kudos
Institutional Assessment Report is completed and should be online this week.
• Who is the audience?
o NWCCU is one audience.
o Would faculty and staff want to see this?
 Maybe it could go in the ForUM
o Send it to staff senate, faculty senate, ASUM President
• If we wanted to share it more broadly, it should probably be shorter or more attractively
designed
• The assessment database needs to be updated.
o The next report is coming up soon.
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What about adding something about John’s play or theatre and arts for Culture under Dynamic
Learning Environment?
Library makes an annual report that matches the strategic goals. Shali will send a link to us.
Also under culture for Dynamic Learning, ASUM’s groups travel and we could add in things like
that. Betsy is going to consider how they could keep track of this for the future
We’ve Heard Your Voice.
• The library has 5 big posters. They have table tents and web ads. This will all be up in January.
• Missoula College, School of Business, and College of Ed have also done a campaign.
• How about adding Dining Services? Student Affairs is aware of this.
Assessment of previous strategic initiatives:
• Perry thinks the original submissions for these proposals should be saved somewhere. They
might have the original outcomes included.
o Let’s ask Claudine for these.
• Perry was open to amending their Planning forms to accommodate assessment.
• Do we still agree that the assessment of these is described well with what we already have?
• Where are we in the planning process? Those that came in this semester—we could assess them
next year.
o Unless they were already committed (prior obligations). But that shouldn’t happen
anymore.
o These proposals will be funded effective July 1, 2016. Then we should assess them in
spring 2017. Faculty hires might be harder because of the delay in filling the position.
o What’s the timeline that we want for assessment?
o Maybe we should bring each project to this group so we can decide one by one when
they should be assessed. This could be after the implementation committee is done with
them.
o The faculty lines are going to be harder to assess the success. And then you can’t get rid
of a tenure-track line. It might take five years to have an impact, but then they’re
already tenured.
o A new academic program wouldn’t come through the planning committee.
• So for HR staff training member, what are the next steps? We need to get the document and
then send it to them and ask them to assess what was there. In our next meeting we can create
a template to have them fill out.
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Next meeting the last week of January