Institutional Effectiveness Achievement Report
Bachelor of Business Administration (BBA)
Parameter Title
Parameter Value
Organization
College of Business (Jennings A. Jones)
Assessment Period
2011-2012
Outcome/Goal Type
Student Learning Outcome
Organization: College of Business (Jennings A. Jones)
Unit Head: David Urban
Assessment Period: 2011-2012
Reports to: Academic Affairs
Outcome/Goal Type: Student Learning Outcome
Report Date: Wed Jun 18 2014
Total Outcomes/Goals: 18
10
Mission Statement
Mission
The mission of the Jones College of Business is to:
• Set our students’ foundation for life-long learning through high quality learning experiences resulting from quality teaching, classroom interactions, student
professional organizations, service learning, and interactions with faculty outside the classroom.
• Further the scope and dissemination of the body of business knowledge through scholarly research that advances our disciplines, enhances teaching/learning,
and improves outcomes of for-profit, not-for-profit, and governmental organizations.
• Contribute to the economic development of the region through our outreach programs.
We will produce career-ready undergraduate and graduate students prepared for career challenges and advancements, significant applied research, and
consulting consistent with the expertise of our disciplines.
Summary of Achievements
Outcomes and Goals Assessment Plans
The following tables contain outcome/goal data for Assessment Period: 2011-2012
Outcome/Goal
Category
BBA 1: Students will write effective business documents.
Measure 1:
Person
Responsible:
Completion Date:
75% of business majors will organize, compose,
format, and evaluate effective business documents
(letters, memoranda, e-mail, and/or reports) at the
acceptable level or above. Measured in BCEN 3510.
Barry Blair, BCEN
07/31/2012
Extent of Outcome's Achievement/Results for
Measure 1:
Overall Outcome Results:
Fall 2011:
74.9% proficient
Students met the proficiency standard on some documents but not on others, resulting in an overall proficiency level slightly below the standard.
This program outcome/general goal was:
*If less than Met, program should plan further action to improve performance.
Partially Met
Further Action Planned
What strengths were displayed through the assessments of your
measures?
What weaknesses were displayed through the
assessments of your measures?
One of the strengths of this assessment measurement is that written
documents are evaluated at different points throughout the academic
term, so the data provides a glimpse about student attainment of desired
skill sets at multiple points.
Student performance on the application letter has
consistently declined since the 2007 assessment cycle.
Student perfomance dropped below the desired outcome
during 2010 (72.86%, N = 199) and then further in 2011
(69.37%, N = 431).
It is also worthy to note that there was a significant positive change in
Additional
Comments:
student performance on the indirect letter when compared to the
previous assessment cycle (2010 = 57.07%, N = 198; 2011 = 75.47%, N =
424). Sampling was not used during the 2011 assessment cycle as it had
been in 2010.
Recommendation 1:
BCEN 3510 instructors will need to focus on all written communication with special emphasis on improving performance on the application letter
during the next assessment cycle. For many instructors, the appliation letter comes later in the semester when there may not be sufficient time to
permit students to revise documents as part of their skill development.
Action Plan
Use of Results:
Members of the BCEN Outcomes Assessment Committee and the BCEN Department Chairman will meet with BCEN 3510 instructors to solicit feedback
and develop a plan for improving student performance on all written documents prepared as part of this course.
Assessment Changes:
Programmatic Changes:
Person/Group Responsible for Action:
Target Date for implementation of the action:
Priority:
Outcome/Goal
Category
BBA 2: Students will deliver professional business presentations.
Measure 1:
Person
Responsible:
Completion Date:
75% of business majors will deliver a five- to
ten-minute professional oral presentation using
appropriate technology at the acceptable level or
above. Measured in BCEN 3510.
Barry Blair, BCEN
07/31/2012
Extent of Outcome's Achievement/Results for
Measure 1:
Overall Outcome Results:
Fall 2011:
92.4% proficient
This program outcome/general goal was:
*If less than Met, program should plan further action to improve performance.
Met
Further Action Planned
What strengths were displayed through the assessments
of your measures?
What weaknesses were displayed through the assessments Additional
of your measures?
Comments:
Students do very well with oral presentations.
None noted
Recommendation 1:
Continue to stress the importance of oral communication skills.
Action Plan
Use of Results:
Continue to stress the importance of oral communication.
Assessment Changes:
Programmatic Changes:
Person/Group Responsible for Action:
Target Date for implementation of the action:
Priority:
Outcome/Goal
Category
BBA 3: Students will prepare effective, professional job search documents.
Measure 1:
Person
Responsible:
75% of business majors will organize, compose,
Barry Blair, BCEN
format, and evaluate effective job search documents
(traditional/electronic resume, application letter,
follow-up correspondence, and/or interview-related
materials) at the acceptable level or above.
Measured in BCEN 3510.
Overall Outcome Results:
Fall 2011:
73.2% proficient
Completion Date:
07/31/2012
Extent of Outcome's Achievement/Results for
Measure 1:
This program outcome/general goal was:
*If less than Met, program should plan further action to improve performance.
Partially Met
Further Action Planned
What strengths were displayed through the
assessments of your measures?
What weaknesses were displayed through the assessments of your
measures?
Students performed at the desired standard for the
resume. (76.98%, N = 443).
Application letter (69.37%, N = 431) performance is the weakest of all
written documents during this assessment cycle.
Additional
Comments:
Recommendation 1:
BCEN 3510 instructors will need to focus on all written communication with special emphasis on improving performance on the application letter
during the next assessment cycle. For many instructors, the appliation letter comes later in the semester when there may not be sufficient time to
permit students to revise documents as part of their skill development.
Action Plan
Use of Results:
Members of the BCEN Outcomes Assessment Committee and the BCEN Department Chairman will meet with BCEN 3510 instructors to solicit feedback
and develop a plan for improving student performance on all written documents prepared as part of this course.
Assessment Changes:
Programmatic Changes:
Person/Group Responsible for Action:
Target Date for implementation of the action:
Priority:
Outcome/Goal
Category
BBA 4: Students will apply relevant ethical concepts to making business decisions.
Measure 1:
Person
Responsible:
70% of students will score "excellent" and no more
Jill Austin,
than 3% will score "unacceptable" in analyzing cases MGMT/MKT
involving ethical concepts and decisions. Measured
in MGMT 3610.
Overall Outcome Results:
Completion Date:
Extent of Outcome's Achievement/Results for
Measure 1:
07/31/2012
75.6% excellent,
0.4% unacceptable
Fall 2011:
72.7% excellent;
26.5% acceptable,
0.7% unacceptable
This program outcome/general goal was:
*If less than Met, program should plan further action to improve performance.
Met
Further Action Planned
What strengths were displayed through the
assessments of your measures?
What weaknesses were displayed through the assessments of
your measures?
Students appeared to do well in applying ethical concepts
based on the existing rubric.
The existing rubric may not adequately address differences in
students' ability to apply concepts.
Additional
Comments:
Recommendation 1:
Revise and expand scoring rubric to more precisely and less subjectively evaluate students' case analyses.
Recommendation 2:
Select or write a new case study that better fits this assessment process.
Action Plan
Use of Results:
The rubric was revised and expanded to more precisely and less subjectively evaluate students' written case analyses. A new case was selected for use
in this assessment.
Assessment Changes:
Programmatic Changes:
Person/Group Responsible for Action:
Target Date for implementation of the action:
Priority:
Outcome/Goal
Category
BBA 9: Students will apply economic principles to current issues in a global environment.
Measure 1:
Person
Responsible:
Completion Date:
Extent of Outcome's Achievement/Results for
Measure 1:
75% of business majors will achieve a score of 60% Chris Klein, ECON
or better on a ten-question instrument designed to
assess student knowledge of fundamental
international economics terminology,
comprehension of global economic principles, and
interpretation of economic data. Measured in ECON
2410/2420.
07/31/2012
Overall Outcome Results:
Fall 2011:
83.2% proficient (ECON 2410)
82.1% proficient (ECON 2420)
Spring 2012:
75.3% proficient (ECON 2410)
83.3% proficient (ECON 2420)
This program outcome/general goal was:
*If less than Met, program should plan further action to improve performance.
Met
Further Action Planned
What strengths were displayed through the assessments
of your measures?
What weaknesses were displayed through the assessments Additional
of your measures?
Comments:
Students seem to do well with much of the material
Students continue to struggle with supply and demand analysis
as applied to tariffs.
Recommendation 1:
Make assessment instruments and previous results available to instructors earlier in the semester to raise awareness of important topic areas for
faculty who don't teach ECON 2410/2420 every semester.
Action Plan
Use of Results:
Assessment instrument and historical results were circulated to instructors during the first week of the Fall 2012 and Spring 2013 semesters.
Assessment Changes:
Person/Group Responsible for Action:
Target Date for implementation of the action:
Programmatic Changes:
Priority:
Outcome/Goal
Category
BBA 10: Students will demonstrate appropriate knowledge of core content areas in a global business environment.
Measure 1:
Person
Responsible:
Completion Date:
90% of business students will score proficient or
higher on a course-embedded exam covering
knowledge of international topics from all core
courses. Measured in BUAD 4980.
Jill Austin,
MGMT/MKT
07/31/2012
Extent of Outcome's Achievement/Results for
Measure 1:
Overall Outcome Results:
Fall 2011: 89% proficient
Spring 2012: 89% proficient
This program outcome/general goal was:
*If less than Met, program should plan further action to improve performance.
Met
Further Action Planned
What strengths were displayed through the assessments
of your measures?
What weaknesses were displayed through the assessments Additional
of your measures?
Comments:
Recommendation 1:
Action Plan
Use of Results:
Review topic areas for weaknesses and increase emphasis on those topics
Assessment Changes:
Person/Group Responsible for Action:
Target Date for implementation of the action:
Priority:
Programmatic Changes:
Outcome/Goal
Category
BBA 11: Students will identify and apply basic concepts pertaining to the legal and regulatory environment of business,
and analyze the potential threats and opportunities to the organization from the changing legal environment.
Measure 1:
Person
Responsible:
Completion Date:
75% of students will score 75% or higher on an
Lara Daniel, ACTG
objective examination designed to assess
knowledge of jurisdiction; constitutional authority to
regulate business; civil liability for the actions of a
business that injures third parties; liability
associated with hiring practices and employee
relations; major laws and regulations that protect
consumers; major federal antitrust laws; and ethical
decision making. Measured in BLAW 3400.
Extent of Outcome's Achievement/Results for
Measure 1:
07/31/2012
Overall Outcome Results:
Fall 2011:
58% proficient
This program outcome/general goal was:
*If less than Met, program should plan further action to improve performance.
Met
Further Action Planned
What strengths were displayed through the
assessments of your measures?
What weaknesses were displayed through the assessments of
your measures?
Additional
Comments:
There may be a lack of consistency across sections in terms of content
emphasis and teaching materials.
Recommendation 1:
No changes to the measure or standard are recommended.
Action Plan
Use of Results:
Teachers will continue to share materials that relate to the subject areas assessed. Also, emphasis will be placed on informing adjunct and temporary
faculty members about the areas to be assessed and the availability of the materials. Also, we will try to make the notebook of materials more
accessible to all faculty.
Assessment Changes:
Programmatic Changes:
Person/Group Responsible for Action:
Target Date for implementation of the action:
Priority:
Outcome/Goal
Category
BBA 12: Students will select appropriate analysis techniques to analyze problem data.
Measure 1:
Person
Responsible:
Completion Date:
Extent of Outcome's Achievement/Results for
Measure 1:
75% of business majors will score acceptable or
Gordon Freeman, CIS 07/31/2012
above on a seven-question assessment instrument
designed to assess student learning of techniques
and analysis of descriptive statistics, statistical
significance, hypothesis testing, correlation, ANOVA,
and regression analysis. Measured in QM 3620.
Overall Outcome Results:
Fall 2011:
80.5% proficient
This program outcome/general goal was:
*If less than Met, program should plan further action to improve performance.
Met
Further Action Planned
What strengths were displayed What weaknesses were
Additional Comments:
through the assessments of
displayed through the
your measures?
assessments of your measures?
Examining which students scored 2 (one point away from ACCEPTABLE) on the
assessment in the 2011 Fall semester revealed that all of these students
missed the scenario dealing with the confidence interval estimate of the
proportion.
Recommendation 1:
Although I added a short discussion of the difference between hypothesis tests and interval estimates, it evidently did not go far enough. I plan to
expand that discussion this semester and see if this area shows improvement.
Action Plan
Use of Results:
Benchmark raised to 85% proficiency.
Assessment Changes:
Programmatic Changes:
Person/Group Responsible for Action:
Target Date for implementation of the action:
Priority:
Outcome/Goal
Category
BBA 13: Students will analyze, interpret, and communicate financial statement data.
Measure 1:
Person
Responsible:
95% of business majors will score 40% or higher on Sean Salter, FIN
a 50-question departmental comprehensive exam
covering introduction to finance; financial
statements and analysis; taxes and cash flow; time
value applications; interest rates and bond valuation;
stock valuation; capital budgeting; risk and return;
and cost of capital. Measured in FIN 3010.
Completion Date:
Extent of Outcome's Achievement/Results for
Measure 1:
07/31/2012
Overall Outcome Results:
Fall 2011:
98.5% proficient
Spring 2012:
97.3% proficient
This program outcome/general goal was:
*If less than Met, program should plan further action to improve performance.
Met
Further Action Planned
What strengths were displayed through the
assessments of your measures?
What weaknesses were displayed through the assessments of
your measures?
Additional
Comments:
Results have consistently indicated improvement over time. There is some concern that the current exam may not be as precise as
Students appear to understand financial statements rather it should be in measuring students' ability to work with financial
well.
statement data.
Recommendation 1:
Review the existing exam questions and revise as necessary to more accurately reflect the finance knowledge necessary for a business major.
Recommendation 2:
Limit measure results to exam questions that specifically address the learning objective rather than using overall exam scores.
Action Plan
Use of Results:
The common final exam has been revised to more accurately measure the finance knowledge necessary for all business majors. The scoring process
has been changed such that, rather than using overall exam scores, assessment results will be derived from student performance on only those
questions that directly address the learning objective.
Assessment Changes:
Programmatic Changes:
Person/Group Responsible for Action:
Target Date for implementation of the action:
Priority:
Outcome/Goal
Category
BBA 14: Students will propose and evaluate alternative solutions for decision making.
Measure 1:
Person
Responsible:
Completion Date:
70% of business majors will score proficient or
higher on a project involving data analysis,
development of alternative solutions, evaluation of
alternative solutions, selection of
recommendation(s) and both oral and written
presentations. Measured in BUAD 4980.
Jill Austin,
MGMT/MKT
07/31/2012
Overall Outcome Results:
Extent of Outcome's Achievement/Results for
Measure 1:
Spring 2012:
78.5% proficient
This program outcome/general goal was:
*If less than Met, program should plan further action to improve performance.
Met
Further Action Planned
What strengths were displayed through the assessments
of your measures?
What weaknesses were displayed through the assessments Additional
of your measures?
Comments:
Recommendation 1:
Action Plan
Use of Results:
Continue project and analysis of results
Assessment Changes:
Programmatic Changes:
Person/Group Responsible for Action:
Target Date for implementation of the action:
Priority:
Outcome/Goal
Category
MBA 1: Students will use tools, analyses, and exhibits to effectively explain and discuss solutions to comprehensive
business cases and/or problems.
Measure 1:
Person
Responsible:
Completion Date:
Extent of Outcome's Achievement/Results for
Measure 1:
Assessment instrument being developed. Measured
in MKT 6650.
Overall Outcome Results:
Measures being developed.
This program outcome/general goal was:
*If less than Met, program should plan further action to improve performance.