REDWOODS COMMUNITY COLLEGE DISTRICT
Meeting of the Assessment Committee
Eureka: 7351 Tompkins Hill Road, LRC 105
Friday, March 29, 2013 at 03:00 p.m.
Meeting Notes
Members Present: Dave Bazard, Peter Blakemore, Paul Chown, Clyde Johnson,
Angelina Hill, Erik Kramer, Sally Urban
Members Absent: Rachel Anderson, Marla Gleave, Toby Green, Clyde Johnson, Ruth
Rhodes, Shannon Sullivan, Cheryl Tucker
Guest: Steve Jackson
1. Call to Order: 3:03pm
Discussion Items:
2. Assessment Deadlines
It was discussed when to set the deadlines, how flexible to be, not to set it too close to
the beginning of the fall term, suggested date of 10/15. This might create issues with
the database though; having two outcome periods out there at the same time. Perhaps
spring deadline would be better, due to concerns of gathering data during finals week,
or at least turn in the data in the spring. Faculty won’t be on contract during the summer
to write the report, so we will need to keep the open period thru the first couple weeks of
fall. For the database to work correctly, the current assessment period must be closed
down before opening up the next reporting period. An overlap isn’t possible. Most
faculty though prefer to get this all completed before summer, while it’s still fresh in your
mind. The answer might be to have two different deadlines, one for data and one for
the actual report.
The committee needs the Academic Senate’s support in order to have these deadlines
enforceable.
3. GE Assessment from fall
There were two different GE Assessment sessions held recently. Attendance was very
low; zero at one session and one person at the second session. There was discussion
about how to schedule or design these sessions differently in order to significantly
increase participation rates. Need to use the importance of assessment and the direct
ties it has to accreditation to get people in attendance. These sessions would just be for
cross discipline dialog purposes, not actually assessing the GE classes. These sessions
would also give us further evidence that we are continuing the required assessment
work. Perhaps have two different “Assessment Fridays”.
4. Assessment Processes – review for Planning Retreat summit April 6th
It was discussed what worked last year and the improvements that have been made to
the assessment process. The software and mapping tools all vastly improved, as well
as assessment data appearing in the program reviews and linking to resource requests.
It’s been frustrating for the faculty assessment coordinators to keep faculty motivated to
continue to complete their assessments. Having a Vice President and a representative
from the Accreditation Committee on the Assessment Committee could improve the
completion of individual department’s assessments as well as the overall function of the
committee. The committee is pushing for making assessment part of the college’s
culture. Student Services has a great model, with “Assessment Thursdays” happening
every Thursday throughout the term. Erik Kramer would like assessment to be strongly
represented during flex activities, perhaps requiring 2 out of 4 days be dedicated solely
to assessment activities. 5. Future Assessment Summits
The committee reviewed last year’s summit and how to improve the process. The
summit needs to be better defined, structured and results oriented. Instead of simply
dialoging, include data presentations and report writing. Invite the nursing department
to present their findings and how they complete and evaluate their assessment
outcomes.
6. Institutional Dialogue on Assessment Processes
The committee discussed options on how to structure assessment dialog in the future.
The college has program dialog but needs to have larger institutional dialog. This
should be a required flex activity/requirement. Erik Kramer will plan, organize and send
out notices. Many faculty will not meet outside of the contract days. Barbara Beano
mentioned that dialog needs to happen and not just once a year, but throughout the
year.
7. Assessment Committee Role in Accreditation Response
The committee needs to review the show cause report to ensure that the required
assessment procedures are not only continuing, but are sustainable as well.
8. Program Assessment Methods
Clyde Johnson reviewed his department’s challenges with completing program
assessment as a group. In larger groups, the discussion easily gets off base and
nothing gets accomplished. Perhaps circulating a Program Assessment Form of some
kind would be more effective and efficient way of completing the process. An online tool
has been set up but perhaps overlooked. Angelina Hill said she could set up
department forums and show departments how to effectively use these tools to
implement assessment completion. Dialog can be in several different formats,
conversation, templates or online forums.
9. Meeting Adjourned: 4:30 p.m.