Shared Responsibility: a. Faculty b. Administration c. Students
At the time of the 1992 NCA Self-Study Report, a number of members of the university
community did not have a clear understanding of the nature and purposes of assessment.
Most academic departments had made efforts to determine learning objectives for
students; however, written reports indicate that the measurement of those objectives was
spotty and inconsistent. Several academic departments had not identified direct measures
of student learning. The administration was beginning to learn about the assessment, and
the students knew little or nothing about assessment. They did not understand the role or
purpose of assessment. All of these characteristics are illustrative of “Level One:
Beginning Implementation of Assessment Programs.”
By the time of the 1996 Focused Visit, the significance of campus wide academic
assessment was beginning to rise to the conscious level of the University community and
the administration. The technology directive from the State Board of Higher Education
and the notebook computer initiative combined to provide faculty and administrators the
motivation to begin exploring and experimenting with assessment. The efforts were
informed by faculty members attending conferences [add specifics] and by visiting other
university campuses. These efforts were funded / supported by the University
administration. In particular, faculty and administrators traveled to Alverno College, a
leader in outcomes assessment. The FIPSE grant and the Title III grant provided the
funding necessary for faculty training, conference attendance, and the development of
assessment projects and processes. Students were not an active part of this process.
Although the university assessment efforts were gaining momentum and broad-based
campus support, the efforts were still illustrative of “Level One: Beginning
Implementation of Assessment Programs.”
The contacts with Alverno College and the grants combined to produce a set of campus
forums that encouraged the open discussion of teaching and learning and outcomes.
These discussions, referred to as Learner Centered Education meetings, eventually
produced a transformation of the Foundation Studies Objectives into what are currently
the eight Abilities. With the development of the abilities and their related skills, faculty
began to embrace the concept of assessment in terms of student learning outcomes.
In 1997 faculty members began to incorporate the eight abilities into their specific
courses. Along with the abilities, faculty members began to design projects which would
allow students to demonstrate their mastery of the stated ability. At first these efforts
were hit-and-miss; in other words, not every course in every program identified an ability
or two and included a specific project. However, over the next two years more and more
faculty members engaged in the process of incorporating the abilities, skills, and projects
into their courses. The Bush Faculty Development grant and the Title III grant provided
some funding and incentive for faculty members to engage in these assessment activities.
Faculty and students were included on Abilities committees. Students were also
introduced to the Abilities through their course syllabi and projects.
In addition, each division identified several of the eight abilities around which their
efforts would focus. Then within the divisions, departments / programs identified
specific ways by which their students could demonstrate the attainment of those specific
abilities. By 1999 the Shared Responsibility of the faculty, administration and students
for assessment at VCSU exhibited those characteristics associated with “Level Two:
Making Progress in Implementing Assessment Programs.” [see bulletin for evidence also
see syllabi]