Campus Assessment Network
Notes from Meeting of
April 5, 2011
The meeting of the Campus Assessment Network (CAN) was held Tuesday, April 5, 2011 at 3:00
p.m. in Adams Hall B13.
Welcome and Introductions
Members were introduced and thanked for their attendance. This is a joint meeting with SACLO
and SACLO members were introduced and an overview was given of what SACLO does.
Members present:
Carolinda Douglass, Crystal Coppel, William Boelcke, Brian Lance, Amy Buhrow, Mary Pritchard,
Amy Franklin, Eric Niemi, Nora Lindvall, Greg Long, Beth Towell, David Gorman, Angela
Branson, Johan Lindvall and Nina Mancuso.
Presentations
The book Academically Adrift was discussed between the two groups. Carolinda Douglass mentioned
that this book came on our radar through Collegiate Learning Assessment (CLA) and how it is one
of three exams recognized by them that determines learning outcomes.
Douglass read off some research questions from the recent webinar on Academically Adrift.
The CAE put out a statement on the Academically Adrift book and Will Boelcke was on hand to read
it.
Douglass asked the group what they all thought of the book. Amy Buhrow was surprised that they
only looked at freshman and sophomore years and not all grades. She also mentioned how the book
had a lot of negative things to say about business colleges. Eric Niemi noticed that they came down
really hard on the K-12 system. He wasn’t sure how we could fix that problem and that students are
suppose to be prepared when they get to college. Niemi suggested that maybe we create entry
points to help get students prepared for where they need to be when they enter college. It was also
mentioned that maybe we need to look at minority groups and see how they compare to everyone
else at NIU.
It was said that in the book it mentions that student academic engagement isn’t always enough for
success. Amy Franklin pointed out a sentence on page 135 down in the last paragraph and she read
it out loud to the group. It was said that success doesn’t always equal finishing up school.
Nora Lindvall asked the question what would stop some of the professors from adding work to a
course. Many of the professors in attendance said “time.” Students want feedback so if the
professor has a lot of students they may not get feedback because of a lack of time.
Douglass read some recommendations from the authors from their webinar and asked what the
group thought about the recommendations.
Here are some thoughts that were shared:

Greg Long said that the three C’s overlap nicely with the CLA.

In the beginning of the book they really stressed “resources.”

Nora Lindvall said that students always learn in the classroom that they also learn outside of
the classroom too. She said that in these types of meetings with faculty and staff she always
learns a great deal and that it is very valuable to her.

Beth Towell asked “what’s broken?” The group said that student don’t know how to write
well when they leave NIU. What if students don’t want to learn how to write? Will it stop
them from getting jobs? What do students expect to leave here with, a job or their dream
job?

Nina Mancuso said that it relies on the students a lot. That is if they want to learn, they will
do the work to accomplish it.

How do we get student to care about getting their dream job after school? Do you really
know what you want to do job-wise at 22 years old?

NIU should equal lifelong learning and not just equal a job after school. How can we
accomplish this?

It can look bad on a student from other students’ perspective if they change their majors
while they are in school. It can also look bad if you don’t finish in four years.
Douglass thanked everyone for being at the meeting and for their input on the book and for reading
it.
Meeting was adjourned at 4:25 pm.