Shared Governance Assessment Committee
April 22, 2015 (Week 14) – meeting notes
1.
2.
Review and approval of agenda – no additions
Review and Approval of notes from April 15 – by consent
3.
4.
HLC Academy Results Forum confirmed: October 14-16, 2015
Membership and election of chair – (no motion) a) Chair: Vacant
5. b) Dave Myton, Associate Provost for Assessment, Education and Graduate
Studies c) George Denger, Faculty, School of English Communication and Language
Studies term expires 2018 d) Sandi King, Faculty, School of Nursing, term expires June 30, 2016 e) Robert Hildebrand, College of Business and Engineering, term expires
June 30, 2016 (non-replacement position) f) Evan Schemm, Faculty, School of Mathmatics and Computer Science,
Term expires 2018 g) Mindy McCready, Faculty, Lukenda School of Business, Term expires
2018 h) Joe Moening, Faculty, School of Engineering and Technology Term expires 2018 i) Barb Light, Faculty, School of Education, Term expires 2018 j) Vacant, School Humanities, Arts, and Social Sciences, Term expires June
30, 2017 k) Vacant, School of Liberal Studies l) Vacant, School of Criminal Justice, Fire Science and Emergency Medical
Services m) Vacant, School of Biological Sciences n) Vacant, School of Physical Sciences o) Vacant, School of Recreation Studies and Exercise Science p) Paige Gordier, AP representative, Term expires June 30. 2017 q) Mari Schupp, AP representative, Term expires 2018 r) Adam Raffaele, ESP representative term expires 2018 s) Marcia Jenkin-Ball, ESP representative term expires 2018 t) Brenna Moher, Student u) Vacant, Student
Survey Results a. https://www.surveymonkey.com/s/B9XXCKX (faculty)
6. b. c. https://www.surveymonkey.com/s/DJHJTV9 (staff)
Committee reviewed the faculty survey results and will revisit this later to develop recommendations for action.
Myton will distribute survey results, with total percentages by question to the committee. Responses by date and comments were previously distributed. d. Committee approved distribution of staff survey
Bridging the Assessment GAP –
7.
8. a. b.
Committee revised and approved a Template for submission of assessment findings/action
Email account: Tracdat@lssu.edu
Committee reviewed and revised a series of memos on c. assessment (attached) for distribution to faculty/staff
Postponed to next meeting: Review of revised Issue
Submission forms a. Revised charts and narratives b. Committee action (if any)
Postponed to next meeting: What we put on our public website http://lssu.edu/assessment
Assessment Committee Meeting Page – S15:April 21 - page1
2014-2015
Assessment Committee Members:
•
Dave Myton Assoc.Provost
– chair and sec
•
Adam Raffaele ESP representative
•
Marcia Jenkin-Ball ESP representative
•
Katie Kalata , Faculty, College of
Natural & Mathematical Sciences,
Term expires June 30, 2015
•
Barb Light , Faculty, Education,
Term expires June 30 2017
•
Faculty Representative - ALSSES
•
Robert Hildebrand , College of
Business and Engineering, Term
Expires June 30, 2016
•
Sandra King
–
Vice Chair , College of Health Sciences, Term expires
June 30, 2016
•
Paige Gordier , AP representative,
Term expires June 30. 2017
•
Ben Southwell , AP representative,
Term expires June 30, 2015
•
Student representative , Brenna
Moher
•
Student representative , vacant
New members for 2015-2016
•
Evan Schemm , Faculty, College of
Natural & Mathematical Sciences,
Term expires June 30, 2018
•
Mari Schupp , AP representative,
Term expires June 30, 2018
•
School : ECLS – Denger
•
School HASS
–
•
School: LIBS
–
•
School: CJFS
–
•
School: BIOL
–
•
School: PHYS
–
•
School: RECS
–
•
School: BUSN
–
McCready
•
Academy: - Moening
Strikeout indicates absent today
Guests: Donna Fiebelkorn

9. Postponed to next meeting: Committee Next Steps a. Review and Feedback b. c.
Training and Support
Recommendations
10. Committee reviewed results from the Doodle Poll http://doodle.com/yxcucrsr6e3fsktc#table to set meeting dates – committee selected Thursday at 10 as the regular time.
11. a. Next meeting Thursday May 14, from 10:00-11:30 am in the Marine Room.
Other business – none
12. Adjourned at 9:00 am (Myton needs to reserve the room for future meetings)
Shared Governance Assessment Committee
April 14, 2015 (Week 12) – meeting notes
1. Review and Approval of notes from April 8 as edited
2. Review of draft survey on assessment a. b. https://www.surveymonkey.com/s/B9XXCKX
Common vocabulary – assessment vs evaluation
Assessment Committee Meeting
2014-2015
Assessment Committee Members:
•
Barb Keller , Dean, College of
Natural & Mathematical Sciences
•
ESP representative
•
ESP representative #2
•
Katie Kalata , Faculty, College of
Natural & Mathematical Sciences,
Term expires June 30, 2015
•
Barb Light , Faculty, Education,
Term expires June 30 2017
•
Faculty Representative - ALSSES
•
Robert Hildebrand , College of
Business and Engineering, Term
Expires June 30, 2016
•
Sandra King
–
Vice Chair , College of
Health Sciences, Term expires
June 30, 2016
•
Paige Gordier , AP representative,
Term expires June 30. 2017
•
Ben Southwell , AP representative,
Term expires June 30, 2015
•
Student representative , student
•
Student representative , student
•
Dave Myton
–
Chair and Sec.
Assoc.Provost
New members for 2015-2016
•
Evan Schemm , Faculty, College of
Natural & Mathematical Sciences,
Term expires June 30, 2018
•
Mari Schupp , AP representative,
Term expires June 30, 2018
New members effective date TBD
•
School: ECLS - Denger
•
School : HASS
–
•
School: LIBS
–
•
School: CJFS
–
•
School: BIOL
–
•
School: PHYS
–
•
School: RECS
–
•
School: BUSN
–
McCready
• Page – S15:April 21 - page2

Draft
To Tracdat or Not to Tracdat – sent to LSSUstaff April 22, 2015
Any faculty member or department can submit assessment summaries directly, not ever using Tracdat at all. To do this simply prepare a short summary report, following a format that uniquely fits your department, school or college, or use a template like that in the attached example (also available at http://www.lssu.edu/assessment/documents/AssessmentActivityLog.docx
). Reports can be stored on a shared network drives, emailed to tracdat@lssu.edu
or sent by campus mail to D. Myton in ADMIN206.
Voila!
Any assessment summary should address these four basics: a) Clearly stated goals (outcomes) for student learning or departmental effectiveness b) Meaningful processes (means) for assessment of those goals c) Summaries (findings) describing and documenting how well we achieved our goals d) Actions describing how the information will be used to improve student learning or the departmental effectiveness
The END of TRACDAT? – sent April 30 to LSSUstaff
Well, it is the end of Tracdat 4.9.1 since this summer will see the release of the version 5, with a refreshing of the user interface and navigation. Training resources will be available for departments in late summer and throughout the fall 2015.
GRADES as ASSESSMENT? – sent to LSSUfaculty April 27, 2015
Faculty members assign grades as a measure of individual student learning. In contrast, assessment looks at the learning of all students in a class or program. Grades can be used as the basis of assessment IF the activity which is graded is directly related to achievement of a specific outcome.
It may be helpful to illustrate this with an example. Assume students are assigned a paper on the role of the Federal Reserve Bank to address a course goal related to U.S. financial policy. If the paper’s grade is only based on the correct interpretation and application of financial policy then the average grade of all students could be a meaningful assessment of student learning for this outcome. However, if the grade is based on a combination of grammar and punctuation, proper use of references, the assignment being turned in on-time, AND appropriate content related to financial policy then the grade is not just a direct measure of the goal and not a good basis for assessing the outcome. However, in this latter case it might still be possible to average just the content-subscore and use that for the assessment of student learning.
Faculty members are best qualified to define effective measures of student learning in their classes, this is why faculty bear the responsibility for assigning course grades. Assessment uses the information gained through grading (or other means) to look at the performance of the group in achieving the specific outcomes of the course or program. Look for ways to simplify assessment of student learning by capturing existing evaluation data (grades) from your courses and programs.
Assessment Committee Meeting Page – S15:April 21 - page3

Why CARE about Assessment? – sent April 28, 2015 to LSSUstaff
First let’s look at what DO we care about. We care about student learning, and building a strong and healthy university. The Assessment Committee agrees with this sentiment and wants to keep the focus on student achievement and institutional effectiveness.
There are four aspects that are common to all evaluative activity: a) defining clear goals for student learning and institutional effectiveness b) having effective ways to measure achievement of those goals c) collecting information on the attainment of our goals d) using the information collected to improve student learning and institutional effectiveness
How is this data being used?
There are clear benefits, and obligations, that led the university to develop a central integrated system for the collection and aggregation of assessment data across all units. Faculty and staff need to be individually engaged in assessment of student learning and institutional effectiveness within their work, but that doesn’t mean that everyone needs to personally enter their piece of the assessment puzzle directly into Tracdat.
So What about Tracdat?
Tracdat provides a way to collect institutional evidence on assessment, institutional progress toward our goals. Individuals and departments can simply prepare a short report, following a format that uniquely fits your department, school or college, or use a four-column template like this example:
( http://lssu.edu/assessment/template.docx
). Save the reports to a shared network site or send the document to tracdat@lssu.edu
.
--------------------
Meaningful Assessment Matters – sent April 30 to LSSUstaff
We all care deeply about student learning and sustaining a strong effective institution. We strive daily to improve student learning, create supportive and encouraging environments for our students, and build toward our common institutional goals as defined in the mission and strategic plan.
Periodically we need to step back from the activities of teaching, committee work and our daily routines of our jobs to consider whether students are learning all we intend, whether our office practices and the program we provide have been effective, and whether we are achieving our institutional goals. Then we must use what we learned to improve. This is the basis of meaningful assessment – setting reasonable goals, identifying the means to attain the goals, measuring our progress toward those goals and using that information to improve student learning and institutional effectiveness.
Faculty and staff are the ones who are best able to exercise their professional judgement in all aspects of meaningful assessment. There is no single or uniquely right way to assess student learning or the effectiveness of our programs and services. There is no predetermined target level for student performance, or administrative unit performance. There is no single action which must result when we consider the results of our assessment. Continue to exercise your good judgement as you engage in an ongoing process of review, evaluation, action and documentation leading to enhanced student achievement and to a strong effective university.
Assessment Committee Meeting Page – S15:April 21 - page4

Assessment is a Distraction? - sent April 29 to LSSUstaff
Someone may have once said that doing assessment is a distraction which competes from the key and vital functions which define our jobs: teaching classes, leading research projects, running the steam plant, or coordinating the varied activities of Student Life. However, perpetuating any activity without meaningful assessment of the effectiveness of that activity is inherently bad. Accountability has come to higher education and student, parents and legislators are looking for evidence that their educational investments are warranted, productive and lead to the outcomes we advertise.
As a university we must demonstrate that we have: e) Clearly stated goals (outcomes) for student learning and effective processes (means) for assessment of that learning f) Assessed the achievement of our student learning outcomes (findings) for both our curricular and co-curricular activities g) Used (actions) the information we collected to improve student learning and achievement, h) Used processes and methodologies that reflect good practice and in which faculty and staff have participated substantially through the process
Assessing goals that are artificial, unmeasurable, unrealistic or useless is a distraction. Creating reams, or gigabytes, of documentation that no one reads or uses is a distraction. Collecting data that we can’t or won’t use is a distraction. If those things are happening in your department, just stop it. Meaningful assessment must focus on improving student learning, achievement and institutional effectiveness.
Meaningful assessment won’t be oppressive, externally driven and useless – it will be based on looking reflectively at the things you care about and acting to improve those things.
Assessment Committee Meeting Page – S15:April 21 - page5

Assessment Activity Log
Academic/Administrative Unit, Course or Program:_________________________________________ Date:_______________
Goal/Objective or Student
Learning Outcome
(a measureable statement of performance, service or
student learning)
Activity/Measure
(how will success in meeting the goal be measured, what is the target level for
performance)
Finding/Report
(summarize the success of the activity, the level of student achievement, the results of an
audit)
Action
(how will the finding be used to impact achievement of the
goal)
There are many valid methods to document assessment practices. This form may serve as a template for reporting assessment data but units may also develop their own form using the same four categories.
Add additional rows as necessary, send by email to Tracdat@lssu.edu
or campus mail to D.Myton-ADMN206
Assessment Committee Meeting Page – S15:April 21 - page6