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Briefly describe the project in less than 100 words. Be sure to identify the key
organizational areas (departments, programs, divisions, units, etc.) and key
organizational processes that this action project will affect, change, and/or
improve :
A:
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The purpose of the second phase of this Action Project is to revise the
College's current Student Learning Outcomes (SLOs). This phase of the
project includes developing and incorporating new rubrics into the College's
existing Degree Portfolio, mapping the Course-Level SLOs to the ProgramLevel SLOs to the Institutional-Level SLOs for all courses, and capturing and
evaluating data for SLOs at the course level.
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2:
Describe your institution’s reasons for initiating this action project now and
for how long it should take to complete it. Why are this project and its goals
high among your institution’s current priorities? Also, explain how this project
relates to any strategic initiatives or challenges described in the institution’s
recent or soon-to-be submitted systems portfolio:
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A:
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The College recognized the need to revise the existing SLOs and feedback
during the 2012 strategic planning process, the Systems Appraisal, and the
Quality Check-up Visit confirmed this direction. In June 2012 a team of
faculty and administrators attended the HLC's "Making a Difference in
Student Learning: Assessment as a Core Strategy" and the need was again
heightened. During the course of the 3-day workshops a detailed plan for
revising the institution's SLOs were discussed and developed. This plan was
then presented to the College's Executive Team and gained their full support.
Based on the HLC response to a monitoring report submitted in June 2013,
we are focusing on data collection for Course-Level SLOs, evaluation of that
data, and making the appropriate changes to improve student learning
outcomes.
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3:
List the project goals, milestones, and deliverables along with corresponding
metrics, due dates, and other measures for assessing the progress for each
goal. Be sure to include formal evaluations when the project progress will be
reviewed:
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A:
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Leadership for the Action Project will come from the Assessment Committee
that is chaired by a faculty member from the Accounting Department. The
Committee also includes representation from all academic divisions as well as
non-academic units such as Student Services, Business Development,
Continuing Education, and Institutional Effectiveness. As should be expected,
faculty will be heavily involved during the development of Course Objective
Maps and associated measures (for selected courses). Faculty will also play
the key role in terms of discussions related to finalizing new Program-Level
SLOs, their associated rubrics, and how they map to our existing Degree
Portfolio. As the leader in the instructional area, the Vice President of
Instruction will spend significant time on this project as well.
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4:
Describe how various members of the learning community will participate in
this action project. Show the breadth of involvement by individuals and
groups over the project’s duration :
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A:
Edit
This project most directly impacts the assessment process at the College.
Preparation for this Action Project has provided an opportunity for the
Assessment Committee to create new "Guiding Principles for Assessment"
which outlines 6 key principles of assessment and sets the direction for
assessment at Kishwaukee College. The new Program-Level SLOs for our
AA/AS degrees will change and improve the way we use our existing Degree
Portfolio and the resulting data we accumulate annually.
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5:
Describe how the institution will monitor project progress/success during, and
at the completion of this project. Be sure to specifically state the measures
that will be evaluated and when:
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A:
Edit
As was mentioned above, prior to the formal start of the first part of this
Action Project the team attended an assessment workshop and worked with
the assigned mentor to develop a timeline to complete this project (details
are provided in the next section). The timeline is aggressive, but the detailed
plan that was developed will guide the project. Key milestones will be
finalizing the language and rubrics for SLOs at Institution and Program-Level,
creating the course objective maps, identifying measures for select courses,
and collecting and analyzing data. In addition, the existing Degree Portfolio
will be reworked to reflect our revised Institution and Program-Level SLOs.
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6:
Describe the challenges that may be encountered in successfully completing
the project or for institutionalizing the learning from the project’s goals:
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A:
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The project plan identifies four groups (Assessment Committee, Full Faculty,
Departments, and Divisions) and timelines have been developed that
illustrate what each are to do over the course of the project. For instance,
topics for each of the full faculty meetings have been identified along with the
preparation the Assessment Committee will have to do for each of those
meetings (sample documents, presentations, feedback, etc.). Similarly, plans
for departmental and division meetings have been developed along with
deadlines for completing specific tasks. As plan implementation begins, the
Assessment Committee will refer to the original timelines to gauge success.
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7:
Provide any additional information that the institution wishes for reviewers to
understand regarding this action project:
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A:
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For this Action Project to be considered successful, a complete set of
Institution and Program-Level SLOs (and rubrics) that will gain faculty
support and use. In addition, each academic department needs to have
mapped their Course-Level SLO to the new Institution and Program-Level
SLOs and developed measures for select courses. In terms of institution-wide
assessment of the SLOs, the existing Degree Portfolio will be reworked to
reflect our revised Institution and Program-Level SLOs.