Western New Mexico University – Assessment Workshop Pre-Work
1. What is the current state of assessment at the institution? Try to describe not only the stage of development of the institution’s
assessment of student learning, but also at what levels (classroom, course, program/major, service, institution) assessment is
occurring. Describe the extent to which assessment of student learning is occurring in the institution’s main functional areas outside
the classroom.
a. Classroom Assessment: (Alignedi) – Faculty identifies learning outcomes in each course syllabus and evaluates how well those
outcomes are met. Chairs review syllabi and visit classes. Students complete class evaluations which are reviewed by the chair and the
faculty member and which become part of promotion and tenure evaluations. Copies of electronic syllabi are maintained. The VPAA
and the chairs review weekly reports that show retention in each class.
b. Course Assessment (Aligned) – Assessment at the course level is done best in general education. Our 35 hour general education
program is part of a state wide articulation agreement to ensure transferability. Each of the five areas of general education has stated
learning outcomes and assessment measures created by a statewide panel of faculty in the disciplines. Over a three year cycle all
general education courses report on student learning outcomes and any changes made based on assessment results. These reports are
reviewed by a state level panel and feedback is given to the campus and departments. As a result affected departments monitor and
standardize syllabi and learning outcomes for multi-section courses like freshman composition.
c. Program/Major (Systematic) – Each major or minor has articulated student learning outcomes and assessment measures. Over a 3year period, all majors complete an assessment report for the University Assessment Committee. This committee of faculty and staff
reviews each report according to a rubric and gives the department feedback. Some majors have more fully developed assessment
programs than others with those that are accredited (business, early childhood education, economic development institute, education,
nursing, occupational therapy, and social work) tending to have more developed measures. In the less developed assessment programs,
the learning outcomes often are stated in terms not easily measured. The Assessment Committee reports and the VPAA’s office
provide guidance for such programs.
Formal program reviews are done in a seven year cycle and result in program enhancement, maintenance, or closure. In the past three
years, a program prioritization activity that looks at all programs in regard to the needs of the institution has also proved useful.
While we have robust assessment of individual general education courses, we have not identified an effective assessment mechanism
for our overall general education program outcomes. In the past we have used CLA and the ACT rising junior exam to measure
general education outcomes. However, these test results were not really yielding data about our general education program. This
phenomenon is partly due to our student body. Most of the people taking the test as a rising junior were transfer students. Many of our
FTFT students transfer, stop out, or may take as long as 10 – 15 years to graduate and many of the students taking the test as rising
juniors were transfer students who had taken the bulk of their general education work elsewhere.
d. Institution (Integrated) – At the institutional level, for the past several years, we have done the NSSE and the Noel Levitz
assessments in alternate years. Results are shared with the campus in open meetings. Chairs discuss them in more depth in Academic
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Western New Mexico University – Assessment Workshop Pre-Work
Council. We do a graduating senior survey annually as well as an alumni survey periodically. We have done an employee
satisfaction survey recently as a part of the Chronicle Great Colleges program.
2. How are assessment activities organized or coordinated at the institution? Who (or what office) is responsible for coordinating
assessment activity and data? Include a description of what is done with assessment results. Assessment activities are coordinated in the
Academic Affairs Office with the assistance of the IR Office. The VPAA is an ex officio member of the Assessment Committee, a committee
of our faculty and staff governance bodies, composed of both faculty and staff. Additionally with the formation of the University Planning
Council, a newly created committee of that Council is responsible for incorporating data derived from assessment activities into the strategic
planning process. Other information on what is done with results can be found under Item #1 above. Assessment activities are also reported
out to the campus community through an annual assessment convocation that is in its tenth year.
3. What are the institution’s essential current needs if assessment of student learning is going to grow and produce valuable
improvements? What current practices seem to be producing good results? We need to develop general education program assessment
that better informs the institution of its effectiveness in meeting defined objectives. We also need to enhance the quality, range and depth of
assessment results so as to better inform program/major assessment, most particularly in programs that are not accredited. We need to develop
effective strategies to ensure existing or revised processes are being fully implemented and improved professional development and training to
help individuals and departments use the process to gain meaningful results and act on them.
4. What specific results would the institution like from this workshop? A game plan for reviewing current general education program
objectives, measuring general education program outcomes, and revising general education assessment activities in ways that supplement and
complement existing assessment activities across campus. We would also like to come away from the workshop with techniques and a plan to
enhance assessment in program majors. A revamped process, including assessment tools, is needed that allows faculty, staff, and students to
align institutional assessments with individual efforts to improve their personal effectiveness. This implies converting passive compliance into
active involvement by all the stakeholders.
5. What specific help would the institution like a mentor to provide? Specific knowledge about effective general education assessment
strategies for institutions with open enrollment and significant transfer student enrollment at the sophomore/junior level; “train-the-trainer”
strategies so that team members can bring back new capabilities for working with campus faculty and staff on assessment; facilitation of a
meta discussion about how the participants might share the knowledge gained at the workshop back home; and knowledge of practical hints
and tips for strengthening the culture of assessment in both academic and support units of a small regional university.
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Aligned: consistency exists across plans, processes, information, resource decisions, actions, results, and analyses so as to support organization-wide goals
Integrated: moves beyond alignment to reflect the achievement of individual components that operate as a fully interconnected whole
Systematic: well-ordered, repeatable, approaches exist that use data and information to support learning across the institution; i.e., which build in
opportunities for evaluation, improvement, and sharing.
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