Call for Applications
LEAP Texas Assessment Fellow
AAC&U and the LEAP Texas Faculty Collaboratives
Call: August 2015
Due: September 28, 2015
Texas is one of five states participating in the first phase of the Association of American Colleges and
Universities’ (AAC&U) Faculty Collaboratives project. The Faculty Collaboratives project is intended to
engage educators in adapting and applying educational practices that have been encouraged by AAC&U
and other nationally recognized groups. These practices have been developed and vetted by faculty
across the nation, but their practical application is dependent on the work of educators in their own
settings. The Faculty Collaboratives project is designed to help educators leverage their work by building
collaborative networks of users who can share ideas, assignments, and practices as they employ and
customize them, as well as established state-wide conversations about assessment and the Core
Objectives and applying the related VALUE Rubrics.
LEAP Texas has been awarded a grant to fund and facilitate the work of the Faculty Collaboratives
project. In addition to the selection of five Faculty Fellows, who will facilitate statewide conversations,
an Assessment Fellow will also be selected. The charge of the Assessment Fellow is to lead interinstitutional assessment of general education using AAC&U’s VALUE rubrics. The Assessment Fellow will
receive a stipend of $5000 per year for two years and will receive some travel support to conduct interinstitutional assessment activities.
The charge of the Assessment Fellow is modeled after the State Higher Education Executive Officer
Association’s (SHEEO) Multi-state Collaborative to advance learning outcome assessment, but the goals
of the charge are inspired by the consistent concerns across LEAP Texas Membership about assessing
the Core Objectives and a collective desire to build consensus across institutions on what constitutes the
quality of the student learning related to the Core Objectives. Below are the goals and objectives for the
LEAP Texas Assessment Fellow initiative.
Goals for the LEAP Texas Assessment Fellow
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Facilitate discussion, collaboration, and innovative approaches to assessing the Texas Core
Objectives.
Glean assignments from volunteer institutions.
Organize and conduct faculty scoring sessions.
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Initiate consensus-building related to describing the quality of student learning in the Core
Objectives.
Contribute to a digital presence and identity for Core Objective assessment resources.
What will the LEAP Texas Assessment Fellow Do?
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Recruit and maintain volunteer capacity for inter-institutional assessment of Core Objectives,
which will include gathering student work samples, organizing scoring sessions, and compiling
and reporting results to participating institutions.
Contribute to a Core Objective assessment web presence with a library of resources such as
student assignments, sample student work products including anchors, assessment procedure
documents, and reports on assessment.
Build a foundation for consensus among institutions that volunteer in the inter-institutional
assessment of Core Objectives as to what constitutes milestones in student performance.
Report progress.
Potential Benefits to Assessment Fellow
This is a unique opportunity for an assessment professional to interact with faculty and assessment
colleagues across the state via the broad LEAP Texas network, as well as meeting assessment leaders in
other states and systems through LEAP States and AAC&U Staff. The experience gained from the
fellowship will position the Assessment Fellow to share their experience about inter-institutional
assessment statewide and nationally.
Time Commitment
The Assessment Fellow can anticipate spending approximately the equivalent to that of preparing for
and teaching a 4-credit course each semester during the next two years.
Ideal Skills and Qualifications of the Assessment Fellow
The ideal assessment fellow is enthusiastic about the Texas Core Objectives and the AAC&U VALUE
rubrics. The ideal applicant will possess the following knowledge, skills, and abilities.
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Knowledge of learning outcomes assessment practices and the use of rubrics.
Ability to manage a large scale project. Be able to formulate a plan of action, follow the plan,
improvise when needed, and follow up, e.g. assess communication at 2-yr and 4-yr institutions.
Ability to recruit, train, motivate, and maintain a volunteer coalition via the LEAP Texas network.
Sophisticated diplomacy skills needed to work with faculty, staff, and administration of all levels
An advanced level of writing proficiency to present assessment data in a cogent and concise
manner.
Ability to learn new assessment software products.
Instructions for How to Apply
To apply, complete the application and submit your résumé/curriculum vitae to Tiffany Hearne at
tiffany.hearne@tamucc.edu by September 28, 2015.
Application for LEAP Texas Assessment Fellow
Name:_______________________________ _________ Email:_____________________________
Institution:_____________________________________ Phone Number: _____________________
Position: __________________________________________________________________________
Year of Experience in Assessment: _____________________________________________________
1. Describe your experience collaborating on assessment across your institution. If you have
experience collaborating outside you institution, describe that as well. Describe how you would
go about using your experience to build an inter-institutional volunteer coalition for assessment
activities.
2. Explain why you are interested in being selected for this LEAP Texas Assessment Fellowship.
Explain your role within the Texas Core Objective Assessment process at your institution related
to the implementation of the Core Curriculum in 2014.
3. Describe your familiarity with assessment software products and the AAC&U VALUE Rubrics.