Accountability

Frank Schmidt, IFC Chair

MU General Faculty Meeting

October 26, 2006

New buzzword in American Higher Education

• SHEEO (State Higher Education Officials)– www.sheeo.org; March, 2006

• Dept of Ed Commission on the Future of Higher Education (“Spellings Commission”)– www.ed.gov; September, 2006

• NASULGC/AASCU: – www.nasulg.org; August, 2006

Definition??

• None of these documents explicitly define the term…

• Accountability = Assessment?

• Online Chronicle of Higher Ed forum “Question from Frank Schmidt, U of Missouri-Columbia: Please define ‘accountability’ and give an example.”

Charles Miller (Spellings Comm. Chair):

• “I think of an accountability system as measuring the performance or outcomes of a system or institution, which contains consequences or results. Those consequences can include rewards and recognition, or penalties.” (Emphases added)

• Political Agenda? Industrial model? One size fits all?

Principles of Accountability

• Measure the value added by MU education

• Document strengths; drive improvement

• Quality improvement not simple-minded comparisons.

• Faculty-Driven

Instruments

• Professional licensing exams – already used• Open-Ended:

– College Learning Assessment (CLA) - AAC&U; RAND Corp.

• Objective: – Measure of Academic Proficiency and Progress

(MAPP) - ETS– Collegiate Assessment of Academic Proficiency

(CAAP) – ETS• Correlative:

– National Survey of Student Engagement (NSSE) – Indiana U and Pew Charitable Trust

Process

• System: Intercampus Faculty Council Working Group

• MU Faculty Council (Rex Campbell, Bill Lamberson)– Meetings are open to all faculty

• Unit Policy Committees

Questions

• WHAT do we want to measure?

• What are we doing NOW?

• HOW to use the measures to improve quality?

• schmidtf@missouri.edu