BEYOND TESTING Strategies for Growing Testing Departments Lou Woodruff NCTA National Conference...

BEYOND TESTING

Strategies for Growing

Testing Departments

Lou Woodruff

NCTA National Conference

Friday, September 8, 2006

It seems

like we never

get out from under

the day to day

details

Help

But promoting the growth of our

testing programs often requires

us to move beyond the daily

demands of operating them.

This presentation offers some strategies

for moving beyond the daily demands

of running our testing departments . . .

to develop opportunities for positioning

ourselves and our departments for growth.

But promoting the growth of our

testing programs often requires

us to move beyond the daily

demands of operating them.

some of these ideas may

require investing more time

and some will work better in

one situation than in another

Among them you may find

an opportunity that fits!

Align withAgents of Change

On every campus there are individuals

who develop and lead new initiatives to

improve the teaching and learning, or

the overall well being of the institution.

They gain

the support of

the administration

and can actually shape

the Institution’s priorities

Find The Assessment Link

Within Each of Their Projects

Think Assessment – Not Just Testing

Then meet that need through your

expertise and testing resources

AcademicInitiativesAcademicInitiatives - Hybrid Courses

- Accelerated Learning Models

- Outcomes Based Education

- Modified Faculty Roles

- On-Line Learning Communities

Here are examples of initiatives with potential assessment

components that may be in progress on your campus:

InstitutionalInitiatives

InstitutionalInitiatives

- Accreditation Responses

- Retention Strategies

- Recruitment Activities

- Institutional Research Projects

- Advising and Career Planning

Here are examples of initiatives with potential assessment

components that may be in progress on your campus:

When it’s the right person & the right project

it pays off for both us and our Departments!!

People are usually genuinely grateful

when you offer to enhance their project

as long as they can retain the credit

and you take on any incremental work!


Play thePoliticalScene

Academic

Departments

Academic

Departments

The Faculty

Union

The Faculty

Union

Institutional

Research

Institutional

Research

Student Services

Departments

Student Services

Departments

Welfare to WorkInitiatives

Welfare to WorkInitiatives

Education Organizations

Education Organizations

BusinessCouncils

BusinessCouncils

Job Corps Programs

Job Corps Programs

Believeyou can!

and you will



Position with the PowerBrokers

This traditional view

can leave even the best

of us feeling powerless

Power on a campus is

most often associated

with authority and $$$

But power is a complex

phenomenon extending

beyond roles and dollars

Broader understandings

enable us to leverage the

power we actually have

Leveraging these qualities in building political relationships and

engaging “agents of change” on campus will expand your power!




Financesand

Face Validity

Increasingly, budget concerns

are driving decisions in every

area within Higher Education

Some Testing Departments

must support themselves

solely through revenue earned.The revenue earned by many

of us disappears into a black

hole called the General Fund!

And all of us will at some point

find ourselves trying to justify

the costs of what we are doing.

• Taking Credit for Your Revenue

• Managing Bottom Line Perceptions

• Telling Your Financial “Story”

• Controlling Your Budget Presentation

• Defining Your “Measures of Success”

The Following Slides Will Look At

Even if the General Fund takes it without reporting back to you• Taking Credit for Your Revenue• Taking Credit for Your Revenue For Tests For Which You Collect Revenue

Report what the General Fund should have received:

Test 1 Volume X

Test Fee =

Test 1 Revenue

Test 2 Volume X

Test Fee =

Test 2 Revenue

Etc.

RevenueGenerated

Take Credit for Your Revenue

Prepare Your Own Testing Revenue Report

• Taking Credit for Your Revenue For Tests Delivered Through Vendors

Whether P&P tests delivered on Saturdays

or computerized tests delivered daily . . .

Report all Honoraria as Revenue . . .

Honoraria paid is revenue, disbursed

to offset the expense of the work you

perform in support of your mission.

even if it is paid directly to a proctor!

Take Credit for Your Revenue

Prepare Your Own Testing Revenue Report

• Taking Credit for Your Revenue

• Managing Bottom Line Perceptions

• Telling Your Financial “Story”

• Controlling Your Budget Presentation

• Defining Your “Measures of Success”

Manage Bottom Line Perceptions

Tell “The Story”Tell “The Story” Every budget report

has a story to tell . . .

of drama, challenges,

initiative and victory

Every budget report

has a story to tell . . .

of drama, challenges,


There are opportunities to report success

even in the midst of great declines!

drama, challenges,



Tell “The Story”Tell “The Story”

Don’t rely on the

budget format from

your financial system

to deliver your message



Control the PresentationControl the Presentation

Use a reporting format

that supports all the

details of your storyTell “The Story”Tell “The Story”





Fixed Semi-Variable Variable

try to

maintainor reduce

use to

explainchanges

good for

shaping perceptions


Recurring costs

that stay about the

same each year

Costs that vary with

changes in volumes

or levels of services

Costs that vary with

some changes but

not with others




Define the “Measures of Success”Define the “Measures of Success”

Select measures

that frame the

facts as success

Traditional measures of success are OK

if your financials work well with them !

Plan Actual % Var$ Var LastYear

ExpenseCategory

Sub-Total

ExpenseCategory

Sub-Total

But if comparing your plan

to your actual, or this year

to last year, doesn’t paint

a positive enough picture . . .

Highlight Measures of Efficiency & ProductivityHighlight Measures of Efficiency & Productivity

How effectively you manage

your Operating ExpensesHow much work is

done by your staff

compared with

Staff Expenses

First, clean out your expense lines.

Show (non-staff) Operating Expenses

and (operational) Staff Expenses only.


Set Aside:

- Non-Operational Expenses

- Administrative Staff Costs

- Costs for Special Projects

- Test Purchases


Next, identify “Units of Measure”

taken from the work performed

within your area of responsibility.

Examples:

- Other Measures

- Test Volumes

- Scanning Volumes

- Service Hours


Align your Staff Expenses and

Operating Expenses with the

Units of Measures you identified.

Put each Unit of Measure together

with the Staff Expenses and

Operating Expenses associated

with it . . . into a formula to yield

your Staff Expense per Unit and

your Operating Expense per Unit.

Operating

$$ per Unit

Operating Expenses

Unit of Measure

Staff

$$ per Unit

Highlight Measures of Efficiency & ProductivityHighlight Measures of Efficiency & ProductivityEfficiency Productivity

Test Volumes

Scanning Volumes

Service Hours

Other Measures

Staff Expenses

Then compare each of your actual

$$ per units this year with what

was planned, or with what actually

happened the previous year.

Example: relates to relates to

If your Staff $$ per Unit has decreased

Your Productivity has gone up !!

If your Operating $$ per Unit has decreased

Your Efficiency has improved !!

Highlight Measures of Efficiency & ProductivityHighlight Measures of Efficiency & ProductivityEfficiency Productivity

• Tell “The Story” Behind the $$

• Control the Presentation

• Define Your “Measures of Success”

“Finances and Face Validity”(Review)




Financesand

Face Validity

Use YourValue Add

Your “Value Add” is the fuel

that protects your program

and promotes its growth . . .

But YOU cannot decide

what “Value Add”

you have to offer . . .

The “Value” that you “Add”

is determined by the needs

of those who receive it.

Stay alert to the many needs

you are meeting and those

still unmet . . . which represent

opportunities for enhancing

your “Value-Add” on campus.

focus on meetingthe needs ofothers

focus on meetingthe needs ofothers

identify needsthey didn’t realize

they had

identify needsthey didn’t realize

they hadcontinue to broadcast the value you add

continue to broadcast the value you add

On the Road to Value Add On the Road to Value Add

remember . . .

it’s all about the journey BeIntentional BeIntentional




Financesand

Face Validity

Using YourValue Add

MarketEverythingEvery Day

Marketing is a state of mind

that finds the opportunity

for shaping perceptions

in every moment

So what

should we

actually market?

Services Revenue

ConvenienceCustomerService

AcademicContribution Affiliations

ProfessionalStandards

CommunityInvolvement

Market Yourself

ProfessionalExpertise




Financesand

Face Validity

Using YourValue Add


EarningProphetStatus

They don’t really understand whattesting is all about.

They don’t really understand whattesting is all about !

Status in Academia is

earned

in part, through

demonstrated

expertise in your field.

However, some individuals on campus

may downplay your skills if they feel

there is nothing special about what

you do.

develop atesting mystique

develop a

testing mystique

speak about applying

national testing standards

reference affiliations with

with major test vendors

and test publishers

underscore your alliances

within academic affairs

highlight your partnerships

within student affairs

leverage your involvement in NCTA

be knowledgeable about

assessment issues that

impact higher education

Market Yourself as a Testing ProfessionalMarket Yourself as a Testing Professional




Financesand

Face Validity

Using YourValue Add


EarningProphetStatus

Skills SkillsDesireDesireOurOur Initiative Initiative

it is

Skills SkillsDesireDesireOurOur Initiative Initiative

it is

THAT WILL MOVE US BEYOND TESTING

TO IDENTIFY, DEVELOP AND IMPLEMENT

STRATEGIES FOR GROWING OUR OURSELVES,

OUR TESTING PROGRAMS, AND DEPARTMENTS

“It’s always better with a friend!”

For a copy of this

slide show contact

Lou Woodruff

[email protected]

BEYOND TESTING Strategies for Growing Testing Departments Lou Woodruff NCTA National Conference...

Documents

Transcript of BEYOND TESTING Strategies for Growing Testing Departments Lou Woodruff NCTA National Conference...