The Assessment Committee

Workshop for

College of the Redwoods

Fred Trapp

August 18, 2008

Composition

• Primarily faculty leaders

• Administrative & educational support personnel

• Supported by– Office charged with

coordinating/facilitating implementation of assessment activities

Selection of Members

• Based on personal interest and representation

• Committed to the teaching and learning process

• Mid-level administrative and educational support personnel

• Cycled through on a three-year rotation

Committee Chair

• Ideally a faculty member• Ideally from the liberal arts or

humanities disciplines– Most often these faculty are the most

skeptical regarding assessment work

• The goal is to ease some faculty concerns regarding the assessment process and academic integrity

Committee Functions

• Policy guidance– Use of results

– Access to assessment information

– What is a program for assessment purposes?

– Where are admin & educational support units located?

– Timeline or schedule for implementation• Follow up to check compliance

– Who, how and when is feedback provided to the program/unit re: their assessment work?

See the AAHE 9 Principles of Good Practice Handout

Committee Functions

• Constituent representation

• Leadership training as a committee– Implementation coordinator help here

• Coaching colleagues to do assessment– Implementation coordinator help here

Committee Functions

• Quality assurance– Review and critique assessment

plans relative to its assessment merits

– Review and critique assessment reports relative to its assessment merits

See your program review flow charts

Comment Sheet Topics

• Plan– Relationship to mission shown– Statement of intended educational

outcomes– Means of assessment & criteria for success

• Report– Assessment results– Use of assessment results

See the rating sheet for details

Support

• Central administration– Letters of appreciation– Public recognition– Professional and clerical support– Appoint someone, accountable to

senior management, to coordinate implementation

Coordinator

• Respect of the faculty• Ability to work independently• Numeric capability (not a stranger to

data, but not a “number cruncher”)• Commonly

– Faculty member– Institutional researcher– Associate/assistant chief academic officer

Coordinator Duties

• Lead the process & people involved in assessment– Set and monitor the timeline

• Provide technical and support services– Walking faculty through implementation

activities– Facilitate, not do it for them– Support survey research and any broad-

scale exam administration– Develop a knowledge base re assessment

Unit Leadership

• Ascertain what is to be accomplished• Determine what support is available to

the unit• Schedule meetings• Ask for faculty, member input• Assign tasks• Avoid procrastination• Do not do the work for the group• Function as recorder