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?
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