DECEMBER 2012
NEWSLETTER FROM THE OFFICE OF INSTITUTIONAL EFFECTIVENESS AND ASSESSMENT
After attending this year’s conference, Provost Dawkins
offered the following reflection: "My experience at SACS reaffirmed the
importance of accountability and effectiveness as we work to provide a quality
education for our students." As I thought about the increased emphasis on
institutions’ capacity to document their impact on General Education,
educational programs, faculty load and such, I realized that the accountability
movement will continue to evolve, especially in these lean economic times. It
is not going away, so we must align ourselves in ways that enable us to
effectively tell our own story.
Consequently, it is imperative that we become much more
vigilant in submitting materials as we understand whether our student learning
outcomes (SLO’s) are having the intended impact AND as we prepare for our SACS
Fifth-Year Interim Report. The following documents are very useful:
·
2012 Principles of Accreditation (http://sacscoc.org/pdf/2012PrinciplesOfAcreditation.pdf)
provides a list of all principles, very complete definitions and helps readers
to see the connections to their daily work.
·
2012 Resource Manual for the Principles of
Accreditation (http://sacscoc.org/pdf/Resource%20Manual.pdf)
lists all principles, but provides very clear examples of expected
documentation.
·
How to Become An Evaluator (http://sacscoc.org/pdf/commres/How%20to%20Become%20an%20Evaluator.pdf)
explains the role and importance of SACSCOC Evaluators, for anyone interested
in serving on a reaffirmation committee. This form must be signed by the
President. Anyone who has served on a committee can share that it is a very
collegial, eye-opening and productive experience.
INSTITUTIONAL
EFFECTIVENESS REPORTS WERE DUE DECEMBER 13, 2012
To date, I have no grids for Fall 2012 (reports are not due
until May 2013) and only the Department of Mass Communications has scheduled a
workshop. The assessment grid (academic and administrative) templates are
attached for your review and use. Feel free to contact me (until Wednesday of
this week) with any questions. I’d be more than happy to help.
STUDENT
EVALUATION OF FACULTY ENDS DECEMBER 20, 2012
Faculty members are reminded about the importance of
emailing your students repeatedly regarding their participation in the process.
Given the challenges with the process this semester, the reports will roll out
in several phases. Courses that received 5 or more responses during the first
run will receive their reports as grades are submitted. Other reports will be
part of a manual process and will take longer. I am preparing now to develop a
spring 2013 lab schedule, giving smaller classes the priority. Thank you for
your patience and support.
QUALITY
ENHANCEMENT PLAN (QEP) WORKSHOP: JANUARY 9, 2013 (SAVE THE DATE)
During our last meeting, the group agreed that we should
focus on the first three critical thinking indicators, given our students’
needs. In the interest of moving forward, we will discuss this in more detail
at the next QEP Workshop scheduled for Wednesday, January 9, 2013, from 8:30am
– 4:30pm. The workshop will focus on results from the Fall 2012 Integrated
Assignment and Collegiate Learning Assessment (CLA), along with the Spring 2012
NSSE results. We will also provide additional training on the Integrated
Assignment as well as the inter-rater exercise. As a reminder, all majors are
required to include a sophomore and junior-major course for inclusion in the
QEP (see attached template). Feel free to contact me with any questions or need
for support.
Dr. Carla L. Morelon
Director of Institutional
Effectiveness and Assessment
Interim Director of the Quality
Enhancement Plan (QEP)
Office: Rosenwald 203
Phone: 504.816.4165
2012-13
QEP Theme: “What could be the impact (social, political and economic) of the
Presidential Election on healthcare and gun control?”
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