Senate
(Amends SD 98-22)
(Amended and Approved,
TO: Fort
Wayne Senate
FROM: Educational
Policy Committee
Linda
Hite, Chair
DATE
SUBJECT: Revisions
to SD 98-22 (The Plan for the Assessment of Student Academic Achievement)
DISPOSITION To the presiding officer for implementation
WHEREAS, Assessment Council has
recommended changes (see attached memo from J. Clausen) to SD 98-22; and
WHEREAS, The proposed changes support
improvement of assessment of general education and improved implementation of
current assessment policy and procedures; and
WHEREAS, The proposed changes have been
reviewed by school representatives and found acceptable;
THEREFORE BE IT RESOLVED, That the Senate
revise Senate Document SD 98-22 (The Plan for the Assessment of Student
Academic Achievement) to reflect the recommended changes.
To: Educational
Policy Committee
From: Jeanette
Clausen, 2001-02 Assessment Council Chair
Date:
Subj: Recommended
changes to SD 98-22: The Plan for Assessment of Student Academic Achievement
The IPFW Assessment Council and the Task
Force on General Education Assessment are recommending several amendments to SD
98-22. The amendments are described
below and indicated in the attached copy of SD 98-22 (text to be deleted is in strikeout;
text to be added is in bold). We
ask the Educational Policy Committee to endorse our recommendations and to
forward the document to the Senate for approval.
1. Revision
of the section on General Education Assessment. One of the recommendations from the North
Central Association last year was that IPFW improve its assessment of General
Education (GE). The previous GE
assessment measures consisted of student surveys. The limitations of this approach were that
the measures are indirect rather than direct, and that because the surveys were
administered in courses approved for the respective GE areas, the impression
was created that we were measuring courses rather than program goals. The Task Force on GE Assessment has
recommended general principles of GE assessment to replace the GE assessment
measures described in the current document. The principles provide a framework
to guide the Task Force and the General Education Subcommittee in developing a
meaningful approach to GE Assessment.
2. The
Council recommends changes in the membership and role of the Assessment Council. The purpose of the recommended changes is to
promote fuller implementation of SD 98-22, which states in section IV. B. 1:
Each
school/division assembles the departmental reports, monitors departmental
completion of the plans for assessment, evaluates departmental analysis of
results, guides the process of changing the program so that goals will be
achieved, and considers whether changes in the assessment plan are needed in
order to provide better evidence of achievement. 2. Each school and division
develops a report on its review and incorporates its own comments and
recommendations. With the concurrence of the dean or director, the school/division
report is forwarded to the Assessment Council by November 15 of each year.
The proposed changes in the membership and
role of the Assessment Council are:
a) Redefine the Assessment Council to consist of
the individuals responsible for school-level review of assessment reports from
departments/programs. These individuals should be tenured faculty appointed by
the deans. Depending on school practice,
the individual might be an associate dean, the chair of the school’s assessment
committee, or hold a similar position.
b) All school representatives should use the
same format and criteria for evaluating department/program assessment reports
and should report the results of their reviews back to their
departments/programs as well as to the VCAA (through the Assessment Director).
c) The restructured Assessment Council should
meet regularly to compare assessment across school lines and prepare an annual
report with recommendations to the VCAA and deans.
3. The
Council also recommends changes to the Assessment Calendar.
The deadline for reports from schools/divisions to reach the Assessment
Council (November 15) does not seem consistent with a substantive review at the
school level. Therefore, we propose the
following:
November 1: reports from
departments/programs due to school representatives
January 15: school-level reviews of
department/program reports are sent to departments and to the Assessment
Director
February/March: Assessment Director
convenes the Assessment Council to discuss successes, concerns, etc. and to
formulate recommendations to the VCAA and Deans.
May 1: Assessment Council Annual Report
submitted to VCAA, deans, and EPC.
Questions about this document should be
addressed to Jeanette Clausen or Steve Sarratore.
Senate
(Amends Senate Document SD 98-22)
(Amended and Approved,
Senate Document SD 98-22
Supersedes SD 92-7
Supersedes SD 94-13
(Approved, 4/12/1999)
(Amended,
(Amended,
THE PLAN FOR THE
ASSESSMENT
OF STUDENT ACADEMIC
ACHIEVEMENT
March, 1999
TABLE OF CONTENTS
I. Introduction..................................................................................... 1
II.
III. The IPFW
Assessment Plan............................................................. 2
IV. Annual
Reports............................................................................... 4
V. Administration
of the Plan................................................................. 5
VI. The
Assessment Council.................................................................. 6
VII. Appendices..................................................................................... 6
The Plan for the
Assessment
of Student Academic
Achievement
I. INTRODUCTION
The plan for assessing and documenting student academic
achievement that follows is the result of enabling legislation adopted by the
Fort Wayne Senate (SD 92-7), November 9, 1992, upon recommendation of the
Educational Policy Committee. The
legislation provided for the establishment of a Steering Committee for Assessment
of Student Academic Achievement (SCASAA) with representation from each of the
schools/divisions of IPFW, Student Academic Counseling Services (now
Academic Counseling and Career Services), and the Office of the Vice
Chancellor for Academic Affairs; provided guidelines to the committee for developing
an institution-wide plan consistent with the mission of Indiana
University-Purdue University Fort Wayne and accreditation Criterion III of the
Commission on Institutions of Higher Education of the North Central Association
of Colleges and Schools; and, in addition, provided for submission of the plan,
including administration of the plan, to the Senate for approval.
This implementation of the plan for assessment of student
academic achievement was further defined in SD 94-13, which was adopted
The assessment plan described in this document reflects
experience with implementation of assessment measures, procedures adopted by
the Assessment Council, an update to the plan for assessment of the General
Education program, and other changes. As
a result, it provides a consolidated description of current policies and
procedures, and it will also serve as a baseline for the continued improvement
of the assessment plan.
II.
Assessment plans are designed to evaluate whether the goals of
the general education program, and of the respective certificate and degree
programs, are being achieved. The goals of the general education program, and
of each certificate and degree program, have been approved separately by the
Fort Wayne Senate. Review of mission
and goals is periodically undertaken by schools, divisions, and departments,
culminating in Senate approval of any revisions.
Conclusions about the
achievement of program goals, obtained through assessment of student academic
achievement, are expected to lead to improvement of academic programs and
greater success in achieving program goals.
III. THE IPFW ASSESSMENT PLAN
The IPFW assessment plan focuses on two primary areas:
assessment of student academic achievement in general education and assessment
of student academic achievement in the majors.
A. General
Education
The general-education portion of the plan provides for
documenting achievement in each part of the general education program, i.e. the
foundation skills, the knowledge domains, creative and artistic
expression, and the advanced study component inquiry and analysis.
1. General
Education Assessment Measures Principles
The following measures of student academic achievement
will be used in assessing the success of the general education program in
meeting its goals:
a. Measures of student academic achievement
in General Education will be selected and implemented according to generally
recognized best practices in general-education assessment.
b. The assessment plan will be designed to
measure program goals, not the goals of individual courses.
c. To ensure a reasonable degree of consistency
across departments and schools,
a. Course
Approval Process
all courses to be included in the General Education
program will be approved by the General Education Subcommittee based on the
criteria approved by the IPFW Senate in SD 99-25. To ensure continuity, the GES will
periodically conduct a review of approved courses.
d. The
General Education Assessment Plan and its administration will be consistent
with the General Standards for Assessment Plans outlined in III.B.1. below, and
with the principles of assessment enumerated in Appendix B.
b. Student
Surveys
Students
in the knowledge domain areas will be asked to complete a survey about the
particular course and the General Education program. Students in Area II and III courses will be
surveyed in odd-numbered academic years, and students in Area IV and V courses
in the alternate years.
c. Faculty
Surveys
Faculty teaching Area VI courses
will be asked to complete a survey about student preparation for their
particular course.
d. Student
Performance Report
The Subcommittee will
analyze student grade data and summarized results by course and area.
2. Responsibility
for Assessment
Development, administration, and interpretation of
all assessment measures will be the responsibility of the General Education
Subcommittee.
3. Annual Reports
The General Education Subcommittee will prepare an
annual report for the Assessment Council and the Educational Policy Committee.
The report will describe the assessment measures and summarize findings about
student academic achievement in the General Education program. The report will also describe conclusions and
actions based on these findings about achievement of the goals of the General
Education program.
B. Degree and
Certificate Programs
Assessment plans for
degree and certificate programs describe the means used to assess and document
student academic achievement in each of the academic majors at IPFW. Further, the plans describe the processes
used to reach conclusions about whether the goals for the program are being
achieved. The focus of the assessment is
on the goals of the program, rather than the achievement of the student in
completing the requirements of the program.
1. General
Standards for Assessment Plans
a. Departments and divisions will develop a plan for each
certificate, associate,
baccalaureate, and master's degree/major/concentration that
has unique goals.
b. Measures
of student academic achievement will be selected and applied to promote
confidence in the evidence they yield.
To that end, every assessment plan will utilize multiple measures of
student learning, and each measure will involve evaluations beyond those of
course instructors.
c. Measures
of student academic achievement will include an interim measure, an internal
measure at or after the time of graduation, and an external measure at or after
the time of graduation. However, interim measures of progress are not required
for certificate or master's degree programs, and are optional for associate degree programs,
unless required by accrediting bodies.
Examples of measures in each category are shown in Appendix C.
d. The
description of each measure will include a description of how the assessment
measure will be conducted, the scope (all students/graduates, a random sample,
etc.), the frequency (every term, annually, every two years, etc.) and who is
responsible for conducting it, assembling the data, and reaching conclusions.
e. Measures
will be based on courses which are already being taught or on other
requirements, such as portfolios, which have already been incorporated into
requirements for the degree or certificate program.
f. Each
assessment plan will describe the process that will be used to reach
conclusions from assessment data about whether program goals are being
achieved.
g. Each
assessment plan will identify the process for making changes in the program,
based on conclusions from assessment data, which are expected to improve
student achievement of the goals.
h. Each
assessment plan will be structured to address all of the goals of the program.
i. Each assessment
plan will include a process for reviewing the success of the plan in
identifying needs for program improvement and the frequency of review of the
plan.
j. Assessment plans and updates to these
plans must be approved by the
school/division and then by the Assessment Council.
2. Responsibility
for Assessment of the Majors
Development, validation, and interpretation of the
assessment plans, administration of the measures, and analysis of the results
of measuring student academic achievement will be the responsibility of the
unit (usually a department) that offers the program.
IV. Annual Reports
The annual reports, prepared by the department/division/program
and by the school, summarize the efforts to assess student academic achievement
and to respond to the findings.
A. Department/division/program reports
1. The report
should describe the assessment activities completed during the previous year
and described in the assessment plan for each program sponsored by the unit.
2. For each
program, the report should describe findings from the assessment activities.
3. For each
program, the report should describe conclusions about the achievement of
program goals based on the findings.
4. For each
program, the report should describe actions that will be taken to improve the
program based on these conclusions.
5. The report
should be completed by the deadline established by the school/division or,
in the case of programs that do not report through a school, the deadline
established by the Assessment Council.
B. The school report
1. Each
school/division then assembles the departmental reports, monitors departmental
completion of the plans for assessment, evaluates departmental analysis of
results, guides the process of changing the program so that goals will be
achieved, and considers
whether changes in the assessment plan are needed in order to provide better
evidence of achievement. The
recommendations from the school-level review are forwarded to the respective departments/programs.
2. Each school and
division develops a report on its review and incorporates its own comments and
recommendations. With the concurrence of
the dean or director, the school/division report is forwarded to the Assessment
Council by November 15 January 15 of each year.
V. ADMINISTRATION
OF THE PLAN
A. Purpose
The administration of the plan for assessment of student
academic achievement includes monitoring
compliance with the provisions of the IPFW assessment plan, reviewing the
translation of assessment data into improved academic achievement in general
education and in the academic majors, and proposing revisions in the campus,
General Education, and program assessment plans as experience and changing
academic goals warrant.
B. Responsibility
1. Responsibility
for establishment of a plan for the assessment of student academic achievement
belongs to the Fort Wayne Senate.
2. Responsibility
for the administration of the campus plan for the assessment of student
academic achievement belongs to the Vice Chancellor for Academic Affairs and is
assigned by the Vice Chancellor to a staff member (Director of
Assessment) of the Office of Academic Affairs, who shall be advised by
an Assessment Council.
3. Responsibility
for the school assessment plan belongs to the dean, through the governance
processes of the school.
4. Responsibility
for the department/division/program assessment plan belongs to the
chair/director, through the governance processes of the department/division.
VI. The Assessment Council
A. Responsibilities
The
council shall review the annual assessment reports of the General Education
Subcommittee, and of the schools/divisions, and departments
and of any programs that do not report through a school, and shall
recommend to the Vice Chancellor whether each is acceptable. Based upon the
review, the council shall also make recommendations to the Vice Chancellor, the
Educational Policy Committee, schools and divisions, or other university
committees and councils, as appropriate. The Recommendations to
the EPC should relate to how the assessment plan should be amended and recommendations
to the VCAA should relate to how IPFW should allocate resources in the
short- and long-term to advance student academic achievement.
Recommendations
to schools/divisions and to departments/programs that do not report through a
school should address possibilities for enhancing the units’ assessment
activities. In addition, the council shall incorporate
its findings and recommendations in an annual report through the Educational
Policy Committee to the Fort Wayne Senate about the status of the assessment of
student academic achievement and its effectiveness in improving student
learning.
B. Composition
The Assessment Council
shall consist of eleven members: the Director of
Assessment, who will chair the Council,; the Academic
Affairs staff member designated by the VCAA,; the chair of
the General Education Subcommittee,; two from the School of
Arts and Sciences, and one each from the Schools/Divisions of Arts and
Sciences; Business and Management Sciences; Education; Engineering,
Technology, and Computer Science; Fine Visual and Performing
Arts; Health Sciences; and Public and Environmental Affairs. The
school/division members shall be faculty with responsibility for assessment
in their departments or schools, selected for renewable three-year terms by the
unit’s preferred procedures.
VII. APPENDICES
APPENDIX A. North Central
Association Standards for Assessment of Student Academic Achievement
1. The plan is linked to
the mission, goals, and objectives of the institution for student learning and
academic achievement, including learning in general education and in the major.
IPFW, a comprehensive university, is composed of eight
academic schools and divisions and a division of student academic
counseling and career services, each with a different academic
mission. Accordingly, the assessment
plan is decentralized to a significant degree.
Responsibility for defining academic missions, goals, and objectives and
the corresponding plans for assessing student academic achievement in the
majors devolves upon the schools/divisions and the departments. Consequently, each academic unit is charged
with demonstrating the link between its mission and its assessment plan.
Responsibility for defining the goals and objectives of general
education and the corresponding plan for assessing student academic achievement
in general education devolves upon the General Education Subcommittee.
2. The faculty have
participated in the development of the institution's plan, and the plan is
institution-wide in conceptualization and scope.
The IPFW plan for documenting student academic achievement is
the result of enabling legislation adopted by the Fort Wayne Senate upon
recommendation of the Educational Policy Committee, and the plan has been
approved by the Senate. The original
plan was devised by the Steering Committee for Assessment of Student Academic
Achievement (SCASAA), a steering committee authorized by Senate legislation
with representation from each of the schools/divisions, Student Academic
Counseling Services, and the Office of the Vice Chancellor for Academic
Affairs. Subsequent IPFW Senate
legislation established an Assessment Council as the successor to SCASAA.
Plans for assessing achievement in the majors originated at
the department level and were submitted via established school/division
governance procedures. Plans for
assessing achievement in general education originated with the General
Education Subcommittee.
All plans were evaluated under guidelines developed by
SCASAA and refined by the Assessment Council.
The guidelines for plans for assessing student academic achievement in
the major specify that each plan must include an internal means of assessment
at exit, an external means of assessment at exit, and, for most programs, an
interim (progress in program) means of assessment. Similar guidelines for the plan for assessing
achievement in general education embody the core principles of multiple
measures and continuous assessment.
3. The
assessment program will lead to institutional improvement when it is implemented.
Every major plan and the general education plan provide for
the collection and analysis of information yielded by multiple measures; for
the revision of goals and program content, for the improvement of student
learning; for regular review of the assessment plans; and for reporting and
review of findings and actions through school/division channels to the
Assessment Council. The Assessment
Council is charged with monitoring the plan and evaluating its success.
4. The timeline for the
assessment program is appropriate and realistic.
The original program was scheduled for phased implementation
beginning in Spring 1994. Subsequent steps in the implementation plan allowed
sufficient time for development and administration of the various parts of the
plan.
5. The plan provides for
appropriate administration of the assessment program.
The provisions for administration reflect the culture and
traditions of governance and administration at IPFW. Responsibility for the plan is assigned to
the Vice Chancellor for Academic Affairs with delegation of responsibility to
provide for decision-making at the appropriate level, maintenance of the
program, and evaluation within a large and academically decentralized
institution.
APPENDIX B. IPFW Principles of Assessment
The IPFW plan for the
assessment of student academic achievement is based upon the principles of
assessment established by the North Central Association, principles of sound
research methodology, and principles of educational and administrative
philosophy that are part of the traditions of the institution. The principles have guided the construction
of the plan, are embedded in the administration of the plan, and will guide
changes to reflect knowledge gained from assessment and changes in policies and
circumstances at the institution.
The underlying
principles are:
1. The plan is linked to
the mission, goals, and objectives of the institution.
2. The plan is
institution-wide in conceptualization and scope.
3. The plan is designed to
foster institutional improvement, benefiting both students and programs through
intentional linkages between program goals and efforts to improve students'
achievement of those goals.
4. The plan is designed to
ensure institutional improvement and to improve the assessment plan itself.
5. The data and
conclusions generated through assessment are intended to improve programs
rather than evaluate individual students.
6. The tasks of
developing, administering, and improving the components of the assessment
program are delegated to the unit best qualified to consider each component of
the plan.
7. Faculty responsibility
for assessment is ensured by intentional linkages between the plan and the
institution's established patterns of governance and administration.
8. The assessment plan is
coordinated with related ongoing institutional practices that promote learning,
such as program review and accreditation.
9. The assessment plan
requires multiple measures of student academic achievement in order to overcome
the limitations of any single source of evidence about achievement.
10. The assessment plan is
considered to be dynamic rather than fixed.
Experience with assessment and the effectiveness of the plan will lead
to modifications by units of their plans.
APPENDIX C. EXAMPLES OF ASSESSMENT MEASURES
1. Examples of Interim
Measures
a. Review for
admission to an advanced stage of the program
b. Achievement in
courses with prerequisites, linked to program goals
c. Portfolio reviews
d. Curriculum
embedded measures, linked to program goals
e. Mid-program
examinations
2. Examples of Internal
Measures at or after Graduation
a. Comprehensive
examinations
b. Senior papers,
design projects, or juried performances
c. Portfolio reviews
d. Capstone course
measures, linked to program goals
3. Examples of External
Measures at or after Graduation
a. Evaluations of
achievement conducted by visitors
b. Performance on
licensing, certification, and registration examinations
c. Performance on
standardized examinations
d. Graduate and
alumni evaluations of achievement of program goals
e. Employer
evaluations of achievement of program goals and of preparation of graduates
f. Graduate and
professional school acceptance rates
APPENDIX D. CURRENT PROCEDURES USED BY THE ASSESSMENT
COUNCIL TO
The Assessment Council
process for review of school and division annual assessment reports is based on
a form which considers the degree to which the report includes evidence of
completion of assessment measures, findings based on the measures, evidence
about conclusions based on the findings, and evidence that the conclusions have
led to actions to improve the program(s).
The form also provides an opportunity for Council comments on the
assessment activities and the department/division report of these
activities. The process used by the
Council may change without affecting the IPFW assessment plan and without any
need for subsequent Senate action. A
sample of the worksheet used for this purpose is attached for information only.
APPENDIX D., Continued
SAMPLE OF ASSESSMENT COUNCIL WORKSHEET
USED FOR REVIEW OF SCHOOL/DIVISION/DEPARTMENT
ANNUAL ASSESSMENT REPORTS
DEPARTMENT:
|
Assessment
Report for: |
|||
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All measures
completed? |
Y N
NA |
|
|
|
Measures linked to
program goals? |
Y N
|
|
|
|
Findings:
sufficient data in summarized form? |
Y N
NA |
|
|
|
Conclusions based
on data? |
Y N
NA |
|
|
|
Are assessment
results being used for improvement and/or to document the current program’s
success? |
Y N
NA |
|
|
|
Prior year
recommendations implemented? |
Y N
NA |
|
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|
Other: |
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Summary statement |
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COMMENTS: