Senate Reference No. 02-6

TO: The Senate

FROM Educational Policy Committee

David Oberstar, Chair

DATE: April 15, 2002

SUBJECT: Task Force on General Education Assessment – report for information only

The Educational Policy Committee endorses the attached recommendation from Jeanette Clausen, the OAA Liaison to General Education, to form a task force to study the issue of assessing the general education program. The committee agrees that the need to respond to the concerns of the North Central Accreditation Association will be best served through this approach.

Approving Not Approving Absent

S. Davis N. Cothern

L. DeFonso S. Hannah

D. Oberstar Patrick McLaughlin (nonvoting)

R. Sedlmeyer L. Hite

Senate Reference No. 02-6

To: General Education Subcommittee

Educational Policy Committee

From: Jeanette Clausen, OAA Liaison to General Education

Date: January 30, 2002

Subj: Proposed Task Force on General Education Assessment

In its summer 2001 report, the North Central Accreditation Association identified several challenges for the IPFW General Education program:

1. the need to communicate more clearly to all constituents the philosophy and objectives of the GE program;

2. the need to improve the assessment of GE;

3. the need to ensure that each student=s GE experience includes a diversity component.

The NCA has requested a monitoring report by June 30, 2004.

In order to meet this deadline, I wish to recommend that a small task force be appointed to address challenge #2, GE assessment. Appointing a task force to study the issue of GE assessment and propose a meaningful assessment plan will free the GES to focus on challenge #1 and, in communication with the Diversity Leadership Team (which is already working on the issue of a diversity requirement for GE), on challenge #3 as well.

The task force on GE assessment should have representation from GES, EPC, A&S, and Assessment Council, and should include the General Education Liaison. Rationale:

$ appointing one GES member to the task force will allow for appropriate communication between the task force and the GES;

$ appointing one EPC member to the task force will provide a means to regularly update EPC on the progress of the task force and ensure that larger issues of educational policy are not overlooked;

$ representation from A&S is important because the majority of approved GE courses are from that school;

$ the Assessment Council should be represented on the task force to ensure that the GE assessment plan is consistent with other assessment plans on campus and to help identify opportunities to integrate departmental/program assessment plans and GE assessment.

Task Force Charge:

$ review models of GE assessment that are used for similar (menu-type) GE programs at other institutions and identify appropriate assessment tools that could be implemented at IPFW without extraordinary effort or expense.

$ develop assessment measures that are matched to the GE goals and objectives (SD 99-25), and pilot at least one measure no later than the fall 2002 semester

$ report twice each semester to GES, EPC, and Assessment Council

$ recommend a GE assessment plan to GES and EPC by January 2003

$ oversee the full implementation of the assessment plan and monitor the findings

$ prepare the GE assessment section of the monitoring report to NCA in late spring 2004.

It would be desirable for the task force members to attend a relevant conference or institute, in order to gain a broader perspective on the issues and exchange ideas with faculty who are facing similar challenges at other institutions.

If this proposal is acceptable to EPC and GES, a task force should be appointed by the VCAA as soon as feasible.