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 Vol. 7, Issue 1         UNK Assessment October, 2010

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IN THIS ISSUE: 

 

 Assessment Strategic Plan 

 

 Student Affairs Assessment 

 

 E-Portfolios in Assessment 

 

 2009 IUPUI Presentation 

 

 Assessment Conferences 

 

 Online Resources 

 

 

 

Assessment Strategic Plan for 2010-2014 

 

In anticipation of the HLC Accreditation visit in 2013-14, the Office of Assessment has developed a Strategic Plan that outlines the requirements for student outcomes assessment at UNK over the next four years.  This plan ensures that all departments and programs on campus will have an assessment process in place that will meet all HLC requirements.

 

This Strategic Plan for Assessment at University of Nebraska Kearney (UNK) is based on input from the Advancement Section of the Higher Learning Commission’s feedback report from the focused visit in 2008, information on the expectations of the HLC for our next accreditation visit in 2014, and current practices in assessment in Higher Education in the U.S.  

 

The Plan covers three key areas for assessment including:

  •  General Studies Assessment
  •  Department Level Assessment
  •  Student Affairs Assessment

 

In the assessment of General Studies, the plan outlines the implementation of common assessment assignments and common rubrics over the next three semesters and the use of e-portfolios in all general studies courses to collect, analyze, and report GS assessment data.  The plan includes information on the continuing process to ensure all departments and academic programs on campus are collecting and reporting appropriate assessment data for their majors, have developed curriculum maps, and are inputting data and maps into WEAVEonline.  Since Student Affairs has only recently begun their student outcomes assessment process, these departments will be implementing an annual assessment process and streamlining the collection and reporting of their assessment data.

 

The complete Strategic Plan with details on each of these areas is available at:  http://www.unk.edu/uploadedFiles/academicaffairs/Assessment/Annual_Report/Assessment%20Strategic%20Plan.pdf 

 

Fall 2010 #1 

  

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  Systemizing Assessment Across Student Affairs  

Keri Pearson   

 

 

 

 

With funding provided by the Office of Assessment and the Division of Student Affairs, Academic Success Tutoring Assessment Coordinator Keri Pearson attended “Systemizing Assessment Across Student Affairs” in Scottsdale, Arizona on February 8 and 9, 2010. Approximately 50 people from Canada and the Midwest, southern, and northeastern United States attended to learn from three Student Affairs professionals.  

 

Keri brought back models of planning that will help ensure division assessment is closely tied to the vision of each department, as well as to the vision of Student Affairs as a whole. 

 

Currently, Student Affairs is developing its Strategic Plan and finalizing a Mission statement. These key documents can be connected to department learning outcomes within WEAVEonline. As discussed at the conference, these connections would, in turn, corroborate that student learning is fundamental to department and division goals.  

 

Further efforts to develop successful assessment procedures for the division may include creating an annual reporting template and data templates, incorporating Learning Reconsidered (edited by Richard Keeling) into staff training, and aligning division endeavors to data from the National Survey of Student Engagement (NSSE).  

 

Because Student Affairs is committed to providing outstanding resources for UNK students at any stage of their college experience, concerted assessment efforts throughout the division will serve the University-wide mission to cultivate lifelong learners. Accordingly, the knowledge shared at the conference will help these efforts be better researched, better organized, and more effective for the students served by UNK Student Affairs.  

 

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 Demonstrating and Assessing Student Learning with E-Portfolios 

George Lorenzo and John Ittelson 

Edited by Diane Oblinger 

 Fall 2010 #2 

Introduction 

An assessment e-portfolio is a “purposeful collection of student work designed to showcase a student’s progress toward and achievement of course-specific or other learning objectives.” Assessment e-portfolios house a variety of digital artifacts that represent a student’s learning.  These artifacts can include students’ self-reflection on their learning processes and experiences as well as instructors’, mentors’, and peers’ comments on what students have submitted.

 

Instructors who use assessment e-portfolios often create matrices with grading rubrics that measure the degree to which students have met specific learning outcomes or competencies.  These e-portfolios, along with grades, can be aggregated to evaluate the overall effectiveness of a curriculum.

 

Many implementations of assessment e-portfolios are available.  Following are brief assessment e-portfolio case studies from Rose-Hulman Institute of Technology, Alverno College, St. Olaf College, California Lutheran University, Portland State University, John Hopfins University, the Connecticut Distance Learning Consortium, and Indiana University—Purdue University Indianapolis.

 

To view these examples of e-portfolios go to: http://net.educause.edu/ir/library/pdf/ELI3003.pdf. 

  Fall 2010 #3 

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Addressing Critical Questions of Senior Administrators Using Online Tracking of Assessment and Accreditation 

 

Presentation at the 2009 IUPUI Assessment Institute 

Indianapolis, IN 

 

Presented by:  

Jeanne Butler, Ph.D. 

 

Assessment is typically used to answer questions about students’ achievement of learning outcomes in academic programs. However, centralized, online reporting of assessment data has allowed institutions to also address critical questions of their senior administrators. This session at the IUPUI Assessment Institute examined how online assessment tracking tools, like WEAVEonline, help answer questions related to accreditation, accountability, alignment, strategic planning, budgeting, and decision making.   

 

 Fall 2010 #4   The session included six critical questions frequently asked by senior administrators at academic institutions related to assessment and accreditation, and provided examples of how these questions can be answered using an online assessment reporting system.  The questions included:

 

  1. How do we ensure compliance with all the different accreditation requirements for student outcomes assessment? 
  2. How can we make our institution’s performance related to student learning transparent to stakeholders? 
  3. How do we identify where general education and other core learning outcomes are being introduced, reinforced, and evaluated? 
  4. How can we identify the costs of necessary curricular and other changes that are identified during the collection and reporting of assessment data? 
  5. How can we track implementation of our institution’s strategic plan through the department and program level?  
  6. Where can I access critical student and program performance data to use in decision making and reporting to others in the administration?
     

The complete presentation with the answers to these six questions can be accessed at: 

http://www.unk.edu/academicaffairs/assessment.aspx?id=43650. 

 

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 Upcoming Assessment Conferences 

 

The Office of Assessment sponsors travel stipends for faculty to attend conferences related to assessment of student learning. Funding is competitive, with preference given to faculty who are making a presentation related to assessment or faculty attending a conference or workshop on assessment. Applications should be submitted to the Director of Assessment, prior to the event. Awards will not be made after an event has occurred. Successful applicants will be asked to deliver their conference presentation or a topic related to the conference at a . 

 Fall 2010 #5 

 

  

 

Assessment Conferences 2010 – 2011 

 

Faculty can receive funding from the Office of Assessment to attend any of the conferences listed or other conferences in their field dealing with assessment.  The application for funding is at:  http://www.unk.edu/academicaffairs/assessment.aspx?id=32306

  

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 Online Assessment Resources 

 

  GS Learning Outcomes  

http://www.unk.edu/uploadedFiles/academicaffairs/Assessment/General_Studies/GS%20learning%20outcomes%20-%20GSC%20approved%2010-1-09.pdf 


Assessment of Your Portal Course  

http://www.unk.edu/uploadedFiles/academicaffairs/Assessment/General_Studies/Portal%20Assessment%20Orientation%20Session.ppt 


Common Portal Assessment Items  

http://www.unk.edu/uploadedFiles/academicaffairs/Assessment/General_Studies/Common%20Portal%20Assessment%20items%20for%20GS%20program.pdf 


Standardized Rubrics 
http://www.unk.edu/uploadedFiles/academicaffairs/Assessment/General_Studies/Common%20Rubrics.pdf   

  

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