Annual Report of the Committee on Assessment & Institutional Effectiveness - Annual Report 2020-2021

To: Steering Committee, Academic Senate

From: Chair, Committee on Assessment & Institutional Effectiveness

Date: June 1, 2021

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Membership/officers

Raul Armendariz (Physics, 2021), Thomas Byrnes (Admissions, 2023), Chukwudi Ikwueze (Social Sciences, 2022), Mi-Seon Kim (Library, 2021, co-Chair), Kevin Kolack (Chemistry, 2022, Secretary), Manuel Martinez (English, 2022), Amos Orlofsky (Biological Sciences and Geology, 2021, co-Chair), Barbara Rome (Nursing, 2023), Biao Wang (Math, 2023), TBA (student representatives)

Liaisons

Ian Beckford (Director of Policy Analysis for General Education, Center for Excellence in Teaching & Learning), Arthur Corradetti (Dean for Institutional Effectiveness, President's Liaison), Stephen Hammel (Committee on Committees designee), TBA (Steering Committee designee)

Committee Meeting Dates

September 23, 2020; October 21, 2020; November 18, 2020; December 16, 2020; February 17, 2021; March 10, 2021; April 14, 2021; May 12, 2021

Narrative summary of committee work

The Committee has promoted a culture of assessment on campus with regularly scheduled assessment of courses, designation of assessment committees/coordinators at the departmental level, improvement of the clarity of departmental reports, and contribution to the revised two new assessment templates. The Committee has reviewed the 2020 teaching department year-end reports based on two rubrics created by the Committee. Overall, it was found that department year-end reports are not consistent, especially lacking action plans and follow-ups. One of the accomplishments is that the Committee’s feedback has helped shape two new assessment templates, which we hope are implemented in the 2021-2022 academic year. It is recommended that the Committee refocus on overall assessment activities on campus, including non-teaching departments, as well as program review.

Committee Responses towards Steering Committee Charges

Reviews of 2020 Teaching Department Year-End Reports

• Based on the holistic rubric for teaching departments, 2020 year-end reports were reviewed by the Committee members including the departments of Art & Design, Biology & Geology, Engineering Technology, Foreign Languages & Literatures, Health, Physical Education & Dance, Engineering Technology, Chemistry, Physics, and Social Sciences. Two departments earned “Exemplary,” one was rated “Adequate,” and the rest of the departments received a “Needs Improvement.”
• An ongoing issue of teaching department year-end reports is that, despite a template, reporting is inconsistent because of a lack of understanding of what should be done and/or a lack of clarity of the format. Most reports fail to provide action plans as a follow up from the previous assessment.
• A few of the 2020 year-end reports were missing/delayed due to the pandemic.

Feedback for Revision of the Assessment Handbook

• The Committee members recommended that the departmental year-end report should have a concise template with clear guidelines because the existing template is too vague and confuses faculty members who write the reports.
• The Committee’s feedback on the templates in the assessment handbook led to the creation of two brief new templates with clear guidelines: one for departmental reports and one for assessments.

The Committee’s Initiative

• Coordination with Departmental Assessment Groups: The Committee tried to form a direct link to the faculty members that are involved in assessment. Each department chair was contacted and asked to identify assessment group members for us to contact.
• The Committee invited faculty members involved in assessment to attend a Committee meeting, and three members accepted the Committee’s invitation: Franca Ferrari-Bridger (Speech), Gabriel Lataianu (Social Sciences), and Scott Litroff (Music).
• The Committee members would love to receive annual feedback from the Senate Steering Committee and the Provost regarding our annual reports. The efforts would be much more impactful to campus assessment groups if the recommendations made by the Committee are delivered to each department and result in operable actions.

Recommendations for Next Academic Year

• A suggestion was made to enhance the visibility of the Committee’s annual reports by sending a copy to the Senate Steering Committee and the Provost and by presenting the reports at the Senate meeting before the summer break.
• The Committee needs to have a plan to fulfill its charge of reporting on all assessment activities on campus. It should include teaching and non-teaching departments as well as program review.

New Committee Members – newly elected Chair and Secretary

1. Urszula Golebiewska (Biology), Renee Rhodd (Transfer Resource Center), and Mark Ulrich (Business) were appointed to the Committee for terms to end in 2024.
2. Chair: motion to elect Urszula Golebiewska and Chukwudi Ikwueze as co-chairs (unopposed); unanimously approved.
3. Secretary: motion to elect Kevin Kolack (unopposed); unanimously approved.

Respectfully Submitted,
Mi-Seon Kim, co-Chair; Amos Orlofsky, co-Chair; Kevin Kolack, Secretary