UPAC Minutes

11/18/16 12:30 to 2:00

Central 120

14Members in Attendance and 3 Members Missing

Maria Akrabova

Jenn Capps

Jim Drake

Nels Grevstad

Bernice Harris (till 1pm)

Jason Kolts

Brenden Kendall

Michael Kolts

Gretta Mincer

Mike Monsour

Margaret Puryear

Sanaa Riaz

Brandi Scott

Brian Sevier

The meeting began with Mike getting permission to audio tape the meetings from here on out. A promise was made that immediately after approval of the transcribed minutes the recording and any copy of the recording would be deleted. Everyone on UPAC agreed that it was ok to tape the meeting but one member had a little hesitation.

  • Minutes from the 11/4/16 meeting were approved and will be posted on the website.
  • Bernice Harris answered some questions from UPAC members. She stayed doing so for about 30 minutes. Listed below are some of the highlights of what she had to say.

As of Oct 1, Bernice has gone to .5 FTE and is focusing on HLC work. Chad Harris is taking over AVP responsibilities. Currently he is an Associate Dean in the College of Professional Studies. Sandra Haynes (Deputy Provost) and Vicki Golich are working on identifying someone to be interim AVP role as of January. Bernice will remain on GE council until January, when the interim will take over that responsibility. Bernice will retire at the end of April, 2017. Margaret Puryear will be with us through June, 2017.

We don’t know what our budget will be given the election.

“If there are particular needs that this assessment committee has for this year please let me know since I am not doing any traveling there is money “(direct BH quote)

There is money in budget for one time expenditures this year. There is money if we want to bring in a speaker. If we want a permanent budget we need to demonstrate need. Use the one time activities to document needs and value and then can use that information to argue for a permanent budget. We need to have a very clear sense of what we need money for, and document that. Money can be spent to bring in a speaker and for “assessment day” activities and lunch in the spring of 2017.

Mike reminded the group and Bernice that UPAC has a subcommittee for looking into assessment funds.

There was discussion about concerns focusing on the job description for the Director of Assessment of Student Learning Outcomes and the difficulty in hiring a person who has experience in both instructional and non-instructional assessment.

There is not a budget anywhere that Bernice is aware of to pay raters—the budget was not there when Bernice arrived, “it was pretty lean” as she put it.

Bernice also thought it would be a good idea for someone on UPAC to chair a committee to search for a replacement for Margaret Puryear (current Interim Director of Assessment of Student Learning Outcomes).

Margaret Puryear added some additional information about assessment budgets in general and ours in particular. Citing a study, she pointed out that the average university our size spends, on average, $259,000 a year on assessment.

Bernice suggest that this committee contact Michael Erskine about the RFP.

Bernice clarified that The “Office of Assessment of Student Learning Outcomes” referenced on the website refers only to the Director of Assessment of Student Learning outcomes who is also the primary liaison to the Chair of UPAC. We want the world to know that we have a physical location.

A UPAC member expressed a concern that in searching for a Director of Assessment of Student Learning Outcomes it might be difficult to find someone qualified in co-curricular AND academic unit assessment.

Another UPAC member mentioned that the minimum qualifications for the job description (for the Director position) had student services and academic instruction together. 95% of the applicants were eliminated because they did not meet the minimum qualifications which included a co-curricular background. The new search begins in January, the position to begin in the summer of 2017. A concern was expressed about limiting the minimum qualifications so that applicants with no co-curricular experience could apply.

Mike asked Bernice to give an update on UOTF meetings held on Nov 15 & Nov 17. There are now 9 outcomes and the committee is going to document ways in which we are already assessing the outcomes to present to General Studies committee and faculty senate.

  • Announcements from Mike:

Undergraduate Studies Directors Meeting: Brandi Scott was at the meeting and she summarized for UPAC the purpose of the meeting and Margaret’s & Mike’s brief role at the beginning of the meeting. Mike and Margaret assured them we were there to help and let them know a survey about their assessment practices was coming their way and we asked for them to participate.

  • The plan was for each subcommittee charge to be displayed on the flat screen, discussed, then voted on.

Thanks to Brenden, the first charge was brought up on the overhead, discussed, updated, and approved. “Assessing the Assessment Reports.” It was decided that all charges should be rewritten in present tense. The remaining 5 charges will be the focus of discussion in the Dec. 2 meeting.