Report on the SUNY Council on Assessment (SCoA)
UFS Representative to SCoA: Janet Nepkie
177th Fall UFS Plenary Meeting
Hosted by SUNY Delhi
October 21, 2017
SUNY Council on Assessment
Appointed by the SUNY Provost in consultation with campus and faculty governance leaders, the Council's mission is to enhance the assessment of institutional effectiveness and student learning by building, leading, and supporting a SUNY‐wide assessment community that fosters collaboration, reduces duplication of effort and provides guidance and resources to campuses.
Members/Meetings: SCOA is composed of representatives from the various constituent groups across the SUNY Campuses and has a twice-per-year meeting schedule (January/June) at System Administration to continue its work on assessment education, identification of best practices, and outreach to SUNY’s 64 campuses. A membership list is included with this report.
1. Assessment Certificate Programs: Together with the SUNY Center for Professional Development, SCOA sponsors two on-line certificate programs. The two certificate programs are the Assessment of Learning Outcomes and Institutional Effectiveness.
Assessment of Learning Outcomes (ALO): During the 2016-17 academic year, 25 participants completed the Assessment of Learning Outcomes program
Institutional Effectiveness (IE): During the 2016-17 academic year, 20 participants completed the Institutional Effectiveness program
Here is the 2018 schedule for those courses. Registration will open in early November atsuny.edu/cpdcatalog
Assessment of Learning Outcomes (
1/2-2/12 - Course One: Assessment to Improve Teaching and Learning
2/13-3/26 - Course Two: Planning and Implementing an Assessment of Student Learning
3/27-5/7 - Course Three: Closing the Loop: Using Assessment Results for Improvement
5/22-7/2 - Course One:Assessment to Improve Teaching and Learning
8/28-10/8 - Course Two:Planning and Implementing an Assessment of Student Learning
10/9-11/19 - Course Three:Closing the Loop: Using Assessment Results for Improvement
Institutional Effectiveness (
1/2-2/12 - Course One: Introduction to Institutional Effectiveness
2/13-3/26 - Course Two: Research Methods for Institutional Effectiveness
3/27-5/7 - Course Three: Championing Change: Applying Institutional Effectiveness on Your Campus
5/22-7/2 - Course One:Introduction to Institutional Effectiveness
8/28-10/8 - Course Two:Research Methods for Institutional Effectiveness
10/9-11/19- Course Three:Championing Change:Applying Institutional Effectiveness on Your Campus
2. SCOA Assessment Leadership Program: Those who completed the IE and ALO programs were invited to apply for the SCOA Leadership program which will take place during the 2017-18 academic year. The purpose of the program is to provide mentorship to the participants as they propose, implement, and lead an assessment related project on their campus. We received 18 applications and accepted 16 of the applicants to participate in the program.
The first event was a workshop on September 14 which took place at two locations: one at the University at Buffalo and the other at Columbia Greene Community College. At this workshop, the participants received feedback on launching their initiative from mentors and fellow participants. Each candidate was assigned a mentor whom they can contact during the academic year for advice. There will also be an online platform in Blackboard which will allow for networking with other participants. In the spring, participants will present their results and discuss ways to continue their progress. At that time, SCOA plans to recognize them as Assessment Leaders. SCOA will build a list of these Assessment Leaders to serve as a resource, based on their area of expertise, for their own and other campuses seeking guidance in the areas of assessment and/or institutional effectiveness.
3. SCoA Drive-Ins:
SUNY Council on Assessment (SCOA) Regional Drive-In Events Fall 2017
Enhancing Excellence in Assessment:
Connecting the Dots: Mapping Learning Outcomes - ILOs, PLOs and CLOs
Dates/Locations:
October 10, 2017 – University at Buffalo, Buffalo, NY (sold out)
October 20, 2017 – Farmingdale State College, Farmingdale, NY
October 24, 2017 – Mohawk Valley Community College, Utica, NY
Time:9:30 am – 2:30 pm
Registration Fee (cost includes a light breakfast and lunch):
CPD MemberCampus $30 Non-CPD Member Campus$35 Other/Non SUNY Campus$50 (as space permits)
Offered in cooperation with SUNY Center for Professional Development.
Dr. Deborah Moeckel, SUNY System Administration, will discuss the process of mapping and how institutions can actively gain insights into gaps, absences, and redundancies in curriculum or instruction, programming and the obtainment of core objectives. Featured presenters will discuss examples of their experiences with mapping; highlighting the need for time to both create quality maps and units of study, and reviewing them for multiple purposes. To get the most benefit out of this session, participants are encouraged to bring their ILOs and relevant samples of PLOs and CLOs. Examples will also be provided. Attendees will work as active participants with a partner to better understand the process of revisiting, reviewing, aligning and revising curriculum maps, coupled with knowledge of the results of student assessments and teaching practices, which are at the heart of mapping.
The locations of the events are designed to accommodate a day’s travel for participants. Attendees from Non-SUNY Colleges, SUNY Community Colleges, SUNY Technology Colleges, SUNY Comprehensive Colleges and SUNY Doctoral Institutionsrange from faculty to Institutional Research and Assessment staff, as well as Administrators. Over 77% of the respondent attendees polled rated the program as “excellent” in “organization” and “selection of topic." Over 80% rated the conference “relevant to their campus” needs. Each conference participant received a “digital certificate of participation,” issued by SUNY Center for Professional Development. 2018 Drive-In meetings details will be available after the SCoA 2018 January meeting.
4. Rubric Project Group: Academic Program Rubric
a) The Rubric Project Group (RPG) completed the design of a program learning outcomes (PLO) meta-assessment rubric. The rubric is intended to be used to determine whether the approach to assessing academic program PLOs requires further development or is mature. The project was modeled on SCOA’s successful Institutional Effectiveness Assessment rubric. The rubric is also designed to help academic programs align their assessment efforts with the new Middle States (MSCHE) standards. The new standards place a stronger emphasis on the importance of assessing at the level of program learning outcomes and on the alignment of program and institutional learning outcomes.
b) The RPG began developing a rubric for Assessing Shared Governance at its January 2017 meeting and continued work on it at the June meeting. The attempt to design a rubric to assess shared governance represents a new direction in the application of rubrics to guide improvement within an institution. This project reflects the increased emphasis on governance in the new MSCHE standards. Its design will include the AAUP shared governance principle and will be consistent with New York State regulations addressing shared governance. Work on the design will include consultation with governance bodies in SUNY. The rubric is not being designed to promote any particular model of shared governance. It is being designed in the spirit of effective assessment, for use by institutions for their own self- improvement.
At this time, the draft for Assessing Shared Governance is in the first stage of development. It contains rubric areas for Participation, Decision Making and Communication, with subcategories for Governance Structure, Conflict of Interest, Responsibilities and a listing of Constituent Groups that are part of Shared Governance. The rubric is intended to be pertinent for several groups, including the Board of Trustees, President, Administration, Faculty and students. SCoA would be pleased to share information with UFS groups that have an interest in topics addressed by SCoA.
SCoA usesSUNY Workplace to share planning documents and assessment of events.
SCoA Leadership: Co-Chairs: Carol Vanzile-Tamsen from the University at Buffalo
Nicole Childrose from Columbia-Greene Community College.
Related Assessment sites:
SCoA Assessment Rubric for Institutional Effectiveness
SUNY Assessment
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