Assessment Plan For s1

Certificate in Civic Engagement

Educational Effectiveness

Assessment Plan

Version 2

For adoption by:

The Center for Community Engagement & Learning Council

Fall 2010

Submitted to

The Dean of the College of Health & Social Welfare: June 15, 2010

The Office of Academic Affairs: June 15, 2010

CHSW_CivicEngagement_Cert_Plan_6-15-10.doc Submitted 6/15/10 Page 1 of 20

Table of Contents

Introduction 3

Program Outcomes 4

Assessment Tools 5

Assessment Implementation & Analysis for Program Improvement 7

General Implementation Strategy 7

Data Analysis and Formulation of Recommendations for Program Improvement 7

Modification of the Assessment Plan 8

Appendix A: Capstone Project 8

Appendix B: Student Portfolio 9

Appendix C: Community Partner Evaluations______15

Introduction

This document defines the student learning outcomes for the Certificate in Civic Engagement, an academic program of the Center for Community Engagement & Learning in partnership with the College of Health and Social Welfare, and outlines a plan for assessing the achievement of the stated outcomes.

The development of the original objectives consisted of an iterative process through which Dr. Nancy Andes, Director of the Center, and Dr. Tracey Burke, Faculty Affiliate with the Center for 2005-06, exchanged ideas. They consulted regularly with Dr. Tom Miller, Vice-Provost for Academic Affairs, and occasionally with the “Dream Team,” the Center’s advisory board of faculty and community partners. The development of the assessment strategy built on Dr. Andes’ prior efforts to plan the assessment of the Center itself. The faculty and community partners comprising the Dream Team met and accepted the objectives and assessment processes on April 17, 2006.

This revised plan is based on the original created for the Certificate by Dr. Nancy Andes, Dr. Tracey Burke, and approved by the CCEL’s “Dream Team” (now simply called the CCEL Council). It incorporates the feedback from the summer review committee given to CHSW Dean Cheryl Easely in 2008, changes to curriculum, and input from faculty involved in the Certificate since its inception in 2007. This revision will be reviewed by the CCEL Council in Fall 2010. There have been no graduates in this Certificate, but this revised plan will be approved in time to use it for the first graduates in Spring 2011.

Program Outcomes

Students who earn the Certificate in Civic Engagement will achieve the outcomes of their majors and will be able to:

· demonstrate democratic skills, such as communication, problem-solving, and negotiation, necessary for addressing public problems at multiple levels

· apply critical thinking skills and empirical evidence to make judgments regarding public problems outside the classroom relating to human rights OR sustainability

· identify the disciplinary, societal, and cultural values that shape their own and others’ responses to human rights OR sustainability

· formulate actions toward solving concrete public problems affecting Alaskan, U.S. and international communities, with substantive emphases on ethics, as well as human rights OR sustainability

· evaluate the places, interests and competing demands of others within a human rights OR sustainability issue and consider ethical implications to addressing them from a community building OR public policy perspective

· articulate public uses of their education and civic engagement in their anticipated vocational and personal trajectories

· synthesize civic imagination and the abilities and needs of individuals, groups, and communities into a vision for the future

Assessment Tools

A description of the tools used in the assessment of the program objectives and their implementation are summarized in Table 1. The tools and their relationships to the program objectives are listed in Table 2.

There is a separate appendix for each tool that describes the factors that affect the results and give examples of the tools and how they will be implemented.

Table 1

Program Objectives Assessment Tools and Administration

Tool / Description / Frequency/ Start Date / Collection Method / Administered by
CEL 450 Capstone project / Final product of an individual project designed and implemented by student in consultation with instructor and community partner / Final semesters of program / Submitted as substantial part of grade / Instructor with community partner
Student portfolio / Collection of best and most provocative written and other materials produced through Certificate activities / Enrollment in program; ongoing / Materials added each semester / Cert. Chair & Portfolio Assessment committee
Community partner evaluations of students / Interview with key community informants, including student supervisors and agency administrators; closed- and open-ended questions regarding student and experience with Cert. staff / Within 2 months of the end of each semester the agency hosts students / In-person or phone interview / Cert. Chair

Table 2: Association of Assessment Tools to Program Objectives

0 = Tool is not used to measure the associated outcome.
.5 = Tool is used to indirectly measure the associated outcome.
1 = Tool is used to measure the associated outcome. / Capstone project / Portfolio / Comm. Partner interviews
demonstrate democratic skills, such as communication, problem-solving, and negotiation, necessary for addressing public problems at multiple levels / 1 / 1 / .5
apply critical thinking skills and empirical evidence to make judgments regarding public problems outside the classroom relating to human rights OR sustainability / 1 / 1 / .5
identify the disciplinary, societal, and cultural values that shape their own and others’ responses to human rights OR sustainability / 1 / 1 / .5
formulate actions toward solving concrete public problems affecting Alaskan, U.S. and international communities, with substantive emphases on ethics, as well as human rights OR sustainability / 1 / 1 / .5
evaluate the places, interests and competing demands of others within a human rights OR sustainability issue and consider ethical implications to addressing them from a community building OR public policy perspective / 1 / 1 / .5
articulate public uses of their education and civic engagement in their anticipated vocational and personal trajectories / 1 / 1 / .5
synthesize civic imagination and the abilities and needs of individuals, groups, and communities into a vision for the future / 1 / 1 / .5

Assessment Implementation & Analysis for Program Improvement

General Implementation Strategy

The Chair of the Certificate will oversee the implementation of the Outcomes Assessment Plan by the assessment coordinator. The Chair will be collect data for courses he/she instructs and will be assisted by the assessment coordinator and the Certificate affiliate faculty. The assessment coordinator is responsible for compiling, analyzing, and reporting on data.

Fall, 2010 – Summer, 2011:

Actually beginning before this time and continuing, capstone projects are assessed;

First cohort of graduates complete their portfolios;

Interviews with community partners who host/supervise Internship students;

All tools used regularly, as indicated in Table I, from here on.

Data Analysis and Formulation of Recommendations for Program Improvement

One CCEL Council meeting each year will be focused on assessment data and implications. The Certificate Chair must be present at this meeting when the assessment coordinator presents the assessment results. This meeting should result in recommendations for program changes that are designed to enhance student achievement of program objectives. The results of the data collection, an interpretation of the results, and the recommended programmatic changes are to be forwarded to the Dean of the CHSW, the Vice-Chancellor for Community Partnerships, and the Office of Academic Affairs by the end of May each year. A plan for implementing the recommended changes, including of advertising the changes to all the program’s stakeholders, will also be completed at this meeting.

The proposed programmatic changes may include any action or change in policy that the Chair & Council deems necessary, such as:

o changes in course content, scheduling, sequencing, prerequisites, delivery methods, etc.;

o changes in faculty/staff assignments;

o changes in advising methods and requirements.

Recommended changes should consider workload (faculty, staff, and students), budgetary, facilities, and other relevant constraints.

Modification of the Assessment Plan

The faculty, after reviewing the collected data and the processes used to collect it, may decide to alter the assessment plan. Changes may be made to any component of the plan, including the objectives, assessment tools, or any other aspect of the plan. The changes are to be approved by Certificate Chair and CCEL’s Council. The modified assessment plan is to be submitted online to the UAA Academic Assessment website by the required deadline.

Appendix A: Capstone project

Tool Description:

The Capstone course provides students an opportunity to bring together in a project of their own design the various knowledge, skills, and commitments developed through the Certificate experiences, their major studies, and General Education Requirements. It is anticipated that many students will ground their capstone projects in previous community-service learning internships. Each project will culminate in a product (e.g., report, paper, creative activity) of use to the community partner. Submitted to the instructor with each product will be a written overview describing the project’s origins, purpose and methods, evaluations of success, and reflections on both the process and attainment of GER outcomes.

Factors that affect the collected data:

The quality of the capstone project will be influenced by student factors such as ability to work independently and time available for the project, and partner factors such as time available for and experience with supervising students and organizational issues (e.g. start of new programs, staff stability). Because the course instructor will be integrally involved, such contextual factors will be documented and integrated into judgments about the relative success of the project.

How to interpret the data:

Depending on the project, the data drawn from both the product itself and the reflective introduction should document students’ achievement of outcomes, academic and civic program outcomes and GER outcomes in particular.

Instrument:

The product will vary with the project. It is anticipated that most will consist of written papers or research reports.

Appendix B: Student portfolios

Tool Description:

The Portfolio is the record of the student’s unfolding service, academic, and leadership experience. Recommended materials include, but are not limited to: Certificate and major combined plan of study, course syllabi, self-evaluations and reflections on learning experiences, letters of reference and other written feedback from faculty and community mentors, products created with and for community partners, and notes from meetings with the Certificate advisor.

Factors that affect the collected data:

The main factor affecting the quality of the portfolio contents as program data is level of expectation and feedback provided from individual instructors and community partners. In the interdisciplinary courses, for example, over which the Certificate has minimal authority, the level of insight required for reflection papers about the service-learning experience may be less than Certificate staff might prefer.

How to interpret the data:

Portfolios should provide insight into the evolution of students’ competencies in the identified domains. Because materials will be added over the course of at least four semesters, likely seven or more, they will include a natural baseline for measuring knowledge, skills, and attitudes, and will demonstrate areas of growth.

Instrument:

Each portfolio will include most of the elements listed above, as well as other elements chosen and designed by individual students.

Civic Engagement Certificate

Student Portfolio

What is the purpose of the portfolio?

The Civic Engagement Certificate Student Portfolio serves three purposes. First, it allows the certificate advisor to assess your progress in the program. Second, it allows certificate faculty to evaluate the success of the program as a whole, through looking at your experiences and learnings. Finally, and most importantly, it allows you, the student, to see your own growth through the certificate, and gives you a set of documents and artifacts that you can use in the future, as you seek employment, plan further studies, and continue as a contributing member of your local, state, national and global community.

What kinds of things should you include?

The portfolio should enable you to demonstrate your growth and learning through the certificate, and record your accomplishments. It must include the required documents and artifacts, but we also have suggested other items you may wish to add. You are welcome to add other pieces that you believe show both your learning and your impact through the program.

Required Items

· Program of Study

· Syllabi for all courses used to complete the certificate

· Narrative statement of how the Certificate complements your major degree and how your Certificate classes and related portfolio selections add up to a coherent whole.

· The following course-related items:

Class / Assignment or artifact
· CEL A292: Introduction to Civic Engagement / Civic Autobiography
· CEL A395: Civic Engagement Internship (or other internship) / Final synthesis paper
· CEL A395: Civic Engagement Internship (or other internship) / An artifact from the internship (project, paper, documentation such as photos or stories)
· Area Concentration Course: Human and civil rights or environmental sustainability / An artifact or paper demonstrating your learning related to the certificate
· Area Concentration Course: Community-building or public policy / An artifact or paper demonstrating your learning related to the certificate
· Area Concentration Course: Ethics / An artifact or paper demonstrating your learning related to the certificate
· CEL A450: Capstone (or other Capstone class) / Final reflection
· CEL A450: Capstone (or other Capstone class) / Final project/research paper

You should consult with the certificate advisor on which artifacts are most appropriate for inclusion for the internship and area concentration courses.