Husson University Institutional Assessment Plan
A comprehensive institutional system of assessment for all programs and departments
November14, 2014
Outline
I. Introduction
II. Culture of Assessment
III. The Mission, Goals, and Values of the University
IV. Institutional Student Learning Outcomes
V. Assessment at Husson
VI. Conclusion
Appendices
Appendix A: Timelines for Full Review by Assessment Committee
I. Introduction
Husson University is a private institution of post-secondary education offering undergraduate and graduate degrees in business, health, education, and science and humanities. Husson dedicates itself to excellence in teaching and a personalized collegiate experience. To reach our goals we must make sure our students are learning and achieving success in the classroom, in their programs, outside of class, and eventually in their professional careers.
The traditional programs for Husson extend to its founding as a School of Business in 1898. Programs first diversified into Health with the merger of the Eastern Maine Medical Center School of Nursing. Occupational and Physical Therapy augmented the Health Offerings. Programs in Elementary Education began in the School of Science and Humanities, but are now part of the School of Education which is within the College of Health and Education. Offerings in Paralegal and Criminal Justice have been folded into the College of Business. Science and Humanities have developed strong offerings in Psychology, the natural and physical sciences, and English. The University also offers a variety of Master’s programs in Business, Counseling, Education, Human Relations, and Health Careprofessions. The University now offers two professional doctorates. The first is Physical Therapy. The School of Pharmacy adds a second professional doctorate. In the fall of 2014 the New England School of Communications became the newest addition to the University, adding Bachelor of Science programs in Communications Technology, Media Studies, and Entertainment Production.
Much of the energy for enhancing educational quality comes from programs subject to licensing and specialized accreditation. Hosting the DPT and PharmD requires the university community to respond to and learn from the expectations of those programs. Individual programs have also taken the lead in developing and administering assessment tools. The University strives toward a more coordinated effort to coalesce these programmatic assessments. With a new president, a new mission, and a new focus and energy we are ready to implement a university wide assessment plan.
II. Culture of Assessment
To have a successful assessment program all parties must be involved. The program must be university supported and have an ongoing mechanism for encouragement, evaluation and improvement of the assessment process itself. Thus, we are growing and will continue to grow a culture of assessment here at Husson. Though a few departments have successfully been assessing themselves for years for outside accreditation groups, there has not been an expectation of assessment in terms of student learning. The assumption was that faculty members knew how to teach well and knew what should be taught, so students must be learning. The start of our self- study report in the spring of 2011 provided us with the opportunity to put assessment on the forefront of everyone’s mind. Committees were formed for each NEASC standard and they included employees from all over the university. Each committee had to face the issue of assessment and where Husson was at in regards to their standard. In addition we held a vision retreat, open to all faculty members, administrators, board members, and invited alumni and students, which focused on critical thinking and assessment. This led to follow up sessions on teaching and assessment. In August of 2013 faculty attended an assessment workshop as part of Faculty Development Days. This was followed up by additional assessment workshops and official time periods set aside for assessment meetings in May of 2014 and August of 2014.
To help implement the plan we created an Outcomes Assessment committee to assist the Director of Institutional Research and the Director of Assessment in guiding and supporting each program and department through the assessment process, to monitor their activities and provide feedback on their reports. The committees will provide help sessions to educate staff and faculty so that they can complete their assigned assessment tasks and understand the importance of these activities in reaching the goals of the university.
Our assessment plan is guided by the following principles.
1. The purpose of the assessment plan is to assess, verify, support and enhance the ability of the university to carry out its mission.
2. Assessment will help us insure quality in our degrees and programs.
3. Assessment will help us make better informed decisions using data.
4. Meaningful assessment of student learning requires clearly articulated institutional, departmental and individual course outcomes.
5. The success of the plan depends upon the support and participation and collaboration of all faculty, staff and administrators.
6. The success of the plan depends upon logistical, technical and financial support as well as adequate resources.
7. Assessment activities will be ongoing and include a variety of methods and results will be shared and incorporated into future plans.
III. The Mission of the University
The current mission of Husson University was approved in the summer of 2011. “Husson inspires and prepares students for professional careers in current and emerging fields in the context of an education informed by the sciences and humanities. We achieve this career preparation by supporting and emphasizing:
· Outstanding teaching
· Scholarly contributions to one's discipline or field of expertise.
· An undergraduate and graduate curriculum that is challenging, relevant, and promotes critical thinking skills, self-confidence and strong communication skills.
· Commitment to ethical behavior and social responsibility through involvement in the world by faculty and students, administrators and staff, board members, and involved citizenship as a university.
· Lifelong learning to prepare students professionally and personally for the challenges of a constantly changing world.
· A diverse cultural and global perspective achieved through student development and experiential learning opportunities that reinforces our commitment to a strong academic community.
· Careful management and stewardship of University resources”
To achieve this mission Husson’s strategic plan incorporates four separate initiatives each with a set of action items to be assessed over time. The four initiatives are delivering educational excellence, strengthening university resources, enriching community engagement, and integrating student life. Under each initiative is a list of action items to be completed over a span of years. An update on the status of these actions items is conducted each year and concludes with a yearly assessment report.
IV. Institutional Student Learning Outcomes
At Husson we have student level outcomes at the university wide level down to the course level. To assess how well our students reach these outcomes we assess them at the course-level, at the program- level, and with surveys aimed at all students during their years at Husson and at the 1-year follow-up. Our general education program aims at creating students who are ethical, critical thinkers with a global awareness of the world around them, who can communicate their professional competence as they become aware of their part in this world. Our course level and general education outcomes support our program level outcomes which in turn support our school level outcomes which in turn support our mission to inspire and prepare students for professional careers in current and emerging fields in the context of an education informed by the sciences and humanities. Our collaborative spirit enriches our abilities to see our students as one whole as well as individuals with different goals and needs depending on their chosen major. Thus, our student learning outcomes build upon each other to help create an all-around student.
V. Assessment at Husson
An important step in assessment is documenting the process by which programs, courses and course material evolve and how they are assessed, as well as how service and support departments are organized and assessed. By documenting this process we can improve our abilities to better meet students learning needs and we can demonstrate how these student outcomes are met. As a complete assessment of programs, schools and departments is a new concept to many at Husson the following lays out, in phases, the tasks that need to be completed in order to assess our classes, programs, schools, support departments and overall university in regards to how well we educate and prepare our students for their professional careers. The primary end products resulting from these tasks will include summarized data documenting how well we achieved our student learning and student support outcomes and reports summarizing the process, the findings and the plan of action for each program, school, student services and support department.
The underpinning assessment principles
The approach to assessment in this plan is driven by a number of beliefs about effective assessment. These beliefs are as follows:
1. Clear goals and outcomes
Goals and outcomes must support the mission of the program or department, the University’s mission and be meaningful, manageable and measurable.
2. Authenticity and value
Assessment tasks should reflect and develop the skills that students will need in their university studies and in their professional practice. If assessment is perceived by students to be authentic, it is more likely to be valued. If not, it is likely to be confusing to students and perceived as irrelevant. Service and support departments’ objectives should reflect what is necessary and realistic to help students succeed.
3. Fairness and objectivity
Many theories of human motivation stress the importance of perceived equity and fairness. As student work is to be assessed against objective criteria, it is important that these requirements be clearly spelled out in the assessment details given to students. As a program’s or department’s work is assessed, it is important that feedback is received from all affected parties and reviewed in context.
4. Efficiency and practicality
Assessment of student learning should occur regularly and continuously. Assessment is formative in nature and may be used to inform instruction as well as measure student learning. Conducting assessment of student learning when students are at these various points allows departments, and programs to measure progress toward the objectives more completely. However, keep it simple and focus on one goal at each time point and incorporate data, tools and ideas that are already in use if they are appropriate. Remember that goals and outcomes may change over time and all goals need to be part of the whole university so engage faculty and students in the assessment progress.
Logistical Framework
To put this assessment model into place and have it work we must design and implement procedures to carry it out at all levels. We need a logistical framework to guide implementation and management of the assessment process. This section describes our current framework.
The assessment model used can be summarized in the schematic below.
The implementation of this model will be conducted in phases. Some phases will overlap in time as work can be done concurrently. Steps to complete each phase are identified where applicable.
Phase 1: Creation of Committees Done: Fall 2012
Create Academic Outcomes Assessment committee that will be in charge of assuring that every program has measurable outcomes and has mapped them; that mechanisms and infrastructure are in place for collecting assessment data and then analyzing it to assess learning outcomes; to provide feedback on such endeavors and help with communication of findings.
Phase 2: Finalize University Assessment Plan and Resource Manuals Done: May 2014
Step 1: Finalize Draft of University Wide Assessment Plan and Resource Manuals with committees
Step 2: Circulate the drafts among all faculty and management, collect feedback and then finalize the assessment plan. Plan will be revisited each year and adjusted as necessary.
Step 3: Post the plan and the manual on the Institutional Research’s websiteOctober, 2014
Phase 3: List of goals and outcomes and Mapping of to show alignment across program/department and institution Dates: 9/13 - 8/14
Purpose:To show that all goals work towards meeting the mission of the university and that all courses, programs and departments are aligned to increase student learning and success and where that learning takes place.
Steps – may vary depending on whether a course, program or department. Nonacademic departments follow Steps 1, 5 and 6.
1. Define course goals and program goals or department goals. Create measurable outcomes to support each goal. Learning outcomes should be meaningful, manageable and measurable.
2. Mapping: Align course goals with program goals
3. Demonstrate how students attain program goals through course completions (identify for course whether each goal is Introduced, Practiced, or Attained)
4. Mapping: Align program goals with school goals
5. Align goals with program or department mission statement and the University’s mission statement
6. All goals need to be on Husson’s website and for academics, listed in the University Catalog
Phase 4: Creation of Guidelines and Tutorials on Different Parts of Assessment
1. Create IR website: 2014
2. Post Guidelines and TutorialsSummer 2014
3. Share with faculty and staff at department meetings and Faculty Forum2014 - 15
Phase 5: List of assessment tools for each outcome Dates: 9/2013- 8/2015
Purpose: Create assessment tools to assess each outcome in order to show whether goals attained.
Task: complete assessment form(s) to identify how each outcome will be assessed, see Appendix C.
Background Information:
A goal is only as good as the measurement tool that is used. Evidence of student learning should be collected through both direct and indirect methods. The combination of the two allow for a more comprehensive view of what students have learned and how they have learned it. Each program and department will be assessed with at least two direct and two indirect measurements and at least one measurement must include a trustworthy external perspective.
The following definitions come from the NEASC Commission on Institution of Higher Education’s Self-Study Guide.
Direct methods reveal student attainment of knowledge, abilities, skills, attitudes, and values.
Indirect methods gather the perceptions of students and others about what students have learned, and opinions and reflections about the teaching and learning process as well as indications of what factors affect student learning.
Examples of direct and indirect measurements of STUDENT LEARNING:
Direct Indirect
Course assignments Student surveys, focus groups
Standardized tests Exit surveys and interviews
Pre and post-tests Alumni and employer surveys
Essay tests across programs uniformly graded % go on to graduate school, job placement
Internships: supervisor surveys Participation rate in internships/enrichment
Passing rates on licensure exams Performance in professional competitions
Portfolios Retention and transfer rates
The Guiding Principles of Assessment of Student Learning
●Assessments measure students' attainment of learning outcomes.
●Assessments measure the level of student success.
●There should be a connection between the way students learn the material and the way they are tested on it.
●Assessments should be varied.
●Assessments include formal and informal evaluations.
●Students should know the evaluation plan at the beginning of a course.
Examples of direct and indirect measurements of successful SERVICE AND SUPPORT DEPARTMENTS.
Direct Indirect
Usage reports in-house student satisfaction surveys
% receiving financial aid National surveys (CIRP, NSSE)
% students who pay back loans interviews from in-house colleagues
Employment rates
Self-evaluation reports
Once a cycle of data has been collected on each assessment tool than outcomes and goals can be reassessed, as well as reassess the measurement tool.
Phase 6: For every department and program: Identify which program goal(s)s will be assessed during the next academic year (fall –summer) and during that year collect and analyze data using the assessment tools described in Phase 5 to assess performance
Purpose: Only by collecting data and documenting what we see can we actually prove whether our goals are met.
Every year every program should be assessing at least one outcome from a given goal, but preferably at least 1-2 outcomes from 2 different goals or they will not be ready for a full review every 3 years. You cannot wait and just collect data once every 3 years. Assessment is continuous. Follow a plan that is doable and not a burden. Plan to target a few outcomes every year and then you will be able to assess all goals and thus the whole program after a few years.
Phase 7: At end of data collection period, review results and assess what is working and what needs to be changed and document this in a written summary report
Purpose: Bringing members together across a department or program to discuss data analysis and experiences, gives everyone a chance to see the results of past changes, successes and failure, and the opportunity to help plan the future direction of their department or program.
Each June a short summary of the assessment activities of each program is to be uploaded to the University Assessment Google site.For spring 2015 these reports will be voluntary.
Faculty who do not belong to a specified department with a coordinator or director will be responsible for the General Education report.
The Annual Program Reports will provide a summary of the assessment activities over the past year and what was learned from those activities. The report should include, but is not limited to, the following:
- program mission statement
- program goals for the previous year
- program’s student learning outcomes and identify which ones assessed
- summary of which learning outcomes assessed and results of student progression
- summary of how each goal was met or not met and why
- program goal’s for coming year
- program learning outcomes that will be assessed during coming year
Student Service or Support Department’s Annual Assessment Reports are due in July and should be comprised of, but not limited to, the following: