Welcome to the…

Interim Vice President of Academic Affairs

Why "clean house"? It’s a good time to check in Many departments and programs have made improvements to assessment— ensure they’re represented Many departments and programs have experienced changes—ensure plan reflects what’s current Forthcoming changes from NWCCU warrant attention now

Overview of Summit Update on proposed NWCCU changes Review of assessment plans Review of assessment reports Worktime If you make changes now and would like to forward copies, that’s great; all corrections and updating should absolutely appear on fall 2009 submissions

Interim Associate Vice President of Academic Affairs

NWCCU: What is Being Proposed? 2003 Standards – Focused on Function Proposed New Standards  Standard One – Mission, Core Themes, Goals and Outcomes  Standard Two – Resources and Capacity  Standard Three – Planning and Implementation  Standard Four – Effectiveness and Improvement  Standard Five – Mission Fulfillment, Sustainability, Adaptation

Proposed Revisions to NWCCU Standards Impact on CSN  Strategic Planning for institution  Define who we are – core themes  Define goals of achievement  Define intended outcomes  Define assessable indicators of achievement

Proposed Revisions to NWCCU Standards Impact on CSN  Breaking down silos across institution  Begin to articulate who we are  What are we all about  How can we measure performance  How can we report performance

Proposed Revisions to NWCCU Standards Timeline for implementation  July 2009 – Board of Commissioners review draft of new standards  Fall 2009 – Regional meetings  December 2009 – Vote of member institutions  January 2010 – Ratification of new standards  2011 – Implementation  Fall 2011 – CSN first report due on Standard One

What’s the plan for CSN? Adoption of mission, vision and values statement – Board of Regents approved April 2009 Strategic Planning Initiative – Fall 2009 Get involved Keep assessing

Purpose The purpose of the Assessment Plan is to document, in a summary, the active goals and outcomes for a department or program, as well as how those outcomes will be measured (the plan to measure) and how the results will be reviewed (plan to review and use); Ultimately it should provide meaningful information to aid operations and improvement Should be a document that captures all measurement and evaluation for department or program Should be current and organic—evolve the plan Should be coherent and logical to an outsider The Plan has 5 columns…

Program Mission Expected content:  Statement of the mission of your department or the specific program area The mission of the Medical Laboratory Technician Program is to provide learning experiences that allow students to acquire theory, and develop laboratory skills necessary to operate skillfully in a clinical laboratory setting. The mission of the Program is consistent with and supports the specific mission of the College of Southern Nevada as related to Applied Science and Technology programs; to provide programs necessary for the development of technical and occupational skills needed for immediate and meaningful employment.  Add an explanation of how you link to/support NEW CSN Mission (available at Strategic Planning Website)

Program Goals Expected content:  Statement of the specific objectives of your department or particular program when working with various stakeholders (should clearly link to Mission, and should be able to design measurable outcomes that clearly link to goals) The Medical Laboratory Technician Program will provide students with the knowledge and skill sets necessary to work in all areas of the clinical laboratory. These areas include but are not limited to Urinalysis and Body Fluids, Clinical Microbiology, Clinical Chemistry, Hematology, Immunohematology and Phlebotomy.

Program Outcomes State the desired and measurable end result of specific activities administered by department or program Needs to include all types of outcomes being measured: learning, programmatic, and climate

Outcomes Defined Learning outcomes  Focus on the specific transferable skills that students can expect to develop and take away  should be framed from stakeholder perspective Programmatic outcomes  Focus on what the department or program hopes to deliver to stakeholders, often based in needs/satisfaction  can be framed from department/program or stakeholder perspective

Outcomes Examples Learning: Students will be able to--  demonstrate the basics of journalistic writing for the various forms of media (Comm—Journalism)  Analyze and interpret data problems associated with employment (Math) Programmatic:  Employers will report satisfaction with the skills of CSN Paralegal Program Graduates that they employ

Assessment Methods How the outcome is being measured Expected content:  The measure (could be direct or indirect; e.g. test, instructor observation in lab, employer survey, etc.)  The standard for success (include BOTH the minimum and also the target, e.g. All students pursuing an AS degree with an emphasis in Mathematics will achieve a minimum of 70% and goal of 90% correct on an in class or proctored environment, multiple choice quiz that will assess mastery of concepts )  When, where and how is the data being collected (e.g. The cumulative quiz will be administered at the end of the semester in all Calculus II courses; if the method relates to a specific intervention e.g. a class, a workshop, etc. state that)

Assessment Methods, continued Example: All students pursuing an AS degree with an emphasis in Mathematics will achieve a minimum of 70% correct on an in class or proctored environment, multiple choice quiz that will assess mastery of concepts. The cumulative quiz will be administered at the end of the semester in all Calculus II courses.

Assessment Implementation A.k.a.: Plan to review data Who is doing this review, when does the review happen, and with whom are the findings shared It does not document specifics about data collection—those go in the method column  Annually each spring, the Program Director will review all documents collected and analyze results for outcome attainment. Results will be shared with Department Chair and Office of Assessment. (Travel & Tourism)

Purpose The purpose of the assessment report is to document, as a summary, the outcomes measured, what you learned and what could account for those findings (Results & Analysis), with whom you are sharing this information (Dissemination) and what steps you are taking to improve your department or program based on these findings (Improvement) Although the summary provides a bird’s-eye explanation, the reader should still possess a basic understanding upon completion; together, the plan and report should “tell your story”

Purpose, continued… The report should be a summary that is coherent and makes sense to an outsider—additional details can be attached as support documents Results should be unique to particular methods employed and report specific summary data (not all of it)--report positive findings and areas that may be deficient—it’s okay Definitely account for confounds, anomalies etc. that may have led to the results obtained and contextualize! Improvement column should state a specific plan including timeframe for corrective action; also use this to document other planning steps you’re taking that may not be data driven but are important for overall program improvement that will be measured in the future (e.g. because of changes to industry standards, improvements to equipment used by students in the lab practicum will be upgraded in academic year 08-09) The Report has four columns…

Measurable Outcomes These are documented identically to what you indicated on the Assessment Plan If you added outcomes during the year and measured them, add them add the bottom of the column

Results and Analysis Documents findings and accounts for them if necessary; if outcomes were not measured for some reason, indicate that and why Should provide specific data highlights unique to each outcome and method, noting the standard for success and what was attained, and include other important findings too; It should be clear what results and analysis align with particular outcomes Should be a complete snapshot of your results, understandable by outsiders Should be changing each year--this is not a copy/paste opportunity

Dissemination Simply, what is your plan to share these results Document those who would always receive it (staff and faculty you might work with, Office of Assessment, Student Affairs staff you may work with) Think about and begin to share with other important stakeholders (e.g. students via website, donors, KC Brekken and NewsWeb and other CSN PR outlets)

Improvement States your plan, with specifics, for enhancing operations and products Include who is acting, what the action is, and a timeline for this action—plan to review these results and document progress on next year’s report Use this as an opportunity to document other improvements “in the works” that will impact stakeholders, will be measurable yet may not presently be “data driven” based on these findings

With others from your department, or with others from similar departments or programs, review your plans and reports to ensure all expected content appears, refine wording, and to ensure all measured outcomes are documented and that all methods used are documented

Deadlines and Resources October 1 annually is the deadline for electronic receipt of all assessment reports for the prior academic year and plans for the forthcoming year See the Office of Resource Development & Assessment Website for help (quicklinks: “grants” then “assessment” then see box at lower right) Contact Diane for help ( or