Ready, Set, Go! Institutional Excellence through Ongoing Program Assessment Convocation Activities Central Virginia Community College August 16, 2012 Deborah Driscoll, Ph.D. Vice President for Institutional Effectiveness and Planning, Lynchburg College

Intro Issues in Higher Education Big Ideas in program assessment Clarify the purpose Measure what matters Use the results Your program

Role of Higher Education Educated Citizenry Economic Competitiveness Workforce Development Research and Innovation Individual Promise of Self-sufficiency Public Good

Chief Academic Officers at Public 2 year institutions: Top 5 challenges / issues 94% Improving retention and degree completions 89% Maintaining the quality of academic programs 89% Improving academic performance of underprepared students 76% Addressing budget shortfalls that affect academic programs and services 58% Supporting / nurturing junior faculty

Issues

Undergraduate Student Aid by Source and Type (in Billions), SOURCE: The College Board, Trends in Student Aid 2011, Figure 2A. Trends in Student Aid 2011, College Board

Cost Shifting American Institutes for Research- Delta Cost Project

Consumer Information College Navigator VCCS webpage – Fall CVCC enrollment headcount, 2763 FTE 73% of students are part time 40% in transfer programs, 23% in technical programs; 37% in unclassified

How are we meeting the call for accountability? External reporting – IPEDS and SCHEV 4 year institutions – Rankings FORBES Best Colleges: Methodology claim as built around what matters most to students: Quality of teaching Career prospects Completion rates Manageable debt

Teaching Learning Spellings Commission (2006) Reauthorization - Higher Education Opportunity Act All six regional accreditation bodies- SACSCOC American Association of Community Colleges Specialized accreditation

Aspen Institute College Excellence Program Completion Outcomes Labor Market Outcomes Learning Outcomes: Institutional practices and policies that result in strong and improving levels of student learning in courses, within programs, and college-wide level. Equitable Outcomes

CHEA Awards -- Effective Practice: Student Learning Outcomes 2012 Rio Salado College (AZ) 2011 Miami Dade College (FL) 2009 Delaware Technical & Community College,(DE) 2007 Mesa Community College, (AZ) 2006 The Community College of Baltimore County, (MD) Articulating expected outcomes for an institution, program or major. Providing evidence of success with regard to outcomes. Informing the public (constituents external to an institution) about expectations and success with regard to outcomes. Using outcomes for institutional improvement: evidence that outcomes have benefited the institution, program or major.

American Association of Community Colleges Voluntary Framework of Accountability “Lack of commonly accepted performance measures has often led to misperceptions and frequently an underestimation of community college effectiveness and contributions. It has also limited the ability of the institutions to identify problems and to set goals for improvement of outcomes.” Student Learning Outcomes included as a demonstration of quality

Excellence Quality Faculty and Staff Student learning and accomplishments Effective Programs and Services Completions Graduation Rates Cost-efficient delivery of services Mission accomplishment

Central Virginia Community College is an accessible, comprehensive, public, two-year, higher education institution that is dedicated to: Providing open, flexible, affordable, quality learning opportunities for personal growth and the acquisition of knowledge and skills necessary for productive and meaningful life, Providing general education, transfer, applied science, certificate, and diploma programs, Determining and addressing the training needs of business, industry, and government to benefit the service area, Supporting workforce and economic development through participation in regional organizations and training for new and/or expanding businesses. Providing support services for education, training, technology infrastructure, and workforce development.

Accreditation Southern Association of College and Schools Commission on Colleges Organization of peers Mission …quality assurance Reaffirmation every ten years “Principles of Accreditation: Foundation for Quality Enhancement”

Designing Courses for Significant Learning Retrieved on from

Your Program 1.3 Big Ideas 2.Situational factors – students

Institutional Effectiveness Educational programs ( ) The institution identifies… expected outcomes, to include student learning outcomes assesses the extent to which it achieves these outcomes, and provides evidence of improvement based on analysis of the results

Vocabulary Purpose & Goals Learning Outcomes Objectives

Accounting Operations, College Credit Certificate Manage business information using spreadsheet software. Prepare basic financial statements. Demonstrate effective business communication skills. Analyze business and financial information for internal decision making.

Your Program 1.3 Big Ideas 2.Situational factors – students 3.End of program: 3 ‘things’ students should know or be able to do 4.What student work will you examine to know how well students have reached the learning outcomes?

Plan Do CheckAct

Test or Survey All Public Bacc. Community College Private Bacc. For- Profit National Survey of Student Engagement or Community College Survey of Student Engagement 59.1%64.4%44.8%67.7%19.4% ETS Major Field Tests23.9%35.6%4.0%41.3%3.2% Collegiate Learning Assessment19.2%28.9%2.7%24.4%0.0% Collegiate Assessment of Academic Proficiency 15.8%17.8%18.9%12.1%3.2% ETS Proficiency Profile for General Education 8.9%17.8%3.5%13.0%12.9% College Senior Survey (UCLA)6.8%0.0%0.3%13.5%0.0% Source: Source: Survey of Academic VPs

Plan Mission & Goals Adjust Outcomes, Objectives, and Measures Do Implement activities Collect data for Measures Check Analyze results Note improvements and challenges Act Decide actions Complete report Implement actions

Learning Outcomes Assessment Focus on the purpose Create a meaningful process Assess to learn Keep it simple Emphasize analysis and use of results above all else Acknowledge that assessment is messy, imperfect, and always incomplete Celebrate good work Nunley, C., Bers, T, Manning, T. (July 2011). Learning Outcomes Assessment in Community Colleges. Occasional Paper #10, National Institute for Learning Outcomes Assessment

Ready Clarify purpose Determine Outcomes Design data collection Collect data Analyze results Make plans for improvement Implement action Go Set

Plan Do CheckAct

Aspen Prize Finalists Community College Excellence Lake Area Technical Institute, Watertown, SD Miami Dade College, Miami, Mississippi Gulf Coast Community College, Perkinston, MS Mott Community College, Flint, MI Northeast Iowa Community College-Calmar, Calmar, IA Santa Barbara City College, Santa Barbara, CA Southwest Texas Junior College, Uvalde, TX Valencia College, Orlando, FL Walla Walla Community College, Walla Walla, WA West Kentucky Community and Technical College, Paducah, KY

Examples of Program Learning Outcomes outcomes_AS.cfm outcomes_AS.cfm Valencia College – community college in Florida, 2011 winner of the Aspen Prize