Dr. Neil Pagano is the Associate Dean for the School of Liberal Arts and Sciences at Columbia College in Chicago Came here(2/12/09)as an expert in assessment Cost effective way to educate a large cross section of the campus Offered info on what to expect during an accreditation visit.

Peer Review has changed the format – refer to the cream colored sheet Mindset: All members are generalists by nature, system thinkers Lot’s of roles: Critic Advisor Coach BOTTOM LINE: We’re going to pass Money is the primary reason for failure

If we’re going to spend this much time on writing an effective report – we might as well confirm that we’re using practices that insure we keep our strengths, meet our challenges, and address our weaknesses Need to go about our business systematically Insures follow up Insures documentation Keeps improvement process spiraling up

NOT JUST ABOUT STUDENT TESTING Assessment is the sum of all information that we gather and use to determine if we’re doing our jobs Everything we do needs tweaking now and again Stagnant organizations are ineffective Assessments are stored on the WEB site THE CHALLENGE IS: Managing large amounts of data from a variety of sources to get a clear picture Example: TRiO has Grant determined goals which we assess every year. We also work on internal goals to make sure we meet student needs Career Pathways and Student Support Services do similar assessments How do we meld the results to see if we meet the support needs for all students

This is what you do after you review the assessments (all information available and used to plan) Part of the assessment process is to add planning factors These include any information you may get that INDICATES that something about your baseline is going to change EXAMPLE: Were getting many more students signing up for the fall semester(200) at an earlier time than we’ve seen in the past Recent legislation has added money to education funds. Pell to increase to $5500/yr The local economy continues to decline PLANNING FACTOR: We should anticipate a full time student enrollment increase of at least 10%

More students means we need more: ……… Teachers? Staff? Maintenance? Student Support? Budgeting This part is tricky May require choices and compromises May drive finance sourcing decisions

This is often the most neglected Need to include a follow up action in your plan EXAMPLE (has both positives and challenges): Institutional Improvement Committee Meets regularly Diverse representation Lots of input (assessment) Recommends plans, actions, & follow up No budget commitments Follow up occurs Status is documented (THIS IS EVIDENCE!)

TRiO Rules Changes Transfer rates now based only on transfer to 4 yr institutions Based on Assessment - New Plans Required Transfer trips completely tailored to 4 yr transfers Follow up trips to key colleges/universities are taken – sometimes 2 t0 3 per semester Requires close coordination with transportation and finance

Follow Up Based on Evidence: After Action Reports Meeting Minutes Trip Evaluations Student Surveys Transfer Statistics Department of Education Regulations Annual Performance Report (APR) This evidence becomes part of your assessment/planning factors Now you’re ready for the next go around