1. Jennifer Reeves, Ph.D., Barbara Packer-Muti, Ed.D., & Candace Lacey, Ph.D. Nova Southeastern University Ft Lauderdale, FL

2. History and Background Purpose and Goals Collaboration Development Initial questions Input from all constituents Additional Questions and Accreditation Issues Final Approval Pilot Test Survey Implementation

3. Nova Southeastern University (NSU) Facts: The largest independent institution of higher education in the Southeast and 6 th largest in the nation Accredited by SACS Awards associate’s, bachelor’s, master’s, specialist, doctoral, and first-professional degrees in a wide range of fields. 14 academic centers with over 28,000 students (and 60,000 “active” alumni)

4. The desire to be preeminent and the push from accrediting bodies has led NSU to establish an Academic Review process. Assessment of Student Learning Outcomes: History and Background of Program Graduation Requirements, Rates and Persistence Assessment Plan and Results on Student Learning Comparison of Student Achievement by Location and/or Modality Follow-Up of Graduates of the Program Strategies for Improving Student Learning

5. Purpose Consistency for ASLO Minimize survey fatigue Increase response rate Include input and expertise across centers Measure longitudinal trends Goals Focus on learning outcomes in the program Keep to 15 minutes

6. Four different proposals Performa Higher Education Small task force administrators (2), researchers (2), faculty (1), alumni development officer (1)

7. Started with questions from Performa’s database (over 400) previous ASLO reports Educational Testing Service (ETS) Grouped questions (e.g., satisfaction, curriculum, faculty, academic support, etc.) Removed duplicates those not directly related to learning outcomes

8. Deans appointed representative(s) Task force individually rank ordered questions using a rubric Questions with highest ratings were included in the initial draft Performa developed the electronic survey with the 24 questions

9. Multiple meetings with reps to review and provide feedback on verbiage, organization, and sequence. After 17 drafts(!) the core questions were finalized and approved.

10. Up to 6 additional center-specific questions Presented a problem for some 21 different professional accreditation bodies (not including SACS) across the University. Individual programs had separate surveys to collect the necessary information for accreditation. It was decided each program/school could include as many additional questions as they needed Center-specific and in some cases, program-specific (wide range, 0 – 32)!

11. Performa finalized the electronic survey to include all questions. The survey was forwarded for final approval.

12. Approximately 25 alumni (1-3 from each center). Participants were asked: How long did it take? Were any questions confusing or difficult to understand? Any changes?

13. Survey should be sent from the director of the program (NOT Performa or President) more personable results will be valued Include definitions for buttons in survey (e.g., next) Make it clear answering about most recent degree program (as some have earned 3 degrees). Verbiage suggestions

14. Feedback/suggestions from pilot were reviewed and implemented. Final surveys were sent to all constituents for final approval Alumni Outcomes Questionnaire will be disseminated (by Performa) to all alumni February 2010. Future questionnaires disseminated annually with all alumni (possibly)

15. Jennifer Reeves, jennreev@nova.edujennreev@nova.edu Barbara Packer-Muti, packerb@nova.edupackerb@nova.edu Candace Lacey, lacey@nova.edulacey@nova.edu Performa Higher Education Ryan Morabito, rmorabito@performahe.comrmorabito@performahe.com Senior Consultant, Director of Marketing http://www.performahe.com/