1. Michael T. Stephenson
Ginger Carney
George Cunningham
Jon Kotinek
Leroy Dorsey
Alicia M. Dorsey

2. https://youtu.be/eq70Lziph9M

3. Aggies Commit SACSCOC QEP Builds on Institutional History
Culture of Commitment
Intentionality

4. Aggies Commit
…to create a culture that makes intentional and thoughtful engagement in transformative learning experiences the norm for all A&M students.

5. Aggies Commit
Focus on integrative and lifelong learning achieved through intentional engagement in high-impact learning experiences
A flexible, college/branch campus-based implementation process
Our QEP calls for –
The students to make a commitment to purposefully engage in high impact learning experiences and thoughtfully reflect on their learning experiences in order to develop the habits and skills for integrative learning and lifelong learning
the institution to create a campus culture with opportunities and support for student engagement and reflection

6. Aggies Commit
Student learning goal: develop habits and skills for integrative and/or lifelong learning
Integrative learning: connections to experience and discipline; transfer; integrated communication; self-assessment
Lifelong learning: curiosity, initiative, independence, transfer, reflection

7. Aggies Commit
Institutional goal: provide supportive environment for achievement of student learning goal
$8M Reallocation
Coordination
Assessment

8. Aggies Commit Implementation plan
Identify SLO(s), articulate the connection to integrative learning and/or lifelong learning
Strengthen/develop high impact learning experience(s)
Provide effective advising and mentoring
Identify meaningful partnership with co-curricular units
Elicit individual student commitment and reflection
Assess achievement

9. Integrative & Lifelong Learning
QEP Theme
Develop Global Competence
Undergrad SLO
Study Abroad
High Impact Practice
Assessment
GPI, Reflections

11. Aggies Commit How do you “pass the test”?
How do you create culture change?
How do you decentralize an institutional initiative?
How do you take HIPs to scale?

13. Curricular and Co-Curricular
Ginger Carney, Science
George Cunningham, Education & Human Development
Leroy Dorsey, Liberal Arts
Jon Kotinek, Honors & Undergraduate Research
Alicia Dorsey, Institution Effectiveness & Evaluation

14. Undergraduate Research in the
College of Science
Ginger E. Carney, Ph.D.
Associate Dean for Assessment
and College Climate
Department of Biology
Texas A&M University

15. Aggies Commit to Learning for a Lifetime
Each college tasked with strengthening existing and/or
developing new sustainable high impact learning experiences
College of Science = Undergraduate Research
Goal: increase participation by 10% by 2015
Challenges: departmental culture, capacity, student awareness
of opportunities
Chemistry and Physics require for graduation; Math had little participation

16. Strategies
Associate Dean for Undergraduate Research (culture, awareness)
Meetings with college stakeholders (students and faculty) to determine needs and goals (culture, capacity)
Partnership with Health Science Center faculty (capacity)
Increased advertising:
opportunities, Aggies Commit t-shirts,
new college website (awareness)

17. Course-based Research Experiences (capacity)
Guided, intensive and independent investigation in a specific area
Biology: Organelle Discovery Lab; Fungal Functional Genomics (NIH funded); Capstone Program (blended experience); Tropical Ecology Costa Rica (international field experience)
Mathematics: Mathematical Modeling; Math Research Seminar
Physics: DEEP (embedded in intro Physics)
Undergraduates work in teams with graduate student
facilitator to design projects for Physics Open House

18. Independent Research Experiences (capacity)
One-on-one or small group research with a faculty member or
in a faculty laboratory.
291/491 independent research courses
(0 credit option)
Paid opportunities (0 credit for tracking)
Faculty NSF-REU (Research Experiences for Undergraduates) supplements (~1 student per grant)
Work-study
NSF-LSAMP (Louis Stokes Alliance for Minority Participation)
NSF funded summer programs: Mathematics, Chemistry, Cyclotron Institute, Physics and Astronomy

19. Aggies Commit to Learning for a Lifetime
What progress have we made?
College Goal: increase participation by 10% by 2015
Actual increase of 14% through 2015

20. What progress have we made?
Implementation of 291/491 assessment measures
NSF URSSA (indirect)
Experimental design prompts
(direct; in progress)
Required laboratory safety training
Faculty/Graduate Student
Undergraduate Research Mentoring Awards
College of Science Undergraduate Research Advisory Committee
Increased emphasis on Math 491 (increased participation by 5X)
Math went from 5 to >25/semester

21. George Cunningham

22. Jon Kotinek

23. Leroy Dorsey

24. Assessment Strategies for Aggies Commit
8 Student Learning Outcomes
13 Colleges PLUS
co-curricular experiences
15 HIPs

25. Centralizing Assessment for a Decentralized Initiative
Fundamental Assumptions:
College/Division autonomy to select HIPs and SLOs based on mission and priorities
Centralizing assessment strategies to ease burden for colleges/divisions AND ease attempts to reach university-wide conclusions
Focus on what’s doable and meaningful

26. Basic Assessment Strategies
Student Artifacts
Survey Data
Targeted Assignment Grades
Hybrid Approach
Student Artifacts
Reflections based on targeted prompts and scored using rubrics (most commonly AAC&U rubrics) – CT, study abroad, eportfolios, internships, service learning
Survey Data
CAT test for critical thinking – pre-post design
Global Perspective Inventory for social, cultural, and global competence (most often mapped to study abroad)
Targeted Assignment grades
Limited in use and must be specific assignments directly related to the SLO
Presentation grade based on the HIP for communicate effectively SLO
Hybrid Approach
Experimental design survey

27. Challenges and Opportunities
Scaling up for both HIPs and assessment
Securing quality artifacts and data that reflect student learning and engagement
Linking sources of data for a more complete picture

28. Thoughts? Comments? Questions?