1. From the Ground Up: Getting Everyone Thinking About Assessment
Sian Brannon & Susan Smith
University of North Texas Libraries
SUSAN
Introductions
Purpose of presentation – NOT ONLY FOR LIBRARIES! Everything can be adapted to other types of units
This program is a condensed version of a 7-8 week workshop given to faculty at the University of North Texas who were brand new to the concept of assessment. Starting from the ground up, participants learned how to identify their stakeholders, how to focus assessments towards specific institutional focus areas, how to determine what impact on these focus areas already exists, and to brainstorm where impact could be made. We will show you some of the activities we used and talk about how you might use them.

2. Creating a culture of assessment
Who is responsible for assessment?
What barriers are in the way of creating this culture of assessment?
SUSAN
Might be preaching to the choir!
Who? Everyone?
Barriers? Time, knowledge, structures, incentives
Time—I have too much to do, not enough time
Knowledge—I don’t understand assessment, it is hard, I am afraid
Structures—how does assessment happen here? What is my role? Who is responsible for leading/coordinating?
Incentives—why should I participate? What’s in it for me?

3. Part of the Answer: Assessment Seminar
SUSAN
Our guide—”the bible”
Activities for the seminar-the workbook
Activities help
* Rethink, refine, or redefine the value of their library within their institutional environment,
* Identify and listen to institutional stakeholders,
* Organize and manage new approaches to addressing library value, or
* Take action to assess, expand, and communicate library value in order to position their library as an increasingly valuable asset to their institution.
Activities in this workbook could be easily used/modified by those outside the library

4. Seminar Format Multiple 1.5 hour sessions Each session includes
Readings/Preparation
Activities
Discussions
SIAN We’ve done it 3 times
First offered several years ago but repeated when there were new staff/interest. How many sessions? Depends on how much you want to cover. We have had 6-7 sessions but recently ran one longer/accelerated session where we picked the most important activities/concepts we wanted to focus on as a starting point.
We generally cover 6 basic topics – introduction to assessment, fears, focus areas, stakeholders, areas of impact, actual exercises of impact (What DO we do, what COULD we do)
Many activities work better in small groups but then report out and discuss as the whole group.
The remainder of this presentation will be talking about some of the activities we have used.

5. Topic: Introduction to Assessment
Why are we here?
“Inputs and outputs no longer resonate with many higher education stakeholders.”
SIAN
Oakleaf book’s executive summary; pages 11-24
Organizational documents/information to consider
Mission/vision/strategic plan
Why we are here
EMPOWERING our students to make their dreams come true.
Two major challenges
Improving student success and adding value to our brand: Meeting our core mission by graduating more students and better preparing them for workplace achievement and lifelong success.
Maintaining Tier One status: Firmly embedding ourselves in the Tier One Carnegie Classification by growing our research and reputation. To address these challenges, we need to create a more nimble and innovative culture.
5 year goals – focused on STUDENTS and REPUTATION
* Build research and reputation by growing the number of Top 100 academic programs from 47 to 57
* Double our annual research expenditures
* Increase graduate student enrollment to over 8,000 with an emphasis on doctoral student growth
* Increase total degrees to over 9,000 • Increase annual cash gifts to $23M
* Fully launch Career Connect – In 5 years 50% of our students or more will complete a significant professional development program
* Engage 50% or more of our faculty and staff in change leadership and team building

6. Activity: Assessment Fears, Challenges and Barriers
Balance “concerns about” with “purposes for” assessment
SUSAN
Oakleaf workbook activity 24, 25
Balance “concerns about” with “purposes for” assessment.
To motivate others to engage in assessment, need to consider common concerns about assessment.
Explore strategies to address common assessment fears, challenges, and barriers.
To prepare for challenges frequently encountered when seeking to demonstrate contributions to institutional focus areas, need to brainstorm and proactively engage strategies for overcoming them.

7. Activity: Institutional Focus Areas
Identify focus areas relevant to the institution
We need CONTEXT
We need FOCUS
SIAN
Workbook activity #1 GROUPS
Goal: Identify focus areas relevant to an institution.
Why: To redefine value in the context of institutional needs,
goals, and outcomes, need to identify what is most important
to their institution.
Organizational documents/information to consider
Mission/vision/strategic plan
Why we are here
EMPOWERING our students to make their dreams come true.
Two major challenges
Improving student success and adding value to our brand: Meeting our core mission by graduating more students and better preparing them for workplace achievement and lifelong success.
Maintaining Tier One status: Firmly embedding ourselves in the Tier One Carnegie Classification by growing our research and reputation. To address these challenges, we need to create a more nimble and innovative culture.
5 year goals – focused on STUDENTS and REPUTATION
* Build research and reputation by growing the number of Top 100 academic programs from 47 to 57
* Double our annual research expenditures
* Increase graduate student enrollment to over 8,000 with an emphasis on doctoral student growth
* Increase total degrees to over 9,000 • Increase annual cash gifts to $23M
* Fully launch Career Connect – In 5 years 50% of our students or more will complete a significant professional development program
* Engage 50% or more of our faculty and staff in change leadership and team building

8. Activity: Institutional Stakeholders
Focus attention on stakeholders
How do you define stakeholders?
SUSAN
Workbook activity 2, 3 GROUPS
Activity 2: Focus attention on stakeholders
To understand the impact of your unit on stakeholders, you need to identify your stakeholder groups.
But first, how do you define stakeholders?
Activity 3: Brainstorm what matters to targeted stakeholder groups
To serve stakeholders, need to understand their goals, needs, and desired outcomes.

9. Activity: Impact Map
Time to align services, expertise, and resources with institutional focus areas
SIAN
Workbook #26, 27
Why: To link contributions and institutional focus areas, need to identify the services, expertise, and resources that impact or contribute to each institutional focus area

10. Wrap up/Conclusions Issues Assess Follow up SUSAN
Issues – time, depth, consensus, lack of input from higher up (does the assessment workgroup get to pick the focus areas, does the Dean…?)
Good idea to do follow up survey about what was learned. ASSESS THE ASSESSMENT SEMINAR….
What needs more time, what topics interested you the most, what was hardest –
RINSE AND REPEAT

11. Questions? Susan Smith susan.smith@unt.edu
Sian Brannon