1. Assessment Committee Update to Faculty Senate February 17, 2016

2. Outline Faculty serving on AC Timeline – work completed and preliminary data LAC assessment AY 2014-2015 work in progress LAC assessment AY 2015-2016 Next steps – closing the loop Spring/Fall 2016

3. Who is serving on AC? Note: same individuals as who served on AC AY 2014-2015 Heidi Steltzer (Sciences, chair) Erich McAlister (Sciences) Shawn Meek (Arts and Humanities) Mika Kusar (Business) Michael Martin (Arts and Humanities) Rebecca Austin (Social Sciences) Kim Hannula (ex-officio) Lisa Snyder (ex-officio) Val Skarbek (assessment coordinator)

4. Liberal Arts Core assessment timeline at FLC 2015-2016 Note: We are behind, working to complete needed tasks for LAC assessment. DateTasks Summer/Fall 2015 Preliminary analysis of assessment data and report prepared for HLC review. HLC requested meeting with AC chair and Director of Assessment to discuss gaps. Fall 2015Faculty senate re-tasked the AC to conduct LAC assessment in AY 2015-2016. AY 2015-2016AC meets 2x per month (2 nd and 4 th Wed, 11:30-12:30). Task list developed with AC members selecting tasks they will lead this AY. Fall 2015Opt-out procedure developed and initiated for faculty scorers for LAC assessment. AY 2015-2016Writing samples collected from sophomore students in courses with written communication as a learning outcome (Fall and Spring term). Spring 2016Scoring of remaining work samples from AY 2014-2015 (to complete first round of scoring). This step should have been completed in Summer 2015.

5. Liberal Arts Core assessment timeline at FLC 2015-2016 Note: We are behind, working to complete needed tasks for LAC assessment. DateTasks Nov 2015Micheal, Lisa and Heidi shared report and sought input from Council of Chairs on next steps – closing loop via use of assessment data to inform course revisions Feb 2016AC update to Faculty Senate – input requested on next steps Feb 2016AC and LAC council chairs will meet to plan for AC update to LAC council in March

6. Preliminary analysis of LAC assessment data

7. Method for LAC assessment AY 2014-2015* *note: AY 2015-2016 is sophomore samples for written communication Faculty teaching capstone senior courses submit writing samples for each student/group within their course at the end of the term. Writing samples are scored for critical thinking and problem solving, using the AACU LEAP rubrics. Writing samples are selected through a stratified random sampling approach Stratification is by area (Science, Social Science, Arts and Humanities, Business, Teacher Education) and within areas by faculty to increase chances that selected writing is not all from one faculty, as is possible. Data will be analyzed across areas and faculty – assignments are de-identified

8. Data on submissions for Spring 2015 AreaTotal # writing samples # students# selected Arts and Humanities647820 Business123412 Social Science11215120 Science8612320 Teacher Education000 Number of writing samples is affected by the 1) number of students/courses taught 2) whether assignments are completed individually or as groups and 3) if suitable assignment is included in the capstone course, i.e. writing, in English, critical thinking and problem solving can be assessed.

9. Who is scoring Spring 2015 writing samples Susan Moss (AH) Paul Booth (AH) Ellen Paul (AH) Cynthia Dott (S) Lee Frazer (S) Heidi Steltzer (S) Kaori Takano (SOBA) Deborah Walker (SOBA) Alane Brown (SS) Carey Vicenti (SS) Peter McCormick (SS) Thanks to all involved. Opt-out procedure was emailed to faculty in Dec 2015 and initiated Jan 2016

10. Proposed timeline for next steps

11. LAC assessment cycle – spring 2016 closing loop Closing the loop: During Spring 2016, the AC proposes to: 1) meet with Chairs (Nov 2015), Senate (Feb 2016) and LAC (Mar 2016) to share ideas and to get input on the use of assessment data. 2) In coordination with the Office of Academic Effectiveness, the AC will organize Assessment Empowerment Teams in which faculty will develop ways to use the assessment data The AC will provide a workshop so that individuals and departments can learn how to access and work with the data to inform their course design.

12. Assessment Empowerment Teams* *name to still be finalized Approach for closing the loop through: A workshop to provide faculty with LAC assessment data in MS Excel and training on how to analyze data Faculty can submit a proposal to work with others on use of LAC assessment data to inform course revisions Course revisions would take place for Fall 2016 courses Report from assessment empowerment faculty teams submitted Dec 2016, documenting what was implemented and if course revisions led to improved student learning

13. Request for input from Senate FLC is behind on assessment. HLC is requesting assessment be reviewed again with a report due 5/31/2017, since assessment was incomplete in Fall 2015. The proposed timeline will increase the likelihood that we will meet HLC expectations in 2 years. AC and LAC council will be working to plan for closing the loop – the next critical step in assessment.