From Despair to Too Much Fun:Creating a Campus

Accreditation/Assessment Culture

Dr. Vernon G. MilesProvost and Vice President for Academic Affairs

Henderson State University

AASCU Academic Affairs Winter MeetingSan Antonio, TX

2012

This presentation will address HSU’s transformation from a university with no assessment plan to one

with a multi-faceted, comprehensive plan (including Assessment Team initiatives, program

plans, an Assessment Team Assessment Plan, a new Strategic Plan, and a University Assessment Plan).

The Assessment Team’s low-cost initiatives have created an institutional culture of accreditation and

assessment that can be replicated at almost any institution.

Metamorphosis of Assessment at Henderson State University

o From State of Relative Assessment Emptiness, Vacuum (2001)

o To Stage of Some Fulfillment (2007)o To Current Stage of Quite Complete Fullness,

Recent Successes (2012)

Higher Learning Commission and HSU

o 2001 Higher Learning Commission Peer Review Team visited Henderson State U

o Examined Assessment Campus Wide o Found Little to No Evidence of Assessmento Found No Accessible Assessment Plan o Conclusion: NO Comprehensive Assessment

of Student or Other Outcomeso Recommended Focused Visit (2007)

2001 HLC Peer Review Team Statement

“It is unclear why, when faced with increasing pressure from the Higher Learning Commission,

the State of Arkansas, and professional accreditation bodies, Henderson State has not

devoted the necessary time, energy, and resources to address the assessment issue and

demonstrate progress in the assessment of student learning.”

2001 HLC Peer Review Team Statement“Equally puzzling is the fact that Henderson’s

Assessment Plan, apparently approved by the NCA, could not be located during the site team visit.”

“The failure to consider assessment as an initiative in the Bold Strokes planning process adds to the

mystery.”“Little to no progress has been made on the

development of a campus wide assessment plan. A systematic plan of data collection and analysis addressing the core values of the institution is

required for ongoing accreditation.”

2001 HLC Team’s Recommendation:

Focused Visit in the Spring of 2007!

HSU Actions Prior to the Focused VisitDecember 2001: President presented findings

to Board of Trustees, including comments on importance of outcomes assessment

December 2001: President asked for funds to hire full-time coordinator of assessment

Director of Assessment position included in 2002-03 budget

March 2003: Director of Assessment HiredSpring 2003: Office of Assessment and

Institutional Research created

Actions Prior to 2007 Focused VisitAugust 2003: University Assessment Team EstablishedStudent Outcomes Assessment is topic of Fall 2003

Back-to-School faculty/staff meetingOctober 2003-May 2005: Director of Assessment

conducts numerous workshops, training sessions, and presentations to various HSU faculty and staff groups

Fall 2003: HSU University Assessment Plan created; revised periodically through Spring 2005

June 2005: University Assessment Team attends AAHE/HLC Chicago Assessment Workshop

Actions Prior to 2007 Focused VisitSummer 2005: HSU purchased TracDat

software for assessment managementEarly Fall 2005: Assessment Team panel

discussion during Back-to-School sessionFall 2005: Assessment Director & Team

conduct 12 TracDat training sessions for 22 faculty members & 39 staff members

Spring 2006: 12 two-hour training sessions of three different types (developing a plan; collecting & analyzing data for change; refresher course)

Actions Prior to 2007 Focused Visit2004-2006

Assessment/IR Budget allocations increasedFaculty & Staff development on assessment &

related topics financedA number of consultants brought to campusOn-campus workshops increased: 34

workshops attended by 569 faculty & staff members

“Closing the Loop” documents createdResult: Assessment Plans Developed in a

Number of Areas of the University

February 2007 Focused Visit Results

“Evidence sufficiently demonstrated. No Commission follow-up recommended.”

“Henderson State University made a financial and moral commitment to do whatever was necessary to build

assessment activities and protocols that would enable it to address effectively the concerns of the Higher

Learning Commission…. It was apparent that faculty, staff, and students are talking about assessment

methods, problems, and opportunities and that the start of a culture committed to assessment is present.”

February 2007 Focused Visit Results:Items Needing Further Attention

More understanding of how to write a student learning outcome by all (one department listed the

creation of a new major as a student learning outcome)Too many areas attempting to rely on “grades

earned or course(s) passed” for their assessment of student learning

More student learning objectives based on competencies and/or skill-development needed

Too many departments still just identifying outcomes and measurement methods

Need for more objective measures of student learning across departments campus wide

More baseline data needed by too many departments, especially ones not collecting it for outside professional accreditation bodies

Lack of evidence of “closing the loop” for the following reasons: lack of sufficient data to analyze; lack of time to analyze data that does exist; lack of attention to analysis of data

Since the 2007 Focused Visit: Creating an Accreditation/Assessment

Culture

Change in Administration: VP for Academic Affairs retires in January 2008 (interim serves until October); President retires in July 2008

New Presidential Search at HSU; new VP search Dr. Charles Welch takes office July 2008 Dr. Vernon Miles arrives October 2008 as HSU’s

first Provost January 2009 administrative re-structuring:

Assessment and IR placed under Provost’s Office

Accreditation/Assessment Culture

Provost charged with “supporting the faculty” Provost joins Assessment Team as permanent

Ex-Officio member All assessment plans reviewed and ranked (1-

4, with 1 being “inadequate”) All departments with plans ranking of “1”

were asked to complete assessment training session with members of Assessment Team over Spring 2009

Provost helps conduct these training sessions

Accreditation/Assessment Culture Assessment Team volunteers to meet bi-

weekly through the HLC Peer Review visit Current September 2009 members agree to

stay on Assessment Team through February 2012 HLC visit

Enhanced Assessment Newsletter created; Provost and Team members write feature articles

Assessment Quick Reference Guide created: assessment cycle, plan components, 6 steps

Assessment Quick Reference Guide

Step 1: Mission Statement Step 2: Goals (Extended Statement of

Purpose) Step 3: Learning Outcomes/Objectives Step 4: Measures or Methods Step 5: Collect and Summarize Data/Results Step 6: Use Results (“Closing the Loop”)

Accreditation/Assessment Culture Pre-HLC visit Campus Climate Survey conducted—

over 1,000 responses Arts & Sciences representation on Team expanded

by two members—all schools now significantly represented on Team

Student representation on Team expanded All Non-Academic Unit mission statements

reviewed Continued meetings with academic units in early

Spring 2010—Team members conduct these with Director of Assessment and Provost

Accreditation/Assessment Culture April 2010: Funding granted for recognition of

academic and non-academic unit successes in assessment (luncheon and plaque presentation)

August 2010: Additional review of all unit plans complete; units still receiving “inadequate” ratings meet with Assessment Team members

Rubric for selection of Assessment Excellence Award recipients developed

November 2010: Athletics receives non-academic unit Award; Computer Science receives academic department Award

Accreditation/Assessment CultureOctober 2010-November 2011

Assessment Team meeting minutes distributed campus wide

University Assessment Plan reviewed and revised significantly

Assessment Team Handbook revised Assessment Team Assessment Plan created Sample Rubrics for common learning goals created Team unanimously endorsed HLC self-study Faculty Senate votes in support of University

Assessment Plan

Accreditation/Assessment CultureRecent Success: Assessment Web Site Created

Assessment Plan for Assessment Team posted Assessment Team Minutes posted Assessment Procedures History of Assessment at HSU with Timeline Bios of all Team Members on web site Assessment Planning Guide on web All Assessment Plans posted

Accreditation/Assessment CultureRecent Success: Assessment Web Site Created

Assessment Evaluation Instruments: Evaluation Rubric; Annual Award Recipients posted

Assessment at a Glance Handout posted3-5 Goals1 Outcome/objective for each goal2 Measures for each outcome/goal

TracDat information Training Presentations University Assessment Plan

Conclusion• Empower your Assessment Team through your

presence, periodically if not continually• Support the Team’s efforts visibly and

convincingly, no matter how fruitless the support may appear at the time

• Lend them your “teeth” in getting the cooperation of others

• Finance their efforts• Praise them widely and often

HSU Assessment MissionThe Office of Assessment provides support for continuous

program and unit improvement for all areas by offering various activities including training and education

workshops on assessment and what is expected in the preparation for instructional and program accreditation. The

assessment program will insure that the university is fostering the maximum growth and development needed by

students. The program will allow for the Office of Assessment to gather data on students’ ability to think

logically and critically, speak and write effectively, level of mastery of a field of study and other attributes needed to

gauge the success of the university and its programs and/or departments.

HSU Assessment VisionThe Office of Assessment will work closely

with administrators, faculty, staff, and students to provide assessment and

process improvement support to academic and administrative units. The assessment

program will allow improvement in all academic and department units to position

HSU as a top university for student learning, not only in Arkansas, but also in

the country.

Assessment Goals*To oversee institutional reporting in response to questionnaires and other non-routine requests for information from state, federal, and other external agencies*To facilitate continuous quality improvement in the academic and administrative educational support units of the university *To provide data and interpretation to external constituencies on issues related to the University *To provide decision-support research and analysis to facilitate the University's planning process and associated program review, accreditation, benchmarking, and outcomes assessment activities*To plan, implement, analyze, summarize results, and disseminate reports for institution-wide surveys*To work with other units to increase cooperation and coordination of assessment on campus *To maintain a level of expertise in higher education assessment through staff development activities *To engage in outreach activities

Questions? Comments?Dr. Vernon G. Miles, Provost and Vice President

for Academic AffairsHenderson State University

Arkadelphia, AR

vmiles@hsu.edu Please email me for copy of PowerPoint

Google: http://www.hsu.edu/assessment Click on University Assessment Team