September 27, 2006

8:00 a.m.
Livingston Lord Library 120D 

Present: Jean Sando, chair; Tim Decker, Ellen Hill, Rajiv Kalra, Mike McCord,
Margaret Sankey, Stacy Voeller

Absent: Ellen Brisch, Brian Smith

Minutes:

• Moved by Hill, seconded by Voeller to approve the minutes of September 13, 2006. The motion passed unanimously.

• Moved by Hill, seconded by Voeller to approve the minutes of September 20, 2006. The motion passed unanimously.

Critical and Multicultural Thinking (CMT) Testing: Sando report that overall 42 percent of all eligible students took the CCTST and 39 percent of all eligible students took the CCTDI. Over 100 of the students tested were from PHIL 110. Faculty encouraging students to take the test along with the extra credit students received was a major factor in the high participate rate. The test is a comparison test of MSUM students and not to national norms. The CMT instructor meeting last week went well.

Announcements: Sando reported that an Executive Summary to the National Survey of Student Engagement (NSSE) is being drafted.

U.S. Department of Education Report: Sando gave a brief overview of two documents distributed electronically to the committee 1) A Test of Leadership: Charting the Future of U.S. Higher Education and 2) Addressing the Challenges Facing American Undergraduate Education, both linked at: http://www.mnstate.edu/acadaff/dragoncore/AssessResources.htm, and to comments by Secretary of Education Margaret Spellings to the National Press Club, aired September 26, 2006, on Minnesota Public Radio. It was noted the report could be viewed as an overarching agenda for the future of higher education. Discussion on the documents will continue next week.

University Writing Committee: It was agreed to recommend Voeller to serve on the University Writing Committee as the Dragon Core Assessment Committee member. Voeller also serves on the Student Learning Outcomes Assessment Committee and could liaison between the two committees. Voeller agreed to contact the Faculty Association regarding the recommendation.

Dragon Core Assessment: Sando has meetings scheduled with the English department on Friday and the mathematics department on Monday to discuss assessment in DC 1B and DC 3. Assessment in DC 3-7 for both Inner Cluster electives and Middle Cluster courses needs to be defined. The bulk of Dragon Core course offerings will be in these two clusters. Assessment strategies, including quantitative and qualitative measures as well as the use of student portfolios were discussed. Sando reported on conservations with Information Technology regarding support of portfolios software platforms. It was noted while eFolio Minnesota is a good program the ability to harvest data is cumbersome. Information Technology is reviewing Dragonfly, but there is concern whether Dragonfly is usable on Macintosh computers. Discussion ensued on what competency areas would be best suited for portfolio use and how to motivate students to participate. Members were asked to review DC 3-7 competency areas and to consider what evidence is needed to determine whether students have met a specific competency area.

The meeting adjourned at 8:46 a.m.
 

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