December 12, 2005
11:00 a.m.
Bridges Hall 250B
Present: Tim Borchers, chair; Ted Gracyk, Cassie Kramer, Jody Mattern, Amy Phillips, Stacy Voeller, Alison Wallace.
Minutes: Moved by Mattern, seconded by Gracyk to approve the November 28, 2005 minutes. The motion passed unanimously.
Borchers announced that the Academic Dean’s approved the policies with one minor change which was to add, “At least one assessment measure used by a program must be direct” to item #4. The policies are on the Academic Policy Advisory Committee agenda for December 13, 2005.
Feedback was gathered regarding the three articles (Developing an Assessment Plan to Learn about Student Learning, More than a Thermometer Using Assessment Effectively, and Selecting from the Assessment Tool Chest) distributed at the previous meeting. Members were asked to email additional feedback to Borchers prior to leaving for semester break as selected articles will be included in the department/program handbook that will be combined over break. Borchers will obtain permission to post the articles on the SLOAC website.
MSUM’s Assessing Student Learning Principles, Policies, Procedures was examined for additional revisions and suggestions made at the previous meeting were reviewed. The following revisions were discussed:
Page10: Add examples from the essay(s) and cross reference.
Page 11: Add a bullet regarding Instructional Improvement Grants. Add a bullet stating that plans and reports will be posted on the SLOAC website and that department/program Student Learning Outcomes are listed in The Bulletin.
Page14: Add a rubric model as an example.
Page 15: Change the scores to a range of 0-3. Wallace agreed to submit a rubric as an example. Other members were encouraged to submit rubrics as well.
Page 16: Change to final grade in Student 1 to “B” and change final exam and final grade in Student 4 to “C.”. Add examples from the essay(s). Samples of embedded assessments used by members are to be submitted to Borchers to use as examples. Add sentence indicating that the function of assessment is to objectively document for others what students know and that a final grade is not an accurate embedded assessment measure.
Page 17-19: The Assessment Plan Form, Assessment Reporting Form, and sample grids were discussed, in particular the appropriateness/necessity of Student Learning Outcomes identifying with MSUM’s mission and the Academic Affairs Master Work Plan and ways to monitor/check-off where matching occurs. Copies of the Academic Affairs Master Work Plan were distributed. It was agreed that a check-off list would be added to the grid. The following items were suggested:
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Intellectual Development
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Service
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Citizenship
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Life-long learning
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Diversity/Multiculturalism
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Talents
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Skills (Oral Communication, Written Communication, Mathematics, Critical and Multicultural Thinking)
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Global Understanding
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Other ________________
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Responsibility
The forms need to be clear in what the department/program is being asked to submit and a rubric sample or a grid might better. It was agreed that combining the form and grid into one document for the plan and one for the report would work better. Instructions and a sample form will be included in the packet. An additional question regarding how the student learning outcomes relate to program goals was suggested along with requesting a complete list of student learning outcomes and to indicate those being currently assessed.
Page 20: Discussion ensued on how to tie Instructional Improvement Grant(s) with the report. It was agreed that questions regarding Instructional Improvement Grant(s) be added to the reporting grid. It was suggested to add a reference to contact information regarding fringes or add how to figure fringe percentage. A “comments” section will be added.
Borchers agreed to email the revised document to the committee for review.
Assessment Coordinator: It was agreed to recommend that a full-time assessment coordinator be hired.
Discussion on awards/rewards to departments/programs whose plans/reports are done well was tabled to a future meeting.
The meeting adjourned at 4:49 p.m.
Next meeting: Spring Semester 2006 calendars should be sent to Borchers. Hopefully a 90 minute timeslot can be found. Meetings will be on a weekly basis beginning February 24, 2006.
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