State of Assessment Report
May 20, 2003
Prepared by Jennifer Mihalick, Chair,
Faculty Senate Committee on Assessment of Student Learning
Activities of the FSCASL during 2002-2003:
Nine members from the faculty, one from the academic staff, and our new
administration
liaison, Interim Assistant Vice Chancellor for Curricular Affairs
Margaret
Genisio, met monthly during the academic year.
A. Work in teams to assist departments with development of program
assessment
plans, and reports for program review.
This year new plans from anthropology, environmental studies, and music
education
programs were reviewed. In addition, information about assessment
was
provided to the new program in athletic training. Biennial
updates
for existing assessment plans were reviewed from several
departments.
Many departments are revising their plans as they learn which methods
of
assessment supply useful data. Several have made curricular
changes
as a result of assessment.
The grids attached to this report display the status of each program's
assessment
plan: when the plan was approved; the date of the last update to the
committee;
whether assessment data have been used to modify curriculum; and
whether
designing an assessment plan resulted in a curriculum change.
Almost
all programs are participating in assessment.
Departments now include information about assessment of student
learning
in their program review documents. Members of the committee
offered
assistance to departments preparing for fall 2003 program
reviews.
B. Implement General Education assessment plan.
The goals for student learning in general education which were
established
in 1995 are very broad and difficult to assess. We have asked the
L&S
Council and the chair of APGES (Academic Policies - General Education
Subcommittee)
to suggest updates or revisions.
We are working with members of the Department of English as they revise
the
verbal skills test which has been used for many years. There will
be
a faculty college on assessment of writing during spring interim.
The
upper level English composition courses are taken by students who have
completed
60 credits, and have probably completed most of the general
education
requirements; it has been identified as an opportunity to assess
student
learning in the general education program, perhaps through a
comprehensive
exam.
C. Work with the Office of Institutional Research to ensure
collection
of data for NCA accreditation.
The University's 10 year accreditation review by the North Central
Association
will take place in 2007. One of the criteria they will study is
"Student
Learning and Effective Teaching." Some categories of evidence
will
be met by data collected in the assessment programs. The
committee
preparing for the NCA visit includes several past members of FSCASL and
we
will continue to coordinate our efforts with theirs.
D. Increase amount of information available on the committee
website.
The website at http://www.uwosh.edu//assessment/
is intended to collect useful information for committee members and
other
people on campus involved with assessment. It contains the
committee
charge and membership, the University Assessment Plan, committee
reports,
and examples of assessment plans and tools from several programs on
campus
as well as links to information from other institutions. The
website
has been advertised in The Bulletin and to the L&S Council.
Grids Showing Status of Assessment Plans:
College of Business
Administration
College of Education and
Human
Services
College of Letters and Science
College of Nursing
back to assessment home page
last updated May 20, 2003