University Assessment Panel

Notes from Meeting of

6 February 2009

The fifth meeting of the University Assessment Panel (UAP) was held on Friday, 6 February 2009, at 10:00 a.m. in Altgeld 203.

Announcements

The Assessment Expo will be held on 20 February 2009 from 9:00 am to 11:30 am.

Susan Hatfield will present two workshops on Friday, 20 March 2009. The morning workshop entitled Leaving No Outcome Behind: Teaching, Learning and Assessment will be from 9:30 am to 12:00 pm. The regularly scheduled UAP meeting will not be held so that UAP members can attend. This morning workshop will focus on keeping the emphasis of assessment on improving student learning while building a culture of assessment. For more information, or to register, go to the FDIDC website at http://www.facdev.niu.edu/facdev/programs/03202009a.shtml.

The second Susan Hatfield workshop entitled Getting Students Involved in Assessment will held from 1:00 pm to 4:00 pm. For more information and to register for this workshop please go to the FDIDC website at http://www.facdev.niu.edu/facdev/programs/march2009.shtml#mar20 .

Focus Groups

Assistant Professor Bob Riggle presented findings of student focus groups conducted in spring 2008 which investigated practices that students use to assess their own learning. Questions focused on how students set goals for their learning, how they measure and direct their own learning, and how they identify and address gaps in their learning.

The focus groups were conducted by students in marketing courses taught by Dr. Riggle and sampled students from the Colleges of Business and Health and Human Sciences, and the Asian American Center. The focus groups were intended to be exploratory and a number of themes emerged. Future steps may include a campus report, professional publications, and further research.

Graduate Alumni Survey Review

Swanson presented proposed changes to the graduate alumni survey and panel members provided feedback. These changes parallel the changes made to the baccalaureate one-year out survey last year.

Measuring UP 2008-State Report Card

The panel reviewed the Measuring Up 2008 State Report Card for Illinois. This report, which is released every other year by the National Center for Public Policy and Higher Education, examines higher education in each state on six dimensions. The report also provides comparisons against other states and internationally. The state report cards are online at http://measuringup2008.highereducation.org/.

Review of Status Reports

At a previous meeting funding requests were reviewed for the Psychology B.S. program and the Special Education B.S.. At that time the panel requested more information before considering the requests for funding. The additional information was provided by both programs and both funding requests were approved.

The status report for the Women’s Resource Center was reviewed by the panel. A summary of the panel’s feedback will be sent to the department. The status report for the University Office for Teacher Certification was also reviewed. Questions concerning assessing student learning outcomes were raised. The UAP will revisit this status report at a future meeting.

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The status reports for the Political Science B.A., M.S. & Ph.D. were distributed prior to the meeting, but additional materials were received in the interim. These additional materials will be distributed to panel members and the status reports will be reviewed at the next meeting.

The next meeting is scheduled for March 6, 2009 from 10:00-12:00 in Altgeld 203.

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