A Brief Retreat: To Advance The University


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My Piece


So what’s at stake for students, Kent State University, and Me with Accreditation?

Podcast: Accreditation and the Current Political Climate with Judith Eaton and Rick Legon

Judith Eaton, president of the Council for Higher Education Accreditation, and Rick Legon, president of the Association of Governing Boards, discuss the current political climate for accreditation, as well as major topics in this area for boards.

Quality Initiatives & Curriculum is ready and willing to facilitate or co-facilitate a conversation with your faculty colleagues about the role and importance of accreditation. To schedule a unit or program conversation contact Dr. Stephane Booth, Associate Provost.

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6 Months


Already engaged in the improvement process through program.

Help the University close the loop in the next section.

You’re ready to start and have some questions or goals to examine.

Course level

  • Several books are available in the FPDC library
    • Effective Grading – Barbara Walvoord and Virginia Johnson Anderson
    • Classroom Assessment Techniques – Thomas A. Angelo and K. Patricia Cross
    • Assessing Student Learning – Linda Suskie
    • Renewing & Evaluating Teaching – John A. Centra
    • Assessing for Learning – Peggy L. Maki
    • Educative Assessment – Grant Wiggins
    • Assessment in Higher Education – Samuel J. Messick
    • Collegial look at student outcomes 
    • Consultation on “rolling up†course outcomes to program outcomes
Program level
  • Facilitated/ Co-facilitated meeting with unity/ program faculty
  • Consultation on data gathering, target setting, and/or evaluation
  • Connecting program accreditation to University accreditation
  • 2013 Assessment Grants
   

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Contemplation


In the United States, colleges and universities voluntarily seek accreditation from nongovernmental bodies. There are two types of educational accreditation: institutional and specialized. The Higher Learning Commission (http://www.ncahlc.org) conducts institutional accreditation. The Commission has developed resources for individuals to better understand the role of accreditation in U.S. higher education.

AQIP (Academic Quality Improvement Program) (http://www.ncahlc.org/AQIP/AQIP-Home)  infuses the principles and benefits of continuous improvement into the culture of colleges and universities by providing an alternative process through which an already-accredited institution can maintain its accreditation. An institution in AQIP demonstrates how it meets accreditation standards and expectations through a sequence of events that align with the ongoing activities of an institution striving to improve its performance.

How does this course/ learning experience impact students?

The word “Intentionality†in every class, course, and program strings together what we need and want for students. Here is the .ppt and .pdf of slides used during the Brief Retreat.

This is the core question that leads to how are you, the learning environment, and the University woven together. Dr. David Dees has assembled some videos on Learning Outcomes that may be valuable to frame your work. Click here to view the videos.

The Lumina Foundation for Education offers a “Degree Qualifications Profile,†a tool/ framework illustrating what students should be expected to know and be able to do once they earn their degrees- at any level.

Just as you think about your course, we need to think about the program it is in. What are the outcomes of students as they synthesize their experience? To help answer these questions individuals and units participate in a cycle of continuous improvement. If you don’t know where to get started in the cycle consider having a Quick Course Diagnosis or Quick Program Diagnosis facilitated with your students or faculty.

  • QCD/QPD: Pre-meeting to establish questions with FPDC. Meeting with informant groups to gather quantitative and qualitative data facilitated by the FPDC. Report and next step meeting with faculty and unit administrators. Contact Dr. Jeffrey Pellegrino, Faculty Professional Development Center.

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Closing the Loop


Closing the loop is our institutional challenge, how do we take what we know, what/where we want to be and planning how to accomplish those goals. Maintaining the cycle of improvement also means making evidence based decisions and sharing learning with administrators, students, and community. Resources to help you with this include:
  • WEAVE reporting to share how your work connects to the larger University, consultations available
  • Consultation for Program Coordinators on engaging and energizing faculty and students through clear learning outcomes and assessment
  • Consultation on the development of a comprehensive 2-year  process/ calendar for identifying, collecting, analyzing, and evaluating data for effective decision making

For consultations individually, within your unit, or with community members please contact Dr. Stephane Booth, Associate Provost.

   

Image Sources:

  • Puzzle designed by Mateo Zlatar from The Noun Project
  • Gears designed by Dima Yagnyuk from The Noun Project
  • Calendar  from The Noun Project
  • Loop designed by P.J. Onori from The Noun Project
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