CCI Assessment Initiatives Subcommittee

Details

Date
2004-01-27
Time
Location
Agenda
*Committee was B + C at this time
Notes

Present:  Adelson, Andereck (Chair), Breitenberger (Chair), Fink, Horn, K. Johnson, N. Johnson, Kerr, Mumy, Schoen, Smith, Sylvan

Guests: Alexis Collier, College of Social and Behavioral Sciences; Andrew Heckler, College of Mathematical and Physical Sciences; Alan Kalish, Faculty and TA Development.

Introductions

The members and guests introduced themselves and an overview of the purpose of the two subcommittees was reviewed.

Discussion of Hiring and Assessment Specialist

The subcommittee chairs reviewed the previous discussions regarding hiring an assessment specialist for the guests.  The assessment specialist would be a full-time employee at the federation level and would work with both subcommittees and the colleges within the Arts and Sciences that are undergoing assessment activities.  The subcommittees invited the guests to this meeting to gain a sense of if such assessment specialists exist, where to find them, what qualities would be useful, and if this is indeed a good idea.

 

Academic assessment was noted as a discipline of it’s own.  A trade off between finding someone with local knowledge versus assessment knowledge was discussed.  Hiring someone with only assessment knowledge, but no knowledge of OSU’s activities, would create a longer start-up time as they acclimated to the culture.  The employee will have to interface with faculty and individual departments to design assessment activities and will therefore would need to have some sort of rank status. 

Potential resources within the university community were discussed including Bob Gustafson and John Merrill from the College of Engineering, Kathy Kelley from the College of Pharmacy, and Kelly Funk from Michigan State.  Consulting firms, including the American Association of Higher Education and the American Association of Colleges and Universities, were mentioned as a potential place to look for candidates.

In creating a job description the need for an emphasis on outcome assessment instead of program assessment was stated as well as an emphasis on the liberal arts.  Alan Kalish volunteered to obtain information on salary requirements from outside sources.  Before moving forward, a proposal is necessary to bring to Vice Provost Randy Smith and the Office of Academic Affairs as well as to the three colleges involved in assessment activities.  The subcommittee chairs agreed to draft a proposal for the next meeting.

Adjournment

The joint subcommittee meeting was adjourned.  Subcommittees B and C split into two separate groups to discuss individual curricular proposals.