5 Steps to Renew Program-Level Learning Outcomes Assessment

You regularly assess student learning outcomes at your institution, but when was the last time you assessed your assessments? If the answer is, “I can’t remember,” or “I don’t know,” then it’s probably time to take a step back and review your school’s overall assessment process and strategies.

When accrediting agencies come knocking, they are particularly interested in one thing: your student learning outcomes. Have you been keeping up with the latest trends in learning outcomes assessment?

If not, your institution may have a hard time demonstrating success to external reviewers. Even internal program reviews rely upon the collection of meaningful assessment data to justify curricular changes and allocate funding.

On top of the growing calls for accountability coming from accreditors is the “new normal” caused by the recent economic downturn. In this tightened climate, faculty members need to increase collaboration to substantiate their pedagogical effectiveness.

Now is the perfect time to conduct a thorough audit to ensure that your existing program for assessing student learning outcomes measures up.

In 5 Steps to Renew Program-Level Learning Outcomes Assessment, Dr. Lisa Shibley of Millersville University helps colleges and universities fine-tune their existing assessment programs and provide detailed guidance for making necessary improvements.

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This online video seminar explains:

• Renewal and revision of learning outcomes
• The Learning Opportunities Matrix
• How to reflect on assessment practices using a rubric
• Enhancing student learning assessment within your program or department
• Connecting program outcomes to mission and general education objectives
• Analysis of collected outcome information
• Strategizing assessment of particular course objectives
• The role of curricular maps
• Integrated assessment strategies
• How to find where learning opportunities occur in your program

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Who will benefit?
The time to renew your student assessment program is now. Make the commitment to improve student learning at your campus. This video seminar is particularly important for those who are preparing for a program review or external accreditation, including:

• Faculty and instructors
• Department chairs
• Teams of faculty involved in assessment within their department
• School deans
• Assessment coordinators
• Institutional research staff
• Administrators

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These experiences are incredibly time-consuming, are increasingly focused on data and student learning outcomes, and can lead institutional leaders to sometimes justified states of paranoia. Nevertheless, you can survive your regional accreditation. While I use SACS as my prototype for a survival guide, I am confident that the strategies I suggest below are equally applicable to any accreditation effort.

1. Work on your SACS appeal. This strategy requires you to be attentive to allurements. Of course, when the visiting committee arrives on campus, you want to be sure that your buildings and grounds are in their very best shape. It will not hurt to do whatever you can to encourage faculty and students to manifest their best manners and to show extreme courtesy to the honored visitors. But your SACS appeal also can be enhanced by how you present your documents to the accrediting agency even before anyone arrives on campus. Do you have an attractive cover design? Has your formatting followed all the specified requirements? Do your various documents show your institution in its best light? If not, you may end up making an appeal to SACS to show how you have remedied your weaknesses.

2. Develop Your SACS education program. You should not be surprised to find that many faculty and students are oblivious to the existence of accreditation agencies and have very little idea about their importance to your survival. Both during the self-study process and the follow-up visitation from a committee of your peers, it is crucial that you educate the entire campus to the significance of the enterprise and the nature of its importance to your own survival. Your educational strategies should cover the gamut of your communication processes: regular and special meetings of faculty, students, and trustees; updates and announcements on your campus website; and educational forums to discuss issues and ideas related to the accreditation.

3. Practice safe SACS. Often, the greatest challenge for academic leaders involved in the accrediting process is the unknown. Will the chair of the visiting committee be reasonable and supportive? Has the steering committee addressed all the standards completely and accurately? Have there been any unanticipated changes in the accrediting agencies’ operating procedures—or even the development of new standards not yet contained in the accreditors’ manuals? You will want to do everything possible to eliminate unanticipated surprises that have resulted in part because you have not protected the institution to the maximum extent possible.

4. Anticipate SACS harassment. Regional accreditations used to be more social, congenial, and enjoyable than they are now. While you can be reasonably confident that your peers will be highly motivated and will understand your responses to standards from your perspective, this may not always be the case. To be sure, this is a “quid pro quo” relationship with an outside agency that is responsible for a thorough evaluation. If you give them what they demand, they will give you your desired accreditation. Because regional accrediting agencies have attempted to forestall federal takeovers of the accrediting process—an actual proposal afloat in Washington—they have become determined to be rigorous stewards of institutional quality. For you, this may create the appearance of a “hostile work environment” as evaluators press you for your information, your cooperation, and your compliance. While you may feel harassed, it is wise to assume the best intentions from those who have “invaded your personal space.” After all, they are just trying to do their jobs well.

5. Pursue SACS therapy. At some point, the process will come to an end. Not really an end, you might note, as accrediting agencies will do their best to keep you in line and continually focused on the demands of the agency. This may take the form of “probationary status,” “monitoring reports,” or “periodic reviews.” But once the intensity of the self-study and the visit is over, you should take steps to return the campus to its previous state of healthy equilibrium. Celebrate whatever successes you can identify; assure those who feel wounded that you appreciate their efforts and understand their frustrations. Identify small ways that you can reward those who have participated in the process. It is important to develop healthy SACS relations while also helping those on your campus to conclude that the accrediting process is ultimately a very satisfying one—when you have survived.

Conclusion
It is unlikely that many faculty or administrators have chosen their professions based on the opportunity to enjoy the process of accreditation. Nevertheless, the regional accreditation of your institution is an important mark of success and an essential ingredient in its development. The survival strategies above are intended to help you think through the best ways to succeed in the face of increasingly complex and demanding accrediting policies and practices. The ultimate objective, however, should not just be to survive such processes, but indeed to thrive as you help your institution become the best it can be.

Excerpted from Surviving Your Regional Accreditation: A Tongue-in-Cheek Reflection, Academic Leader, February 2009.

Thomas R. McDaniel is a professor of education and senior vice president at Converse College in Spartanburg, S.C.

In a Jan. 21st online seminar, Preparing for an Accreditation Review at a Community College, Wheelan provided a timeline schools should follow as part of the reaffirmation process, as well as what accreditation teams look for during their site visit. The timeline includes tasks that range from big picture strategies (i.e. making sure everyone at your school understands the process) to tactical mechanics (i.e. providing cell numbers to the on-site committee).

When the Accreditation Review is Two Years Away

• Familiarize yourself with the compliance issues and standards.
• Form a small team to serve as the steering committee.
• Gather institutional family to discuss standards.
• Develop a budget for the entire process, including ongoing assessment, faculty and space needs.
• Identify consultants to assist where needed.

When the Accreditation Review is One-Two Years Away

• Develop and assess student learning.
• Ensure documentation of faculty qualifications.
• Make sure appropriate policies and practices are in place and aligned.
• Begin work on compliance certification (self-study).

When the Accreditation Review is One Year Away

• Finalize any new policies.
• Submit compliance certification (self-study).
• Educate institutional family on the responses provided.
• Plan on-site committee travel and logistics.

When the Accreditation Review is Six-months Away

• Review all documentation submitted.
• Make sure everything is ready for the visit.
• Have contingency plans in case things go wrong with computers, transportation, on-site space etc.
• Make sure the institutional family has a clear understanding of the timeline for follow-up reports.

“The bottom line is if you don’t have a way to identify what you expect students to learn, ways to assess whether they’ve learned them or not, and a process by which changes can be made to tighten that system up, you will not be affirmed because that is one of our core requirements,” says Wheelan.