Volume 4  |  October 2022

Academic Programs and Core Courses have submitted documentation of their student learning outcomes assessment process, results, and action plans to the IAA team for archiving and coordination of the initial quality-check and peer-review process. The initial quality check consists of a quick review to ensure that the documents reflect current data in the correct template, reference the current university mission statement, contain unique program SLOs, and include an action plan showing evidence of using data analysis to seek improvement.

As of the September 30th deadline for submission, 54 out of 80 core course student learning outcome assessment documents were received and 76 out of 108 academic program student learning outcome documents were received. IAA continues to monitor submissions through Smartsheet dashboards and assessment coordinators will receive automated reminders regarding late documents until they are received.

Peer-reviewers serving on the General Education and Core Curriculum (GECC) Committee and the Academic Assessment Steering Committee (AASC) have undergone training for the application of the peer-review rubric and are following a rigorous timeline to facilitate individual and reconciliation reviews by the Thanksgiving holiday to expedite feedback to academic programs and core courses.

Fall 2022 Peer-Review Timeline

October 3 - 7

IAA Initial Quality Check of assessment documents

October 10 - November 18

GECC and AASC conduct individual and reconciliation reviews of all submitted assessment documents

November 21 - November 22

GECC and AASC meet for in-person completion of any remaining individual or reconciliation reviews of assessment documents

IAA is pleased to announce a new badging opportunity available for all faculty and staff who support assessment efforts at the institutional level. Through collaboration with the Faculty Center, the Meaningful and Manageable Assessment (MMA) badge track launched this fall with a series of six workshops offered in face-to-face and virtual formats in addition to embedded badging opportunities in the Learning Improvement Lab Folio courses.

Survey Design Basics

Friday, October 28

2:30-3:30 p.m.

Zoom

REGISTER

If you’ve ever wanted to know more about your students but wasn’t sure how to ask, this may be the workshop for you! The IAA team is here to explain how a well-designed survey can be used as an assessment tool to gather insights relevant to your student outcomes. After an overview of the survey design process, we will share some best practices for drafting survey items including guidelines for collecting meaningful demographic information.

Learning outcomes:

• Explain how surveys can be used as a meaningful and manageable assessment method
• Describe the survey design process
•  Apply best practices for writing survey items
• Explain the appropriate use of demographic information collected from surveys

Creating Surveys in Qualtrics

Friday, November 4

2:30-3:30 p.m.

Zoom

REGISTER 

Qualtrics is an excellent option for creating and administering surveys and includes some robust data analysis and reporting tools. This software can streamline the use of surveys for collecting assessment data. If you’ve never used Qualtrics before, the IAA team if offering this workshop to introduce you to the basic features you need to get started building and distributing your first survey.

Learning outcomes:

• Create a new project in Qualtrics
• Add different survey item types
• Set up display logic for survey items
• Create a survey distribution 
• Access survey results

Learning Improvement Lab: Survey Design

Asynchronous Folio Course

REGISTER

This six module Folio course provides an overview of the survey design process, best practices for drafting different survey items, and guidelines for distributing your survey. Completion of the course and an action plan also counts toward the Meaningful and Manageable Assessment Badge.

Learning outcomes:

• Define the purpose and scope of your survey
• Follow best practices for writing survey items
• Make a plan for survey distribution
• Determine a strategy for data collection and analysis

SACSCOC Annual Meeting Registration Now Open

The Southern Association of Colleges and Schools Commission on Colleges invites its member and candidate institutions to participate in this year’s return to an in-person Annual Meeting. The 127th Annual Meeting will be held December 3-6, 2022, at the Georgia World Congress Center in Atlanta, GA.

Being able to gather in Georgia, the home of the SACSCOC offices, creates a great setting to highlight what concerns us most while carrying out our missions. The Annual Meeting Program Planning Committee has chosen “Georgia on Our Minds” as this year’s conference theme to feature a program of sessions that acknowledge the pandemic’s impact on how we carry out our work while maintaining the momentum to continue educating our students the best way we can. 

In addition to networking opportunities and an Expo of exhibitors with products and services that support higher education initiatives, the Annual Meeting program will consist of pre-conference workshops, group discussions, poster sessions, and concurrent sessions which fall into the following tracks:   

Motivating intentional diversity, equity, and inclusion practices within strategic plans, accreditation systems, and institutional practices 

Incorporating and documenting the Principles, Substantive Change, and the ongoing work of assessment and strategic planning across our institutions 

Navigating technology, finances, physical spaces, and other essential institutional resources, including innovative strategies

Discovering and cultivating joy in our individual or collective educational missions 

Shaping the post-COVID higher education landscape 

Georgia World Conference Center

Atlanta

December 3-6

Details and Registration

Institutional Assessment and Accreditation (IAA) works collaboratively with faculty, staff, and administration to ensure the quality of the programs and educational experiences offered by the university, addressing the unique assessment needs of courses, departments, colleges, or units through individual and group consultations, professional development workshops, recommendations for technology implementation, and best practice reference materials.