Module 7: Establishing a Culture of Assessment (Commitment)

Establishing a culture of assessment involves four (4) critical components: Commitment, Consistency, Communication, and Connection.  The following readings highlight each of the four areas.

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Commitment

 M7_commitment.pngEstablishing commitment across all levels of your institution is vital to establishing a culture of assessment and building capacity to do assessment and begins with the following (Maki, 2010, p. 8):

 

  • Chief Executive Student Affairs Officer
  • President/Chancellor/System head
  • Board of Trustees’ representatives
  • Faculty, including those involved in governance
  • Staff from student affairs, support services, and library and information resources
  • Campus leaders
  • Faculty, administration, staff, and other contributors to student learning
  • Undergraduate and graduate students
  • Alumni
  • Parents
  • Employers
  • Local community learners

 

Additionally, to establish commitment new and deepened relationships across campus must be formed. The following relationships characterize a culture of assessment that relies on the assessment of student learning to inform institutional decisions and actions (Maki, 2010):

  • Deepen or transform working relationships that already exist
  • Cross divisional boundaries and create lasting new partnerships
  • Establish an assessment council of members who are committed to assessing their programs and student learning and who are willing to track student learning over time.
  • Develop communication structures that transform assessment results into program and institutional-level planning, budgeting, and decision making.

 

According to Maki (2010) the following are steps to establish commitment at your institution:

  1. Establish principles of a shared commitment and responsibility
  2. Identify the value of commitment to assessment
  3. Involve stakeholders across your institution
  4. Establish assessment as a core institutional practice that encompasses all of campus
  5. Invite stakeholders across campus to develop a statement of institutional commitment to assessment, which is linked to the institutional mission and goals.