As the academic year draws to a close and we are all shaking our heads thinking “where did the year go,” it is time to catch up on the college’s Institutional Effectiveness (IE) process.
Enquiring minds want to know! What is going on with Middle States, when will we see the eagerly awaited IE Report for 2016, what do we have to look forward to in the upcoming year? Well, here’s an update on where we’ve been and where we are going.
It has been a very exciting and active year for the college’s Institutional Effectiveness process, and we can say with confidence that it is truly becoming part of the campus culture and that assessment results are regularly used to improve teaching and learning. The college now is finishing its second year of implementation of the Institutional Effectiveness (IE) Plan, and the IE process as outlined in the Plan is sustainable and comprehensive. Here are some of IE activities that have taken place:
— Close to a year ago, a significant organizational change was made that greatly enhances and supports the college’s assessing and planning efforts: the establishment of the Technology, Institutional Assessment and Planning (TIAP) Office.
— The Assessment and Institutional Effectiveness (AIE) Committee membership was reviewed in early fall 2015 and representatives from key areas were added, replacing several members who retired from the college over the previous year.
— The 2015 IE Report, which looks at the college’s performance on a set of core indicators, progress made on college-wide strategic plans, Middle States Self-Study recommendations, General Education, documentation of unit plan budget requests and decisions, and the use of assessment results, was made available to the campus community in early September of last fall (http://chronicle.hvcc.edu/wordpress/2015-institutional-effectiveness-report-now-available/).
— The TIAP office offered close to fifty group and individual training sessions during the Assessment Plan and Unit Plan reporting process last fall, which were met enthusiastically by department and unit heads. The TIAP office is planning to continue to offer trainings this upcoming summer and fall, on various topics including the formulation of initiatives, intended outcomes, outcome measures, ‘closing the loop,’ and survey construction.
— All departments and unit heads of the college submitted their fall 2015 Assessment Plan and Unit Plan reports in November of last fall. All Assessment Plan outcomes and Unit Plan initiatives were linked to the budget process and the college’s Goals and Objectives, as well as to the 2014-2019 Strategic Directions and Priorities, 2014 Middle States Self-Study Recommendations, and the Institutional Effectiveness Recommendations as appropriate.
— The AIE Committee, charged with oversight of the IE Plan and with providing the annual IE Report, continues to be very active and met a minimum of twice a month over the 2015-16 academic year. The committee’s agendas focused on a wide range of assessment and institutional effectiveness topics, including review and discussion of planning document reports, such as the Enrollment Committee’s Strategic Enrollment Plan, analysis of Core Indicator data and formulation of recommendations, and review and analysis of assessment surveys.
— The TIAP office met with a number of administrative units to update their mission and goals, an initiative that will continue over the summer and expanded in the fall to include academic departments,
— The 2016 Monitoring Report was submitted, as requested, to Middle States on February 29, 2016, and made available to the campus community on the college’s portal Home Page on the Middle States News organization. The Monitoring Report contains documentation that the institution has achieved and can sustain compliance with Standard 7, Institutional Assessment. The Small Team visit is expected in June, 2016.
— An Assessment Hotline was established to provide the campus community reassurance that the TIAP office is available for ongoing education and support (629-4557; assessment@hvcc.edu).
This summer the AIE Committee will meet on an ongoing basis to review core indicator data, strategic plan reports and committee reports, and develop institutional effectiveness recommendations in order to complete the 2016 IE Report, which is in progress and which will be available to the campus community at the start of the fall 2016 semester. In addition, we are exploring different assessment and planning software packages in order to improve the ease of the process and ensure consistency. The TIAP office also continues to prepare for the Small Team visit in June, the date and composition of which will be shared with the campus community when the information is received from the Middle States office.
Thank you all for your cooperation with and participation in the Institutional Effectiveness process. Your feedback and collaboration is invaluable to the process and to the achievement of the college’s mission and goals. It all starts with our students and comes back to them—the success of our students is at the heart of what we do.
Enjoy the summer and if you are around stop by and see us — we are in Administration 220. We are always happy to see colleagues and catch up on all the exciting things happening across the campus!
Published: Tue, 10 May 2016 12:19:39 +0000 by m.geehan