It has been a busy week in the Office of Assessment at Missouri State. Since lists are a great way to digest what has been accomplished, I thought a quick, 10-item post about the latest Assessment happenings was just the thing to share.

1. I’ve spoken with, Director of Student Orientation, Joe Morris, about administering the Beginning College Survey of Student Engagement during SOAR. SOAR administers their summer survey via campus labs. Joe has asked us to talk through developing an assessment plan for SOAR. Really looking forward to it.

2. As a result of participation in the BCSSE, each student who took the survey has an advising report (click here for more info). Last year was the first year the Advising Report was available. In collaboration with Kathy Davis, Assessment developed four questions to send to 400 advisors to see if the reports were used. The survey had a 25% response rate (100/400) Around 50% were familiar with the report and 50% of those had used it. Of the ones who had not used it, 40% were willing and interested in trying it. This is already great news, but we will work on marketing it more for even greater effect. If people are interested in knowing more, we have these links. Otherwise, we would be more than happy to meet with you for a discussion.

3. Awards are on a roll! We’ve awarded the graduation seating prize for timely taking the NSSE to Elizabeth Rudell from the College of Arts and Letters. And let’s not forget, Agriculture student, Danielle Kothe, who won an iPad for her quick NSSE response.

4. Speaking of the NSSE, MSU’s response rate is at 29.8% as of today. This is excellent—10% higher than 2012 and exceptional for an institution of our size. Thanks to former graduate assistant, Amy Bowen and Assessment Research Consultant, Angela Young. Their planning and collaboration with student groups has made this possible. Thank you!

5. The Faculty Survey is at 13.9% and the Faculty Survey for Graduate Instructors is at 11.3%. We intend to publicize it more and get those responses in. The more there are, the more we know.

6. This spring, students reflected on public affairs in the Exit Exam. Responses collected by April 2 are sorted by departments, colleges, and pillars and then sent out to all deans. One dean in particular copied hers for some light homework on a trip. Another dean is having a department heads’ meeting this week to review. Yet another dean has already sent hers out to department heads to review on April 23. A university college is using the information in its accreditation evidence file. We are so glad people are finding this information useful. We are excited about asking people to share how they have used this information and how it may have impacted their thinking.

7. I met with Recreation regarding their accreditation visit this week. I also met Dr. Kieth Ernce for the first time. Dr. Ernce is a reviewer for the accreditor and exhibited a fantastic knowledge about the assessment process. Over the past 10 years, he has gone on more than ten visits. Dr. Tina Liang in Recreation is a reviewer as well and has gone on her first visit this year. These are just a couple of wonderful resources and thinking partners on the assessment of student learning.

8. At Assessment Council in May, we will be reviewing the Exit Exam questions in GEN 499 and discussing changes to be made for the fall Exit Exam administration. Administration through Blackboard was new in the spring, so we look forward to tweaking and streamlining the process for the better.

9. The student learning outcomes for all of the colleges are updated on the Assessment page. Finally. The goal was to start with them on our website to get organized. Web and New Media is expected to be adding these outcomes to department web pages by the end of the semester, which will offer greater transparency and more convenient access for both students and faculty alike.

10. For many years, Graduate College has administered a student survey. Since Mark Woolsey has joined us, he has begun collaborating with them. As a result, response rates are up, and we hope the Graduate College is satisfied with the collaboration. We are happy to help think through methods of collecting evidence of student learning for anyone interested.

by Dr. Keri Franklin