ACADEMIC ASSESSMENT. MA in Criminal Justice Administration

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1 ACADEMIC ASSESSMET MA in Criminal Justice Administration I. Overview of Degree and Procedures MA in Criminal Justice Administration Mission The Master of Criminal Justice Administration develops in qualified students the skills to apply principles, theories, and research in the field of Criminal Justice to real world issues and practice affecting administrators. Student Learning Outcomes 1. The ability to apply research skills and reason critically in analysis of problems affecting criminal justice and in seeking solutions to these problems. 2. The ability to produce clear, concise, correct, and convincing written arguments related to the professions of Criminal Justice. 3. The ability to make professional, lucid oral presentations.

2 s of Assessing Student Outcomes Final Project: The program culminates in a Capstone course with a final synthesizing project, in the form of a grant proposal, and courses throughout the curriculum develop skills needed to produce this culminating project. The project is evaluated on a scoring rubric that rates evidence of research effectiveness, critical thinking, and problem-solving. The projects are evaluated by a team of graduate faculty in Criminology; then shared with the entire faculty, which responds to the findings. The faculty work with the Office of Institutional Research and Effectiveness to test the validity and reliability of the objective test questions. Faculty : At the end of every semester, Faculty members teaching the senior seminar rate students degree of competency in each outcome as was demonstrated in the senior seminar on the following scale: (1) Far Below Expectation, (2) Below Expectation, (3) Meets Expectation, (4) Exceeds Expectation. Student : Students in the senior seminar are surveyed about the degree of emphasis that was placed in the major on developing each outcome using the following scale: (1) ot Emphasized, (2) Minimally Emphasized, (3) Clearly Emphasized, (4) Highly Emphasized.

3 II. Previous Cycle Analysis of Results and Planned Changes 1. The ability to apply research skills and reason critically in analysis of problems affecting criminal justice and in seeking solutions to these problems. Faculty Comments: General Comment 1: Faculty was generally pleased with the evidence of performance level. General Comment 2: Faculty agree inter-rater agreement was good. Process: 2. The ability to produce clear, concise, correct, and convincing written argument related to the professions of Criminal Justice. Faculty Comments: General Comment 1 Process: General Comment 2

4 3. The ability to make professional, lucid oral presentations. Faculty Comments: Process: Due to confusion as the program transitioned from a cohort to an open curriculum, oral presentations were not externally evaluated. The faculty will develop a scoring rubric for external evaluation of the oral presentations. Faculty and student surveys will be administered. Summary of Program Improvement Initiatives The faculty will develop a scoring rubric for external evaluation of the oral presentations. Yes Faculty will review again. Faculty and student surveys will be administered. Yes Based on student evaluations, the faculty will discuss the need for a new core course to supplement the capstone and the logistics of how it will fit into the curriculum. Yes Dean s Response The dean recognizes that the transition from one program design to another, which resulted in their not being an assessable student population for two assessment cycles, has caused some confusion; and that now the CJA faculty need to catch up their assessment procedures to the format that has been developed in other CAS a cohort programs. She concurs with the faculty work plan for , but would add the suggestion that they create a unique new course for the program capstone, instead of continuing to use the special topics course number.

5 III. Current Cycle Results ACADEMIC PROGRAM: MA in Criminology CIP Code: Student Learning Outcomes 1. The ability to apply research skills and reason critically in analysis of problems affecting criminal justice and in seeking solutions to these problems. s of Assessing Final Project Target Indicator Introduction Results Apply Research Skills and Reason Critically Eval. Reliability Min Max Median SD % Theoretical Justification - Literature Review Definition of the key theoretical constructs and the construction of the hypotheses that the student will test Methods Variables and Data Section (based on questionnaire) Conclusion OVERALL AVERAGE 4 2 0% % % % % %

6 Student Learning Outcomes s of Assessing Target Results Faculty Apply Research Skills and Reason Critically Exceeded Met Short of Far short of Expectation Expectation Expectation Expectation Student Average student rating of program emphasis in the development of this competency is above 3 (Clearly Emphasized) Apply Research Skills and Reason Critically Highly Clearly Minimally ot Emphasized Emphasized Emphasized Emphasized The ability to produce clear, concise, correct, and convincing written argument related to the professions of Criminal Justice. Final Project Indicator Writing Produce Clear, Concise, Correct, Convincing Argument Eval. Reliability Min Max Median SD % Grammar % Organization OVERALL AVERAGE % % Faculty Produce Clear, Concise, Correct, Convincing Argument Exceeded Met Short of Far short of Expectation Expectation Expectation Expectation

7 Student Learning Outcomes s of Assessing Target Results Student Average student rating of program emphasis in the development of this competency is above 3 (Clearly Emphasized) Produce Clear, Concise, Correct, Convincing Argument Highly Clearly Minimally ot Emphasized Emphasized Emphasized Emphasized The ability to make professional, lucid oral presentations. Final Project Ability To Make Professional, Lucid Oral Presentations Reliability Eval. Min Max Median SD Indicator % Professionalism Presentation Content Organization % % Delivery % OVERALL AVERAGE % Faculty Ability To Make Professional, Lucid Oral Presentations Exceeded Met Short of Far short of Expectation Expectation Expectation Expectation Student Average student rating of program emphasis in the development of this competency is above 3 (Clearly Emphasized) Ability To Make Professional, Lucid Oral Presentations Highly Clearly Minimally ot Emphasized Emphasized Emphasized Emphasized

8 IV. Current Cycle Analysis of Results and Planned Changes 1. The ability to apply research skills and reason critically in analysis of problems affecting criminal justice and in seeking solutions to these problems. Faculty Comments: General Comment 1: Faculty were pleased with performance results. Process: 2.The ability to produce clear, concise, correct, and convincing written argument related to the professions of Criminal Justice. Faculty Comments: General Comment 1 Process:

9 3. The ability to make professional, lucid oral presentations. Faculty Comments: General Comment 1 Process: V. Summary of Program Improvement Initiatives (to be pursued in the coming academic year) Faculty will review the description for the graduate program and ensure catalog copy and wording in the assessment document match. Any changes will go to Sarah Fayard and Institutional Research. Faculty will submit change to catalog wording for Student Learning Outcome 2 to reflect wording in current assessment document. VI. Dean s Response The Dean is pleased that the faculty is able to see the fruits of their hard work and shaping the graduate professional degree.