St. Louis Community College: A Mission-Based Approach to Using Assessment to Improve Student Learning Outcomes and Institutional Effectiveness

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1 St. Louis Community College: A Mission-Based Approach to Using Assessment to Improve Student Learning Outcomes and Institutional Effectiveness

2 Vision for Assessment ST. LOUIS COMMUNITY COLLEGE VISION FOR ASSESSMENT St. Louis Community College has been a leader in the community college assessment movement since the early 1990s and has always viewed assessment as a tool to help improve student learning outcomes. Assessment at St. Louis Community College is more than data collection. Through assessment, the College seeks to develop a culture of inquiry in which faculty and staff can discover, interpret and act upon information to improve student learning and institutional effectiveness. Assessment must be continually examined and modified to help meet the changing needs of the College. To help guide such efforts, the College employs the following VISION for assessment. St. Louis Community College collects and uses assessment data to improve student learning, academic achievement and overall institutional effectiveness. When combined with thoughtful interpretation by faculty and staff, assessment supports the overall decision-making needs of the College and the specific decision-making needs of individual units and programs. This document will outline the College s current mission-based approach to assessment as well as provide a brief history of assessment practices. St. Louis Community College Mission Statement St. Louis Community College expands minds and changes lives every day. We create accessible and dynamic learning environments focused on the needs of our diverse communities. The College accomplishes this mission by providing programs and services related to transfer education, career and technical education, general education, basic skill development and remediation, workforce development and continuing education, and personal and academic support.

3 2 Vision for Assessment CURRENT MISSION-BASED APPROACH TO ASSESSMENT Mission of St. Louis Community College From the onset, SLCC s assessment efforts have been guided by the principle that assessment of student learning and institutional effectiveness begins with the College s educational mission and values. The College s mission statement boldly states that we change lives every day. A mission-based approach to assessment can help us focus our efforts and keep our promise to our communities. Foundation of Continuous Examination and Improvement The College s assessment efforts have been developed in accordance with the idea that assessment is an ongoing process. Assessment is a mission-based, continuous improvement process involving the systematic collection, analysis, interpretation, and use of data by faculty and staff to improve student learning outcomes and institutional effectiveness. Recognizing that, the College directly links its assessment processes to its mission and to the goals and objectives of its programs. SLCC s mission-based approach to assessment employs the following steps (I DID). INQUIRE What Do We Want to Know? Define the specific program/mission area(s) or student learning outcome to be assessed. DISCOVER What Do We Know? Identify data sources and methods of assessment and collect assessment data. INTERPRET What Does the Information Tell Us? Analyze and share the results of the data. DEVELOP What Actions Do We Plan to Take? Use results to design strategies to improve student learning and institutional effectiveness.

4 Vision for Assessment 3 SLCC S HISTORY OF ASSESSMENT The College s current mission-based assessment model is derived from a series of examinations and modifications made to assessment practices. In the early 1990s, St. Louis Community College was at the forefront of the community college assessment movement. College staff contributed to the ever-growing assessment literature with works such as: Assessing Institutional Effectiveness in Community Colleges, League for Innovation in the Community Colleges, 1990; Outcome Assessment and Student Goals, Adult Assessment Forum, 1991; and What Do Students Want, How Student Intentions Affect Institutional Assessment, Community, Technical and Junior College Journal, As the College collected a variety of assessment information, it struggled with how to make assessment of student learning outcomes a part of a continuous improvement culture, and how to ensure that the process involved more than just data collection. By 1997, the North Central Association (NCA) had required and had accepted the College s assessment plan. In June 1997, the College s newly formed Assessment Council met for the first time. Five-Year Assessment Plan Although assessment was beginning to become a part of the College s existing culture, NCA, in its 1998 self-study visit, questioned the College s ability to fully implement the assessment plan and identified assessment as an area of concern, and scheduled a focus visit for the College in From , the College continued to cultivate its commitment to assessment. In 1999, the College adopted a Five-Year Plan to improve assessment. This plan helped guide the College s assessment efforts into the next century. During the January 2001 focus visit, NCA had this to say about assessment at St. Louis Community College: Rarely has a college accomplished so much in assessment in such a short time. Following the focus visit, the College continued to examine and improve its assessment practices. New efforts related to the assessment of general education and developmental education courses were implemented. In addition, a new approach for assessing and improving College service operations (LAASIE) was implemented. L = Listen, Look and Learn A = Act A = Another Look S = Share the News I = Improve E = Excel and Celebrate By the start of the academic year, the College was immersed fully in its five-year assessment plan, which provided a wealth of information at the classroom and course level. At the same time, the College redesigned its career and technical education program evaluation model, and developed new, programmatic approaches to developmental and general education. The move to more programmatic approaches in developmental and general education required the College to once again examine its assessment efforts. As a result, a proposal was developed to shift its assessment efforts in the direction of program/mission-based assessment. This proposal entitled, A Fairly Modest Proposal: Let s Refocus SLCC Assessment in , was shared throughout the College during the academic year.

5 4 Vision for Assessment The movement to a more programmatic, mission-based approach emphasizing the thoughtful interpretation of data is consistent with current national and HLC assessment trends. Recognizing the growing need for additional programmatic and mission-based efforts, a collegewide set of performance indicators related to these key areas was developed: graduation, completion, and persistence; career and employment preparation; transfer preparation; developmental education preparation; and overall student satisfaction (SLCC Annual Assessment of Institutional Effectiveness FY 2001-FY 2005). Transition to a Programmatic Mission-Based Approach to Assessment With this continuous examination of assessment practices, the College was well positioned to move forward when its five-year assessment plan expired in Since that time, the Assessment Council carefully has examined the strengths and weaknesses of the previous plan, in addition to best practices in assessment from peer community colleges. Based upon this examination, the College created a mission-based assessment model with increased emphasis on the thoughtful interpretation of information to help improve student learning and overall institutional effectiveness. The College s Five-Year Plan focused on course and classroom assessment. The assessment approach employed the Five-Column Assessment Model developed by Dr. Jim Nichols. This model helped assessment units identify goals, outcomes, means of assessment and results of assessment as well as record how assessment results were being used. This process established an excellent foundation for helping the College link direct faculty-to-student interaction with a mission-based approach to assessment. Through this linkage, the College moved toward developing a culture of inquiry in which faculty and staff discover, interpret and act upon information to improve student learning and institutional effectiveness. Moreover, the movement to a more programmatic, mission-based approach emphasizing the thoughtful interpretation of data is consistent with current national and Higher Learning Commission (HLC) assessment trends. As for non-academic service areas, the mission-based assessment model will continue to use the highly successful LAASIE strategy developed and adopted by the College in to advance quality and lead to improvements in services and institutional effectiveness.

6 Vision for Assessment 5 ST. LOUIS COMMUNITY COLLEGE ASSESSMENT MODEL Assessment is directed by the Vice Chancellor for Education John Ganio, and organized through a series of 10 collegewide committees comprised of more than 100 faculty and staff. The assessment model is constructed within a framework that emphasizes teaching and learning as the College s most important processes. (See Figure 1.) It is not a hierarchical model no one committee is more important than any other committee and no committee reports to any other committee. The model encourages faculty and staff to work collaboratively to enhance teaching, learning and institutional effectiveness. Figure 1: Assessment Council The council consists of 32 faculty and staff members. The council is responsible for promoting the design of appropriate assessment strategies and the collection, interpretation and communication of data related to student academic achievement and institutional effectiveness. In addition, the council continuously examines the College s assessment processes. Under the general direction of the Vice Chancellor for Education and the District Leadership Team, members provide campus and districtwide input, guidance and coordination which support assessment efforts aimed at the following: Improving student learning and related academic achievement. Enhancing St. Louis Community College effectiveness. Documenting outcomes related to the mission of SLCC.

7 6 Vision for Assessment I DID INQUIRE What Do We Want to Know? Define the specific program/ mission area(s) or student learning outcome to be assessed. DISCOVER What Do We Know? Identify data sources and methods of assessment and collect assessment data. INTERPRET What Does the Information Tell Us? Analyze and share the results of the data. DEVELOP What Actions Do We Plan to Take? Use results to design strategies to improve student learning and institutional effectiveness. Within each assessment plan, the academic or service area will employ the I DID or LAASIE approach. A similar process already has been successfully employed in the College. In , the General Education Implementation Committee, working in concert with the Assessment Council, designed an INQUIRY strategy related to assessing student learning outcomes associated with the valuing goal of the College s general education model. The committee then developed the means of assessment to DISCOVER what the College knows about student learning in the general education cornerstone courses related to valuing. The participating faculty and the committee then worked together to INTERPRET the results in the context of the College s general education efforts. The committee, along with faculty and staff, then DEVELOPED strategies to improve the means of assessment, the cornerstone course, and ultimately, students skills related to valuing. The committee documented the assessment data used to support these improvement efforts. MISSION-BASED ASSESSMENT COMMITTEES (The membership for each committee is included in Appendix I of this document.) Career and Technical Education Developmental Institutional and Education General Education Student Support Transfer Education Services Workforce and Community Development Education

8 Vision for Assessment 7 Assessment Support Committees It is vital for the College to use its assessment practices to act upon information to improve student learning outcomes and institutional effectiveness. To accomplish this task, the College must ensure that assessment results are shared, have the support of faculty and staff, and that the model is continually examined. To aid in accomplishing this task, the following three assessment committees were included in the assessment model. (The membership for each committee is included in Appendix II of this document.) Divisions and Departments Assessment Committee The Divisions and Departments Assessment Committee will examine the College s assessment model to ensure that the data necessary to assess student learning is accessible. In addition, the committee will coordinate the collection of annual assessment plans from each division. Governance Committee The Governance Committee will work closely with the Assessment Council to ensure that assessment processes, results and strategies for improvements are shared and discussed within the College s governance processes. Internal and External Communication Assessment Committee The Internal and External Communication Assessment Committee will design and implement communication strategies which share assessment results and document outcomes associated with the mission of St. Louis Community College.

9 8 Vision for Assessment LEADERSHIP AND INSTITUTIONAL SUPPORT FOR ASSESSMENT St. Louis Community College supports the use of assessment information to improve student learning outcomes and institutional effectiveness. The following is just a sample of several collegewide assessment efforts which have led to improvements in student learning outcomes. Based upon information comparing firsttime student success with entering reading scores, the College implemented a reading requirement for certain 100-level courses. Early assessment results reveal that first-time students who successfully complete their developmental reading course achieve a higher GPA and return for the next semester at a higher rate. Assessment information obtained through LAASIE projects has been used to revise the College s new student orientation program. Career and technical education programs have used information obtained through the DACUM (Developing A Curriculum) process to assess and revise the curriculum in a number of programs. Assessment information regarding the success of our transfer students has been used to develop new information exchange and research projects with the University of Missouri. Assessment information related to the general education goal of valuing has been used to improve the College s general education cornerstone courses. Based upon information from clients and internal associates, the Center for Business, Industry and Labor conducted several LAASIE projects creating better processes for staff hiring, an annual regional training survey and a revitalized Web site. Chancellor Henry Shannon and the District Leadership Team fully support the College s ongoing assessment processes. In his fall 2006 opening remarks, Chancellor Shannon stated, The thoughtful interpretation of assessment information by faculty and staff, and the use of such information to improve student learning outcomes and institutional effectiveness will play a key role in helping the College keep its promises to the community. The College Institutional Affairs Council (CIAC) in February 2006 and the College Academic Affairs Council (CAC) in April 2006 have affirmed their support for assessment. Both councils have members on the Assessment Council as well as the various assessment committees. Assessment information is routinely shared with both CIAC and CAC. This support will be critical as the College seeks to more fully integrate its assessment, planning and budget development processes. In addition, leadership and institutional support for assessment are vital to the College s efforts associated with the current HLC self-study process for accreditation. Without the INQUIRE, DISCOVER, INTERPRET and DEVELOP work of the assessment committees, the College s HLC process will be incomplete. The relationship between our assessment efforts and HLC expectations is significant; in essence, each sustains the other.

10 Vision for Assessment 9 ASSESSMENT ACTIVITIES FOR ACADEMIC YEAR When assessment committees, divisions, departments, and individual faculty and staff need assistance in the systematic collection and interpretation of assessment data, a primary resource is the College s Office of Institutional Research and Planning (IRP). The IRP office has been working closely with the Assessment Council and the related assessment committees to develop a variety of research and information services related to student learning outcomes and service examination. The new Assessment Portal became operational in August 2006 ( In addition, the College now provides access to Student Voice, an online, user-friendly survey development tool. This tool will allow divisions, departments or individual faculty and staff to quickly develop an online survey related to specific student learning outcomes or service area and acquire information needed to make improvements. The following key assessment activities are planned for the academic year: A. Launch the new Assessment Web site. B. Launch the new Assessment Data/Information Portal. C. Schedule service day meetings related to the College s mission-based approach to assessment and the College s HLC self-study process. D. Develop and implement division assessment plans. E. Develop and implement assessment committees plans related to mission areas. F. Revive the Assessment Notes publication. G. Focus on assessment and communicate its relationship to the HLC self-study process on the fall Staff Development Day. H. Initiate Assessment Fridays Lunchtime discussions providing updates and forums. I. Provide assessment updates to collegewide governance councils. J. Examine the new assessment model.

11 10 Vision for Assessment CONCLUSION Assessment is not a bureaucratic exercise that takes place separate from the work we do every day in our classrooms and offices. Rather it is a critical component of how we think about our work with students and their learning outcomes associated with our mission. In this context, assessment can be viewed as a simple, yet significant, process.

12 Appendix I 11 APPENDIX I: MISSION-BASED ASSESSMENT COMMITTEES AND MEMBERSHIP A. Assessment Council Membership Nancy Adams Beth Anderhub Kelli Burns John Cosgrove Pat Crowe Darlaine Gardetto Thao Dang-Williams Donna Dare Cathye Dierberg Dave Goslik Julie Graul Ray Eberle-Mayse Lynda Fish Ed Fliss Brenda French Vernon Kays Larry McDoniel Pam McIntyre Anisha Morrell Kim Mosley Linda Nissenbaum Patsy O Connell Sue Saum Robert Serben Deneen Shepherd Laura Stevens Rich Unger Bruce Vogelgesang Barb Wachtal Donna Wallner B. Career and Technical Education Assessment Committee Membership Ashok Agrawal Beth Anderhub John Cosgrove Donna Dare Pam McIntyre Paul Roberts Bob Serben Donna Wallner Rich Unger Michael Ward C. Developmental Education Assessment Committee Membership Mary Askew Otis Beard Christine Carter Ana Coelho Donna Dare Lynda Fish Lorna Finch Tom Flynn Becky Helbling Denice Josten Vernon Kays Lillian Seese Deneen Shepherd Richard Tichenor Linda Van Vickle D. General Education Assessment Committee Membership Nancy Adams Carol Berger Dianne Breitwieser Kelli Burns Steven Collins Lynda Fish Ed Fliss Darlaine Gardetto Gail Hafer Teresa Huether Larry McDoniel Kim Mosley Bruce Munson Tim Roach Sue Saum Deneen Shepherd (Continued on next page.)

13 12 Appendix I APPENDIX I: MISSION-BASED ASSESSMENT COMMITTEES AND MEMBERSHIP (continued) Donna Spaulding Richard Tichenor George Wasson E. Institutional and Student Support Assessment Committee Membership Denise Coyne Pat Crowe Brenda Davenport Kelly Deloch Brenda French Mike George Herb Gross Dan Herbst Jill Hussey Christy Jaeger Suelaine Mathews Kevin Metzler Anisha Morrell Sheila Ouellette Kathy Petroff Harold Salmon Diane Savoca Laura Sterman Laura Stevens Bruce Vogelgesang F. Transfer Education Assessment Committee Membership Trish Aumann John Bayer Denise Coyne Jessica du Maine Kim Fitzgerald Brenda French Julie Graul Linda Hamberg Bob Langnas Judy Leach Larry McDoniel Heather McKay Burdette Miller Barb Wachal Lisa Wilkinson G. Workforce and Community Development Education Assessment Committee Membership Ed Bennett Jane Boyle Donna Dare Lorna Finch George Friesen Hattie Jackson Steve Long Pam McIntyre Bob Serben Ken Trzaska

14 Appendix II 13 APPENDIX II: ASSESSMENT SUPPORT COMMITTEES AND MEMBERSHIP A. Divisions and Departments Assessment Support Committee Membership John Cosgrove Thao Dang Williams Donna Dare Jeanne Florini Julie High Dan Herbst Vernon Kays Wil Loy Ellen McCloskey Pam McIntyre Kim Mosley B. Governance Assessment Support Committee Membership Cathye Dierberg Anisha Morrell Linda Nissenbaum Deneen Shepherd (Additional names are forthcoming for CAC.) C. Internal and External Communication Assessment Support Committee Membership Ann Brand Kelli Burns Pat Crowe Susie Edmiston Larry McDoniel Brian McKeever Toni Oplt Claudia Perry Kirsten Young

15 Expanding Minds Changing Lives