General Education Requirements Assessment Task Force

General Education Requirements Assessment Task Force:

Preliminary Message to Faculty Senate—5 April 2013

1) Charge: The Faculty Senate, in its motion of September 7, 2012, called for the creation of a General Education Requirements Task Force and charged it with investigating and reporting on national best practices in the assessment of general education curricula. The motion called for a two year project, with the Task Force spending the first year researching national best practices in assessment of GER outcomes, and then fostering a campus wide dialogue during the second year, culminating in recommendations for action on GER student learning outcomes assessment at UAA.

2) Task Force Work for 2012-13: Set up in mid-October, 2012, The Task Force has intensively researched and discussed national best practices in assessing general education outcomes. This inquiry included commissioning a report by Hanover Research (available on the Task Force website http://www.uaa.alaska.edu/governance/ger-assessment-task-force/index.cfm) and carefully examining specific general education assessment practices, structures, and culture at selected universities. Additionally, a number of Task Force members participated, with representatives from UAF and UAS, in an ACC&U (American Council of Colleges and Universities) workshop on general education outcomes and assessment here at UAA in January 2013. One member of the Task Force attended the AAC&U Annual Meeting in Atlanta, January 23-26, and three members of the Task Force attended the AAC&U Working Conference: General Education and Assessment: A Sea Change in Student Learning, held in Boston, February 28-March 2, 2013.

3) Suggested Guiding Principles and Values in GER Outcomes Assessment: General Education is integral to the undergraduate educational experience at UAA. It provides students with a common, well-rounded, educational experience and builds a foundational body of core skills necessary for life-long learning and a variety of career paths. The GER does not stand alone. As students progress through the GERs, they gain knowledge and skills, which they will continue to develop within a chosen major.

The GER Student Learning Outcomes (SLOs) set out the specific skills and abilities in which UAA students should develop proficiency as they move through their GER studies (see UAA Academic Catalog 2012-13, pp. 83-87, for GER information and SLOs). By assessing student achievement of the GER SLOs, we will engage in open-ended inquiry and productive discussion about student performance, better understand the role of the GERs in our students’ overall academic experience, and be more informed as we consider curricular changes and improvements.

After researching national best practices and approaches, the Task Force respectively submits the following guiding principles for developing a general education assessment plan at UAA, with attention to faculty, students, and the institution as a whole. Guiding Principles for General Education Assessment

Faculty Students Institution

Participate in a process of Focus on improving overall Consider carefully who owns shared inquiry. student achievement of the the results and makes the Conversations among faculty learning outcomes. recommendations for are key to meaningful Assessment is not about a improvement. assessment. particular course, instructor, or student.

Empower faculty to engage Make assessment useful. Fund and reward at the in productive conversations Assessment can be used as a school/college and university on disciplinary and cross- pedagogical tool for level. disciplinary levels. formative assessment. Assessment can encourage students to reflect on the purpose of the GERs and to make connections between their own educational experiences.

Assess what we value for our students. Integrate assessment into Build on current practices regular faculty and student work and use what the faculty members while maintaining choice and and students already do in their classes. flexibility.

Discuss, engage, enact - Make it meaningful.

Keep it simple, sustainable, and don’t be afraid to start small. Focus, stagger, and sample.

Communicate the story and engage a broader audience. Make the goals transparent.

4) Campus Wide Forums and Discussions of GER Assessment Best Practices: Beginning Fall 2013, the GER Assessment Task Force will invite faculty into a conversation about best practices, their own contributions to helping students meet the GER outcomes, and how they see themselves contributing to the assessment of that achievement. This will include:  A session in the September AAC Assessment Workshop/Summit  CAFE sessions  GER Outcomes Assessment retreat in early November  Discussion with Councils of Deans and Councils of Chairs

5) Recommendations for Action: Contingent on the status of the all-campus GER assessment discussions, in the Spring 2014 the GER Assessment Task Force plans to present to the Faculty Senate a final report with recommendations for actions on implementing a GER assessment process at UAA. This report would include funding implications of a new GER assessment plan.