Supporting FLCs to Assess OHIO's Common Goals

AQIP Action Project Declaration Questions:

1. Briefly describe the project in less than 100 words. Be sure to identify the key organizational areas (departments, programs, divisions, units, etc.) and key organizational processes that this action project will affect, change, and/or improve.

Related to AQIP Category 1 – Helping Students Learn, and more specifically, Category 1.1 – Common Learning Outcomes (process, results and improvement), and as identified as an opportunity in our Systems Appraisal and Comprehensive Quality Review, OHIO proposes supporting faculty learning communities in developing a more mature general education assessment process. This project will involve key stakeholders including faculty and instructors, students, Faculty Senate, University Curriculum Council, Student Senate, Teaching, Learning and Assessment Committee, College and Regional Campus Deans, and University leadership.

2. Describe your institution’s reasons for initiating this action project now and how long it should take to complete it. Why are this project and its goals high among your institution’s current priorities? Also, explain how this project relates to any strategic initiatives or challenges described in the institution’s recent or soon-to-be submitted Systems Portfolio.

Since completion of the comprehensive general education assessment in 2010, Ohio University’s General Education Task Force, spent several years synthesizing and discussing what it learned. The General Education Task Force was able to articulate OHIO’s Common Learning Goals and Faculty Senate has endorsed the Common Goals for Baccalaureate Programs at Ohio University which align with AAC&U’s LEAP Model. The recommendation of the General Education Task Force to assess general education through several subcommittees, however, needs revitalization. With the arrival of new institutional leadership in summer, 2017 and with the Strategy Forum scheduled for this academic year, timing was suitable to develop an Action Project to address this challenge. This Action Project is targeted for completion in fall, 2019, with next steps scheduled to begin in spring 2020.

3. List the project goals, milestones, and deliverables along with corresponding metrics, due dates, and other measures for assessing the progress toward each goal. Be sure to include when you anticipate submitting the project for formal reviews.

The overarching goal of this project is to increase the maturity of the OHIO’s general education assessment process using a faculty-driven (via faculty learning communities) process to adopt and use AAC&U’s VALUE rubrics to assess OHIO’s Common Goals. In order to accomplish greater maturity in processes this action project seeks to:

• Garner support and develop the foundation for the FLCs including (but not limited to) structure, workload, compensation, schedule, deliverables, FLC leaders, and FLC participants 
• Develop assessment tools, processes, and resources
• Pilot the assessment process by collecting and evaluating assessment data from course embedded demonstrations of student learning in participants’ undergraduate courses
• Review results and make recommendations 

Milestones, deliverables, metrics and timelines for each goal are as follows:

Goal 1: 

Garner support and develop the foundation for the FLCs including (but not limited to) structure, workload, compensation, schedule, deliverables, FLC leaders, and FLC participants

Metrics for Goal 1:

• Formalize adoption of the AAC&U’s VALUE Rubrics by the University Curriculum Committee’s General Education Subcommittee through reports at a full University Curriculum Council meeting and a full Faculty Senate meeting.    
• Obtain written commitment from four faculty leaders to manage four individual faculty learning communities before the beginning of fall semester 2018
• Obtain written commitment for financial and administrative resources to support four faculty learning communities before the beginning of Fall 2018 
• Obtain written commitment from a minimum of 20 faculty team members before the beginning of fall semester 2018

Goal 2: 

Develop assessment tools, processes, and resources

Metrics for Goal 2: 

• Meet and discuss faculty learning community guidelines with a minimum of 24 faculty before the first day of classes in Fall 2018
• Generate a listing of concepts and agreed-upon definitions, to be communicated in faculty workshop sessions and posted on the Assessment Clearinghouse website
• Create and submit at least one proposal per FLC for assessing student demonstrations of learning using adapted versions of the VALUE rubrics by the 10th week of Fall 2018
• Approve at least one proposal per faculty learning community by the last day of classes in Fall 2018

Goal 3: 

Pilot the assessment process by collecting and evaluating assessment data from course-embedded demonstrations of student learning in participants’ undergraduate courses.

Metrics for Goal 3:

• Implement at least four course-embedded assessment plans per FLC.
• Collect assessment data from at least 400 student artifacts using the adapted VALUE rubrics.
• Create an analyzable file of at least 400 student records.

Goal 4:

Review results and make recommendations

Metrics for Goal 4: 

• Create one report per FLC summarizing assessment results
• Prepare and submit one memo per FLC to UCC about suggestions for improving general education 
• Prepare and submit one memo per FLC to the 2018 AQIP Strategy Forum group about suggestions for future faculty learning communities.
• Publish one assessment report per FLC that shares student learning outcomes with the wider university community

4. Describe how various members of the learning community will participate in this action project. Show the breadth of involvement by individuals and groups over the project’s duration.

The University Curriculum Council’s General Education Committee will provide oversight of this effort, but the project will be led by the FLCs. The Executive Vice President and Provost and Faculty Senate will champion the project, provide resources and help diminish potential obstacles to the project’s success. Consultation with other groups including students, student senate, college deans, the Teaching, Learning and Assessment Committee, and University leaders, will be essential to the project’s success.

5. Describe how the institution will monitor project progress/success during, and at the completion of this project.  Be sure to specifically state the measures that will be evaluated and when.

The project’s progress and success will be monitored by the project lead each semester. Evaluation of the project will consist of a two-step evaluation process.  Focus group interview(s) of the faculty learning community team leaders will occur during fall semester 2019. Data and information collected from the focus group interview(s) will be used to develop a Qualtrics survey. The Qualtrics survey will be administered to all faculty participants in the faculty learning communities at the end of fall semester 2019. Preliminary topics for focused group questions have already been developed:

1. Stakeholders 
2. Process
3. Data collection & reporting
4. Resources
5. Faculty reward 
6. Faculty engagement
7. Communication
8. Assessment value/support of learning

6. Describe the challenges that may be encountered in successfully completing the project or for institutionalizing the learning from the project’s goals.

Several challenges and limitation have been identified. The project assumes that the University Curriculum Council will adopt the VALUE Rubrics as learning outcomes for OHIO’s Common Goals. Secondly, despite incorporating a faculty reward mechanism as an integral part of the project plan, it might be challenging to identify enough faculty for the VALUE faculty learning community teams due to competing priorities. Finally, the plan is limited to piloting only 4 of 7 of the VALUE rubrics. However, next steps are planned beyond the pilot of this Action Project.

7. Provide any additional information that the institution wishes reviewers to understand regarding this Action Project.