Outcomes Assessment Day (May 5, 2022)

The event took place in the first floor of the Combes Building. 4 workshops, namely; First Steps in Assessment, Experiential Learning Activities: Academic Research & Practice and Study Abroad, Blue Sky Assessment and Student Mental Health were organized by volunteering faculty and staff and were attended by over 50 participants.

Outcomes Assessment Day (May 10, 2021)

The event was successfully celebrated through Teams. Please find here the report of the event.

Communication to the Faculty from the Office of Educational Assessment and Institutional Research (February 2021):

Assessment of Student Learning and the MSCHE

As we mentioned in the last communication to the Faculty Senate, all of the reporting from the current assessment cycle, Faculty Activity Reports, Department Reports, GLACC Reports, FirstBridge Reports, etc., will inform the Supplemental Information Report that the MSCHE is requiring of us by the end of August. All of the relevant assessment evidence can already be gathered as we will be reporting on the calendar year 2020 and not on Spring 2021. Some faculty members have already submitted their assessment (including results, conclusions, and planned actions) to their department chairs and program directors. As you all know, assessment results are due on the 15th of March and should be included in the Faculty Activity Report. However certain program directors may ask for the results earlier (e.g. GLACC and FristBridge). Please do not hesitate to ask for clarification and assistance.

Delaware Department of Education

In January we submitted all the relevant documentation for our application for renewal of the right to confer degrees with the Delaware Department of Education. We have no reason to expect any problems. Who could possible expect a reaccreditation application to go awry?

Curricular Reviews

After last year’s hiatus, we are returning to our regular calendar of curricular reviews. The department of Psychology and the Department of Economics and Management are expected to host external visitors in early February 2022, while the Department of French Studies and Modern languages and the Department of Computer Sciences Mathematics and Environmental Sciences will be starting the review process in Fall 2021.

Outcomes Assessment Day

In a demonstration of blind optimism, we have reserved rooms C-101, C-102, C-103, and C-104 for Monday 10th of May from 9 am to 1:30 pm to hold the Outcomes Assessment Day. Whether or not we can hold an in-person event, online participation will be welcome. Are we not experts, if not fans, of the blended symposium/workshop formula? Our colleagues on the Institutional Effectiveness Steering Committee are preparing relevant and helpful themes for the workshops and a schedule is soon to follow.

Communication to the Faculty from the Office of Educational Assessment and Institutional Research (September 2020):

Most of the faculty were present at the final oral report of the MSCHE Visiting Team. I will echo the President in her Lettre de Rentrée in saying that: “we were all disappointed by the impact of Covid and a delayed virtual visit on our peer reviewers’ ability to ‘read’ our campus holistically and ‘see’ our substantial progress in all of the areas spelled out in the Standards of Excellence.” The final VT report was received by AUP on June 25th and confirmed the VT oral report. On July 2nd, we provided a 25-page response contesting the VT conclusions and demonstrating our compliance with all the standards.  Both these documents are now in the hands of the MSCHE. We expect to learn the Commission’s decision in late November and then to proceed according to its directives which will likely include the filing of a supplementary information report (SIR, due in March 2021) and possibly a visit by a small group of MSCHE officers in late Spring 2021. Though no MSCHE institution will be found in non-compliance as a result of a virtual visit, this is still one of the possible outcomes after the Commission reviews our SIR and concludes their next visit in Spring 2021. We have all found it very trying to compile and submit our assessment reports during the Covid semester and a majority of the departmental reports are still incomplete (you know who you are).

Over the next few weeks, we will have to finalize the Departmental and Administrative Unit reports which will all have to be included in the Supplemental Information Report to MSCHE. In doing so, we will have to pay special attention to the “follow-up on implemented actions” table which is where the department reports of closing-the-loop. Please do not wait for me to come and ask you to start working on these. In the meantime, I want to thank all those department chairs who have tirelessly worked with me over the last few weeks to edit and complete their reports. I am well aware of how painful this is, because you tell me every time, and I appreciate your efforts and genuinely enjoy and look forward to our meetings. We are also starting the process of redrafting course LOs to create an explicit alignment with the majors those courses serve. This process will start with the department chairs and program directors but will eventually involve all faculty offering course that make up the core of that major or program. The deadline for this LO realignment process is November 16th.

Finally, this office will also be gathering documentation for the reaccreditation process with the Delaware Department of Education, due in December, as well as the collection of KPIs from all Units to conclude the 2015-2020 strategic period.

Communication to the Faculty from the Office of Educational Assessment and Institutional Research (May 2020):

Middle States Self-Study

Since our last newsletter to the faculty, the MSCHE visiting team has been pouring over our Evidence Inventory, helpfully point out where supplementary documentation would be appreciated. During this period, we have been asking faculty and staff to provide additional documentation, sometimes while on vacation, and generally with more urgency, and perhaps less patience, than we would have liked to. Thanks to your phenomenal reactivity and effort, the MSCHE Visiting Team had expressed general satisfaction with the documents thus far provided and was looking forward to a successful on-site visit in mid-March. This was before the onset of the Covid-19 pandemic in Europe.

As most of you have already heard, MSCHE has made adjustments to the guidelines and requirements of the reaccreditation visit in response to Covid-19. The 2.5 day on-site visit is now being replaced by a “virtual visit”. During the virtual visit, we will host the same meetings that were planned under the on-site visit with as minimal alterations as possible to account for the new circumstances. Meetings will be held online and in the afternoon to accommodate different time zones. The entire visit will be spread over four days to account for a shorter working day. The provisional dates for the Virtual Visit are Tuesday the 26th to Friday 29th of May. We expect you to take all reasonable measures to be available, on line or in person, on those dates.

In preparation for the May Virtual Visit the Assessment Outcomes Day was repurposed into a single 2hr. session from 10 am to 12 am (Wednesday the 29th of April) in which we:

  • present the MSCHE guidelines for the visit and the provisional schedule
  • addressed issues regarding assessment, and next year’s reporting, of students’ learning during the Covid-19 pandemic

Of particular relevance among the new MSCHE guidelines for the Virtual Visit is that the measures taken in response to the Covid-19 pandemic and especially all forms of online pedagogy (MSCHE uses the term “distance learning”) are NOT pertinent to the reaccreditation.

Communication to the Faculty from the Office of Educational Assessment and Institutional Research (February 2020):

Middle States Self-Study

Since our last request, comments to the Self-Study Report have steadily come in. Thank you to all those who sent in recommendations regarding both content and style. Our Self-Study has been substantially improved by them. The time for recommendations and additions is now decidedly over. On the 24th of January, Diane Bonneau, on behalf of the Steering Committee, uploaded the final version of the University’s Self-Study, together with just under 300 individual documents, to the MSCHE reaccreditation data portal. Since that day, the MSCHE Visiting Team has been poring over our Self-Study Report and the attached documentation. In the first week they have made ten individual requests for additional documentation which we have addressed to their satisfaction. We can expect the requests to continue.

As we have mentioned many times before, the MSCHE Visiting Team will be on Campus from the evening of Sunday the 15th of March to the morning of Wednesday the 18th of March. Although we are in the process of negotiating a schedule of meetings between the 8 member Visiting Team and the AUP community, it is the prerogative of the Team Chair to ask for different or additional meetings upon arrival on campus. It is therefore important that we take all reasonable measures to be available.  

Departmental Curricular Reviews

We are currently in the 3rd wave of departmental curricular reviews. The external reviewers for the Comparative Literature and English Department, the Global Communications Department, and the Film Studies Department have all sent in their final reports. The Psychology Department and the International Business Administration Department are currently planning, or beginning, their respective self-studies.

The Assessment Outcomes Day

This year, Assessment Outcomes day will be held on Wednesday the 29th of April from 9:30 to 14:00. The Assessment Task Force welcomes its new members Russell Williams and Laurence Amoureux and is feverishly working to develop 4 exciting new workshops which you will not want to miss. The workshops will cover topics such as: the new Experiential Learning and Research Methods and Writing in the discipline, establishing a two-year assessment cycle, and direct versus indirect evidence, moving towards more effective measures of student learning. A final schedule will be available shortly after the MSCHE Team visit.

Communication to the Faculty from the Office of Educational Assessment and Institutional Research (December 2019):

Middle States Self-Study

On the 1st of November a final 2nd draft of the MSCHE self-study was distributed to all AUP faculty and staff for comments. Thank you to all those who sent in recommendations. Our self-study has been substantially improved by them. Although the deadline for contributions was on the 15th of November, any further comments, especially when relative to incorrect information, are welcome.

On the 4th and 5th of November Dr. Richard Hodges, President of the American University of Rome and chair of the reaccreditation visiting team, was present on campus. Richard met with members of the leadership team, selected faculty, staff, and students. Richard was positively impressed by every aspect of the University and described the self-study itself as “compelling”.

Middle States, after accepting one suggested amendment, has selected the members of our visiting team. Early next semester we will begin drafting a schedule for their visit which will be from the 15th to the 18th of March.

Departmental Curricular Reviews

We are currently in the final stages of the 2nd wave of departmental curricular reviews. The external reviewers for the Comparative Literature and English Department and the Global Communications Department have concluded their visit at the time of writing this document. The external reviewers for the Films Studies Department are expected to have concluded their visit before the day of the faculty senate. The next wave of reviews includes the Psychology Department and the International Business Administration Department and is currently in the planning stages.

From Institutional Research:

Course Evaluations

The technical problem that we had with the course evaluation system has been identified. We are working on a plan to fix this in the future. Thank you for your understanding with this issue.

Surveys

We send information about annual surveys to faculty as well, these communications include information about alumni, first destinations, senior surveys, FirstBridge course surveys, and entry and orientation surveys.

Communication to the Faculty from the Office of Educational Assessment and Institutional Research (May 2019):

Middle States self-study

Thanks to the continued effort of the members of the steering committee, and especially to our new chief editor Lilyana Yankova from Academic Affairs, a complete first draft of the Self-Study is now ready for distribution to AUP faculty and staff. Please take the necessary time to read, discuss, and comment at will. We expect to have a second draft completed by October, in preparation for the visit of the MSCHE visiting team chair: Dr. Richard Hodges, President of the American University of Rome, scheduled for November 6th 2019.

In the week from April 22nd to 26th, AUP hosted a team of consultants from the CUNY Assessment Office. The aim of the visit was to audit our self-study report and case for reaccreditation. The team met one-on-one with steering committee members, with the provost, and with the associate dean for educational assessment. The CUNY consultant team was positively impressed with our assessment effort so far. The team also suggested numerous revisions to the self-study and copious opportunities for improvement to our institutional assessment process. The steering committee will be considering these suggestions and revisions in the following days.

Outcomes Assessment Day

AUP’s Outcomes Assessment Day will be held tomorrow (9th May) in Combes. You have received the schedule in a separate communication. After coffee and viennoiseries, there will be 30min. informative yet diverting presentation on the findings of the CUNY consultant team with a focus on how our educational assessment can be streamlined. Workshops will follow with focus on: assessing Digital Literacy, successful mission statements, developing a blueprint for grading rubrics at AUP, and streamlining assessment at AUP.

Things to mention in Faculty Senate:

  • Student evaluations close today at 11:59 pm.
  • Please upload our syllabi for summer and fall 2019. If your Learning Objectives are missing contact Ursula.
  • Departmental reports are due on the 15th of May.

Communication to the Faculty from the Office of Educational Assessment and Institutional Research (November 2018):

MSCHE

We are now in the 2nd year of our self-study for the Middle-States Commission on Higher Education. All 6 working groups, comprising the self-study committee, have turned in their November progress reports on schedule. Also, the evidence inventory is on its way to being completed. The first draft of the self-study should be completed by December. On November 21st the Steering Committee met with the new MSCHE Liaison Officer. Tasks and reporting lines for strategic priorities were clarified. Over the past few months, some AUP staff and faculty have been asked to collaborate to this effort and have done so with enthusiasm. We are very grateful for their help.

Department Curricular Reviews

The reviewing team for the History Department will conclude their visit on Thursday 29th November. This is the last team visit for this year. The next visits will be in Fall 2019 and will involve the departments of Comparative Literature, Film Studies and Global Communications. We expect to have finalized reviews for the Departments of Art History and Fine Arts, History, and International Comparative Politics by the end of 2018.

Assessment

As announced in the prior Faculty Senate, the Office of Educational Assessment has been meeting with departmental chairs to review, complete and standardize the assessment sections of the department reports (section V). We have highlighted all implementation and assessment of prior “planned actions” thereby effectively reporting on closing the feedback loop on prior year assessment efforts. At the time of writing this update, all but 1 of our departments have reviewed their assessment reports with this Office.

Other routine communications

  • The Institutional Research Office has completed all HEDS surveys for 2018 (alumni, first destination, and senior).
  • As announced, course evaluations will be distributed to students on Wednesday 28th November at 10 am and will remain open until the last day of classes at 11:59 pm
  • Faculty will soon be asked to upload their Spring 2019 syllabi onto the new online platform.

NEW "RESOURCES FOR FACULTY" GUIDE AVAILABLE - JULY 2017

The new Resources for Faculty guide will be distributed to new faculty and made available to chairs for departmental customization.

Outcomes Assessment Day (April 2017) 

The Outcomes Assessment Day 2017 will take place on May 16 in C104. The preliminary program contains the list of workshops. All faculty and staff are welcome. The workshop organizers and we look forward to seeing you there!

Welcome to Kate on the Assessment Task Force (January 2017)

Welcome to Kate Zhang, the new member of the assessment task force, who replaces Brian Schiff while he is devoting his time and energy to the direction of the George and Irina Schaeffer Center for the Study of Genocide, Human Rights and Conflict Prevention. Good luck to Brian and thanks to Kate for accepting to serve on the task force.

Faculty Achievements Report 2016 (Distributed January 2017)

The Faculty Achievements Report covering the calendar year 2015 was published.

Retention Study, quantitative analysis (Distributed January 2017)

The quantitative analysis of institutional data for the retention study was presented to the Board of Trustees and Leadership Team. You can see the retention study presentation.

Institutional Outcomes Assessment Report 2016 (Distributed January 2017)

The Institutional Outcomes Assessment Report covering the calendar year 2015 for academic departments, and the academic year 2015/2016 for administrative units, was distributed.

The report was discussed with the leadership team who revised the action plan and will integrate it in it strategic plan and budgeting activities.

Outcomes Assessment Day (June 2016)

Outcomes Assessment Day 2016: Call for workshops - May 2016

This year's Outcomes Assessment Day will take the form of a forum where faculty and administrative staff will have the occasion to exchange on several topics that are essential for both student learning and institutional effectiveness.

See the call for workshops: both faculty and staff are invited to open conversations that will foster exchanges between the University's constituencies.

Online Syllabi tool is available - August 2018

A faculty member can access his/her syllabi via his/her profile on MyAUP at ‘MyAUP / My Profile / Faculty / My Courses’ or directly here.

For each course offering a variety of actions are available:

  • Create Syllabus: If no syllabus exists for this offering.
  • Edit & View Syllabus: If a syllabus exists for this offering.
  • View PDF Archive: If an archived PDF exists for this offering.

Please read the frequently asked questions and user guide for more information (use the link under ‘My Courses’).

Syllabi are available to students via the Course Catalog

Results of first test of the online course evaluation system - May 2016

The first small-scale test of the new course evaluation software went very smoothly and yielded some interesting results. A summary of the results is in this extract of the Dean's report to the Faculty Senate.

2015 FirstBridge Assessment Report (quantitative analysis) is available - March 2016

The report with the data analysis of both beginning of semester and end of semester questionnaires for Fall 2015 FirstBridge courses is available on the Institutional Research pages.

Faculty Senate approval for FAR and Course Evaluation - Spring 2016

At the first Faculty Senate meeting of Spring 2016 the new Faculty Activity Report Form and the pilot of the new online course evaluation form were both approved.

Mark your calendars:

Outcomes Assessment Day 2016 will be held on JUNE 7th

New draft of Faculty Activity Report distributed to faculty and CE for comments and "avis" - February 2016

After the revision of the Provost, Council of Chairs and Executive Committee, the new draft of the Faculty Activity Report was distributed to faculty for comments and to the CE for "avis".

New draft of Course Evaluation Form distributed to faculty and CE for comments and "avis" - February 2016

After the revision of the Provost, Council of Chairs and Executive Committee, the new draft of the Course Evaluation Form was distributed to faculty for comments and to the CE for "avis".

New "Resources for Faculty" guide available - January 2016

The new Resources for Faculty guide was distributed to new faculty and made available to chairs for departmental customization.

Release of first draft of the new Course Evaluation Form - November 2015

The First draft of new course evaluation form was distributed to the Council of Chairs and Executive Committee of the Faculty Senate for feedback. Once the feedback from these committees will be integrated, the form will be sent to the CE and the whole faculty for further comments (see more details in the document itself).

Draft proposal for revision of the Self-Designed Major processes and procedures distributed to Council of Chairs - November 2015

The draft proposal for the revision of the Self Designed Major processes and procedures has been submitted to Council of Chairs for comments.

FirstBridge Assessment - First results October 2015

The FirstBridge beginning of the year questionnaire was administered for the first time this semester. The Report on the results of the FirstBridge beginning of the year questionnaire is now available.

Outcomes Assessment Day 2014-2015

The Outcomes Assessment Day 2014-2015 will take place on June 29 in room C104. Faculty and staff from across the University will present their assessmnet and plans for the coming year. Please see the detailed calendar and the OutcomesAssessmentDay2015_Slides.pptx

Assessment Task Force 2015-2016

Ruth Corran, Kevin Fore, Florence Gagnieur, Brian Schiff, Michael Stoepel, Charles Talcott and Albert Wu have kindly accepted to serve as members of the Assessment Task Force.