R & D Coordinator
Institutional Effectiveness Flow Chart narrative
One of the significant challenges involved with the implementation of the previous Assessment Plan was the lack of dedicated resources and personnel for implementing and managing the various activities. The Academic Dean was responsible for the management of the Assessment Plan, with no distinct budget to facilitate and coordinate the various components. Given the scope of a comprehensive assessment plan, and the broad range of other responsibilities of the Academic Dean in a small college, this strategy allowed for only intermittent administrative oversight.
As can been seen on the Institutional Effectiveness Flow Chart, page 26, the college has identified an individual outside of the faculty body, and the Academic Dean's office, to serve as Research and Development Coordinator, (R & D Coordinator). The person in this position will report directly to the college President. This has the added benefit of allowing for more objective assessment of instruction and learning by not placing the Academic Dean in a position where his/her responsibilities may generate conflicts of interest. A dedicated budget will be included in the college's next annual budget to provide for the salary of the Research and Development Director, development and implementation of various surveys and the coordination of various activities and personnel to be involved in the ongoing Assessment Plan improvement and enhancement.
The R & D Director position will be dedicated half-time to assessment efforts; the rest of that person's time will be involved with institutional planning processes and grant writing. The R & D Director will serve as the chair of a newly configured Assessment Committee. This committee will be comprised of students, faculty, administration and a member of the Board of Regents.
The Institutional Effectiveness Flow Chart is not an organizational chart, (though it does have such implications). It is meant to identify the different nodes from which assessment data will be gathered and identify the flow of this data and its analysis and follow-through within the organization. Assessment data will be collected at the lowest level of the chart and channeled to the R & D Director's office. The Coordinator will facilitate the collection of data, assist with the development of surveys, procedures, and other instruments, and provide the oversight necessary to ensure that the various activities take place at the proper time.
Initial interpretation of data will take place at the level denoted on the chart by rectangular boxes. These interpretations and data will be collected by the R & D Director, and evaluated based upon whether the data does, or does not, verify the attainment of stated objectives. The Assessment Committee is responsible for identifying actions to be taken when data indicates objectives are not being met.
The R & D Director will also be a member of the Administrative Council, which serves as the college's main decision making body for routine operations. For issues that may have policy and/or personnel ramifications, the President will use his judgement to bring matters to the Board of Regents. Having a Board member on the Assessment Committee will also help ensure open and consistent communication, and awareness, of assessment matters and their ramifications amongst the other Regents.
Since one of the main reasons for the development and implementation of assessment plans is to gauge institutional effectiveness and direct positive change, assessment has a central role in the planning efforts of the college. An anticipated result of the process undertaken to involve all the administration and faculty in the development of this plan is that these same constituents will have a vested interest in seeing that the plan is carried out properly and that the identified objectives are attained. The same individuals and channels through which the assessment data flows are the very mechanisms by which decisions and planning efforts take place.
The Research and Development Director, and the Assessment Committee, will have the authority to suggest that processes be initiated with the various institutional programs when the results of assessment indicate an objective is not being reached. The levels on the Institutional Effectiveness Flow chart denoted by rectangular boxes all have Directors or Deans responsible for the collection, initial analysis, reporting and responding to the information gathered through assessment processes. Reports generated at this level will be forwarded up the Flow Chart to the R & D Director as well as down, or out, to those individuals engaged in the direct provision of services.
The college's Annual Report will contain a comprehensive report on that year's assessment efforts and findings and will be utilized as a basis for guiding the planning efforts to guide subsequent years' activities. The college holds an annual retreat in June at which top level administration and the Board of Regents reviews the previous year's accomplishments and sets direction for short-term and long-range planning. With the articulation of comprehensive institutional objectives and benchmarks for their evaluation, assessment results summarized in the Annual Report will provide the foundation for the strategies and plans developed during this Retreat.