The Department Head's Guide to Assessment Implementation in Administrative and Educational Support Units

by Nichols, Karen W.; Nichols, James O.

• ISBN13: 9780875861302
• ISBN10: 087586130X
• Format: Paperback
• Copyright: 2000-06-01
• Publisher: Agathon Pr

Table of Contents

Preface	9	(11)
Understanding the Requirements for Assessment or Institutional Effectiveness Implementation	11	(4)
When Did the Assessment Movement Originate and How Has It Developed?	11	(1)
What Are Various Assessment Initiatives Seeking to Determine?	12	(2)
What Is the Future of the Assessment Movement?	14	(1)
Introduction to Assessment in Administrative and Educational Support (AES) Units	15	(18)
Why Am I Participating in the Assessment Activities at Our Institution?	15	(2)
How Does Assessment of Institutional Effectiveness Relate to the Strategic Planning Already Taking Place on Many Campuses?	17	(2)
If We're Doing Strategic Planning, Isn't That Enough?	19	(1)
What Typesof Administrative and Educational Support (AES) Units Are We Talking About?	20	(2)
How Does Assessment in Administrative and Educational Support Units Differ from Those Related Activities Taking Place in Our Campus' Instructional Programs and Other Forms of `Evaluation' Already in Place?	22	(3)
What Is The Institutional Context for Assessment in Administrative and Educational Support (AES) Units?	25	(2)
Who Should Be Involved in Implementation of Assessment Within Administrative and Educational Support Units?	27	(1)
What Components Should Be Included in the Completed AES Unit Assessment/Improvement Report?	28	(1)
How Do We Go About Implementing the Concepts Illustrated in Figure 4?	29	(1)
What Is a Reasonable Amount of Time for Implementation of Assessment Activities in AES Units?	29	(1)
Conclusion	29	(4)
Formulating the Unit Assessment Plan	33	(48)
Establish a Linkage to the Institution's Statement of Purpose	33	(2)
An Approach That Works	35	(1)
Prepare the Administrative Unit Mission Statement	35	(5)
Formulating the Unit Mission Statement	40	(1)
An Approach That Works	41	(1)
Formulate Administrative Objectives	41	(1)
Types of Administrative Objectives Common in AES Units	41	(3)
Senior Administrative Officers' Preparation of Statements of Administrative Objectives	44	(1)
The Duration of Administrative Objectives	44	(1)
Guidelines to Be Followed in Formulating Unit Administrative Objectives	45	(5)
The Need to Review and Change Administrative Objectives	50	(1)
An Approach That Works	51	(1)
Identify Means of Assessment and Criteria for Success	51	(2)
Attitudinal Assessment in Administrative and Educational Support Units	53	(6)
Institutional Level Attitudinal Assessment in AES Units	59	(6)
Use of Point-of-Contact Surveys by Administrative and Educational Support Units	65	(3)
Improving the Credibility of Survey Research as a Means of Assessment in AES Units	68	(1)
Direct Measures as a Means of Assessment for AES Units	69	(2)
External Evaluation as a Form of AES Service Assessment	71	(1)
Assessment of ``Outcome Oriented'' Administrative Objectives	72	(1)
An Approach That Works---Identifying Means of Assessment	73	(1)
Establishment of the Unit Criteria Success in AES Units	73	(2)
An Approach That Works---Explaining Criteria for Success to Your Staff	75	(1)
Concluding Comments Regarding Preparation of the Assessment Plan	75	(6)
From Planning to Implementation and Use of Results	81	(15)
Conduct Assessment Activities	81	(1)
Responsibility for Seeing That Assessment Gets Done	81	(1)
Recording the Data Collected	82	(1)
Document Use of Results for Service Improvement	83	(5)
Creation of an Occasion to Use Assessment Results	88	(1)
Types of Changes to Be Expected as a Result of Assessment Activities in AES Units	88	(2)
Actions to Be Taken If the AES Unit Meets Its Criteria for Success	90	(1)
Demonstration of the Use of Assessment Results to Improve Services in AES Units	91	(5)
Documentation of Assessment Activities and Use of Results to Improve Services by Administrative and Educational Support Units	96	(9)
Assessment in Organized Research and External Service/Continuing Education Units	105	(8)
Assessment in Organized Research Units	105	(4)
Assessment in External Service/Continuing Education Units	109	(4)
Concluding Comments Regarding Assessment in Administrative and Educational Support Units	113	(1)
Appendix A. AES Unit Assessment Documentation Instructions and Forms	114	(11)
Appendix B. Summary of Nationally Standardized Attitudinal Surveys for Assessment in Higher Education	125	(3)
Appendix C. Availability of Optical Mark Readers and Software to Prepare Customized Assessment Surveys	128