MSU participates in higher-ed assessment academy

MSU is one of the first 14 institutions to take part in the new academy, initiated in 2006. The academy works to improve student-learning assessments through action projects at each participating school during a four-year period.

MSU last year created an academy team, co-chaired by Etta Madden, interim director of the English department, and Martha Kirker, director of the Center for Assessment and Instructional Support. The team met with other participating schools at two workshops in Chicago and laid plans for its action projects.

“Our goal with the academy is to link the new aspect of student learning outside of the classroom with the assessment of learning within specific academic programs,” Madden said in a news release. “We want faculty to know about what’s happening elsewhere on campus that contributes to or inhibits student learning in the classroom.”

The team’s first project is led by MSU’s student affairs office and involves forming learning communities dedicated to improve first-year student success on six floors in four residence halls. Students selected to live in the communities will look at monthly topics related to academics and personal development.

A second project is led by MSU’s provost office and involves revising the school’s academic program review process. The new review process, launched last year, emphasizes student-learning outcomes and includes three parts: strategic planning, an annual review and a periodic review.

During the next two years, MSU will complete annual progress reports to share its findings with the other schools and the commission. The MSU team then will showcase good practices and plan long-term strategies at a results forum.

Commission-appointed members will evaluate and respond to the final report, which will serve to document university accomplishments for the next institutional re-accreditation in 2015.