Assessment at Gustavus is driven by our commitment to student learning. Our assessment program cultivates a culture of curiosity and supports a professional responsibility for making our academic programs as robust as possible. The Program Assessment and Development Committee plays a leadership role in our assessment efforts.
The College continually assesses the effectiveness of its programs through departmental assessment of student learning outcomes, including regular external reviews, and regular review of its general education programs. We also assess learning through research initiatives such as the Wabash National Study of Liberal Arts Education funded by the Center of Inquiry in the Liberal Arts, and a value-added assessment project to measure writing, critical thinking, and civic engagement funded by the Teagle Foundation.
Gustavus is accredited by the Higher Learning Commission of the North Central Association of Colleges and Schools. Additionally, several programs are accredited by disciplinary organizations.What a department assessment plan should include
Sample Department Assessment Plans
Biology / English / Health and Exercise Science / Library
Annual reports sent to the Program Assessment and Development Committee should address these questions:
Every ten years , departments undergo an external review. See the Department Chair's Handbook for details.
Each department or program may spend up to $250 to support their assessment efforts. Among the kinds of activities that will be supported are funding a retreat to discuss assessment data at the end of the year, postage for an alumni surveys, tests that would yield assessment information, exams, travel to conferences, etc. To use these funds, send a request to the chair of the PADC. Receipts go to the Dean's Office for reimbursement. Requests that exceed $250 may be funded if the budget allows.
Other campus resources
On the Internet
Information about Gustavus and its Students
Survey data available from the Institutional Research Office includes
NSSE (National Survey of Student Engagement)
Senior Survey
Faculty have the primary responsibility for seeking feedback on their teaching from students. According to the Faculty Handbook, "Faculty will be responsible for evaluating the effectiveness of their teaching for each course, each semester."
In so doing, faculty may use a Gustavus-devised form, to use the SETs Student Evaluation of Teaching form, or to design an evaluation instrument of their own. In addition to this routine feedback, the Personnel Committee distributes and collects student evaluations for third year review, tenure, and promotion using a paper-and-pencil version of the SET, linked below.Forms
If you have a student employee compile written survey results for you, you may wish to use this confidentiality form.
There is also a Feedback feature available for designing online evaluation instruments in the Moodle course management system. Included there is an online version of the SETs form that you can use or adapt for your own uses. Results are anonymous and only visible to the course instructor. To use this feature of Moodle, follow these steps.
Note that a drawback of using an online instrument rather than distributing and collecting an evaluation in class is that there can be low student participation.
Functions
Membership
Current Members
Sean Cobb, Anna Hulseberg, Julie Gilbert (Chair); David Menk (ex officio); Barbara Kaiser (ex officio).
