DIIA Staff Leads Statewide Implementation of Senate Bill 111
DIIA team members Dawn Zimmaro, Connie Williams, and Mellanie Patterson from Instructional Assessment and Evaluation and Student Services recently developed an implementation plan for UT Austin to administer Texas State Senate Bill 111, which regulates the evaluation of the International Baccalaureate (IB) Diploma Program, noted for its depth, challenging curriculum, and rigorous assessment.
Once the bill passed, the Texas Higher Education Coordinating Board (THECB) called a working group meeting in October 2005, where the DIIA staff members considered the policies under which UT Austin and other Texas institutions awarded credit on the basis of the IB Diploma Program. In conjunction with colleagues from UT Arlington and Texas A&M, the DIIA members helped develop an IB best practices document to guide implementation of S.B. 111 by other colleges and universities.
Then, in consultation with the dean of students, the team worked with UT Austin’s academic departments to develop a UT Austin IB implementation plan. Zimmaro, Williams, and Patterson presented the new plan at the December 2005 THECB meeting as part of a best practices presentation for all Texas colleges and universities.
Our DIIA team tackled the difficult task of expanding credit-by-examination policy to include a broader range of issues specific to UT Austin, working closely with Provost Eckland-Olson, the dean of each college and school, department chairs, and the registrar’s office.
Williams was a presenter at the February 2006 THECB workshop, discussing how the IB diploma and college-level course work overlap and suggesting sound practices for working with faculty to implement the Senate bill.