DIIA Lends Assessment Expertise to SACS Accreditation Process

With assistance from DIIA's Research, Evaluation, and Assessment (REA) section, UT Austin academic departments and administrative units are bringing to a close an important review process that began in fall 2005. Two self-study documents central to the university's reaffirmation by the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools' Commission on Colleges (SACS/COC) have been completed in preparation for the on-site visit that will take place later this spring.

The Compliance Certification document contains responses to 82 criteria of the university's compliance with Core Requirements, Comprehensive Standards, and Federal Mandates. While administrators and executive officers prepared responses to most of the standards, the criterion concerning Institutional Effectiveness required participation by faculty. With help from Outcomes Specialist Linda Neavel Dickens in establishing outcomes-based assessment plans in their departments and units, faculty and staff have designed and executed painstaking processes to show that the university is achieving institutional effectiveness in its educational programs as well as in its administrative and educational support services.

The Quality Enhancement Plan (QEP) document focuses on the university's Signature Course initiative to enhance the quality of student learning. The plan reflects the university's commitment to identify goals, develop plans to achieve specific, measurable outcomes, and provide ongoing assessment of progress, with an impact report to be submitted after five years, demonstrating the impact of the QEP on student learning. Dickens and Associate Director Dawn Zimmaro worked with Undergraduate Studies to write the assessment portion of the QEP.

Dickens and Zimmaro will attend two meetings with the on-site accreditation team in April. They will support Vice Provost of Faculty Affairs Neal Armstrong in the review of institutional effectiveness and Dean Paul Woodruff in the review of college-level competencies.

Dickens’ consultation work on the assessment plans has generated considerable fan mail from faculty and staff, who have shared comments such as these:

“We were truly lost and, with the transition that has gone on in our department, I don’t think we would have been able to produce anything without your guidance.”
“I have been left entirely on my own to design and complete the work, with the exception, of course, of your gracious guidance.”
“Your comments coincide exactly with where we wanted to go with our assessment.”
“You have been a great resource for all of us during this process …. You have made this daunting process much more manageable.”
“So many thanks for sharing your time and expertise with me. Your comments and advice have really helped to clarify some crucial features of the process.”

UT Austin’s institutional review has been a campus-wide effort, and DIIA has served as a campus-wide resource.