Contact Information:
Dr. Karl Schonberg
Associate Dean of Academic Affairs
St. Lawrence University
Canton, NY 13617
315-229-5998
kschonberg@stlawu.edu |
August 11, 2005
Colleagues:
I write to convey more information about the August 16th meeting of Department
Chairs.
Department and Program Admissions Liaisons
The first item on our agenda will be a discussion with Terry Cowdrey of an approach
she and I have developed to make the relationship between academic programs and
admissions as efficient and effective as possible. In order to be more attractive
to our prospective students, we need to do more to highlight the quality and
scope of our academic programs. We, as faculty, are the most appropriate spokespersons
for this task. Therefore, I am asking each department and academic program
to put forward a faculty member to serve as the liaison to admissions. The
default assumption is that you, as the chair or coordinator, will be the liaison,
and Terry and I will proceed with this understanding unless we here otherwise
from you by September 1st.
The attached file is a draft description of the admissions liaison's roles throughout
the year. Terry and I believe that if this work is done well, it will have a
huge positive impact on the quality of students who matriculate at St. Lawrence
each year. In many ways, the chair or coordinator is ideally situated to play
the role, but we both agree that what is most important is that the liaison in
each case will be a willing, even enthusiastic, participant in this process. If
you believe someone other than yourself in your department or program has a special
interest in or knack for representing your program in admissions work, you are
welcome to put forward that person as the department or program liaison.
Terry and I look forward to discussing this idea and the draft description
it with you.
Middle States Reaccreditation and Academic Program Review
The second item on our agenda will be the design and discussion of a
process that will culminate in academic program self-studies, which will contribute
in part to the Middle States reaccreditation review. In preparation for
our discussion next Tuesday (8/16), please read the report on assessment attached
to this message.
In short, I ask that each department and program engage in a process of reflection
and analysis over the coming year. The lead premise of our assessment
work is that it be formative. That is, first and foremost, departments
and programs should create on-going and systematic methods of assessment that
are alive and useful in better achieving your own goals; your own assessment
of your program should inform your own revisions of your program's curriculum
and practice. As a consequence of this work, you will also be
very well situated to report to Middle States, but these reports are not the
first purpose of this process.
As a starting point for our discussion, let me suggest the following steps and
timetable:
- Program Specific Learning Goals: November 1st. As
the first step in this process, please convene the faculty of
your department or program for a careful, thoughtful discussion
of your program's learning goals. This is obviously
difficult, but it shouldn't be impossible.
- If you were to give an account of the knowledge, skills,
and habits of mind that you would hope to find in the graduates
of your program, what would they be?
- What is your academic program designed to accomplish?
- What would you hope that every major graduating from your
program would know, would be able to do, would have as cultivated
habits of mind?
- What are the qualities that you hope would distinguish the
students graduating from your program from those with other
majors?
Your catalogue of learning goals may, in the end, be simple or
elaborate, brief or quite detailed. It should, however, be
specific enough represent your discipline and its sub-fields.
As part of this reflection and analysis, please situate your discipline-specific
learning goals within the context of our mission as a liberal arts
college. That is, while every department and program will
have distinctive learning goals, much of what you are trying to
accomplish will also, or at the same time, be cultivating qualities
of a liberally educated person, as articulated in our Aims and
Objectives.
- Revised Catalogue Descriptions of Academic Programs:
December 15th. Informed by your reflection on and
articulation of your program's learning goals, please revisit
the description of your program in the University Catalogue,
and revise it to tighten the alignment. Ideally, the
descriptions of academic programs in the catalogue should be
both welcoming and informative; they should speak to an audience
that is not already expert in the discipline, and give an eloquent
account of what the program is designed to accomplish.
- Program Specific Methods of Assessment: March 1st . With
the learning goals for your program clearly articulated, please
design a process whereby you can begin to assess systematically
the extent to which majors in your program are accomplishing
your program's goals. Because disciplines of inquiry vary,
it is only appropriate that the modes and methods of studying
the extent to which goals are being met will vary as well. There
is a rich literature available on outcomes assessment in general,
and also for each discipline, typically available though scholarly
associations. Also, I will support opportunities for workshops
or consultations with colleagues from other campuses. However,
I would expect the faculty of each program to want to be the
authors of its own design. The one suggestion I will make is
to consider how best to assess the work being produced by students
for the SYE in your program. Ideally, the learning goals
you have for your majors should be manifest in this work.
Much of our work in Department Chairs meetings this year will
be devoted to program assessment. I will look for guidance
on how best to use our time, but I can imagine panel presentations
in which we share our work in progress, discussions of what we
are finding valuable and not, and other workshops that will enable
you to provide leadership for this work in your department or program. As
results and outcomes of this work become available, they will be
shared with the Academic Affairs Committee and with the steering
committee convened to shepherd the Middle States review process.
Important Updates
At the close of our meeting there will be a number of important
updates pertaining to the beginning of the academic year. They
will include updates from:
- Liz Regosin on developments in advising,
- Carolyn Filippi on course registration and scheduling information,
- Steve Horwitz on Classroom Stewards planning for this year,
- Angela Johnston on opening events and ceremonies.
Thank you.
Grant
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