TO: Department Chairs and Program Coordinators
FROM: Valerie Lehr
RE: Assessment Abstracts: Due Dates and Financial Support
DATE: February 27, 2009
As you will recall, this spring departments and programs are expected to be developing detailed plans for the next steps in their assessment work. You should submit an abstract of your plan by Friday, April 3, and a final version by Monday, June 1, to be implemented beginning in the fall of 2009.
Your abstract submitted by April 3 should comprise a short overview of your assessment plan for next year. It should provide a summary of:
- Which departmental/programmatic learning goal(s) will be assessed
- What body of student work will be examined and why
- How this student work will be collected
- The assessment method you foresee using
- Challenges and resource needs you foresee
As you develop your plans, please note that through a grant fund, some financial support will be available for assessment costs that occur through June 30th, 2009. A limited amount of funding for expenses including (but not limited to) faculty stipends (for assessment work conducted outside of the regular semester), student wages, and assessment instruments purchased/administered before the end of this fiscal year will be available. These uses of these mini-grants are only examples; any assessment-related expense may be considered. If you would like to request funding for your assessment project, please include the expected costs in the final section of your project abstract.
