2008 Annual Meeting
INTENTIONAL LEARNING, UNSCRIPTED CHALLENGES
Knowledge and Imagination for an Interdependent World
January 23-26, 2008
Washington, DC
Pre-Conference Workshops
Wednesday, January 23, 2:00-5:00 p.m.
The Art and Science of Assessing General Education Outcomes
Greater Expectations: A New Vision for Learning as a Nation Goes to College (AAC&U, 2002) sets forth a new vision for liberal learning, one that calls for higher levels of coherence, transparency, and quality across the undergraduate experience. To serve that vision, assessment must be as ambitious and sophisticated as the complex intellectual capacities we seek to assess. That means addressing learning over time and across multiple courses; combining technical rigor with expert human judgment; using findings in powerful ways; and communicating with a wide range of audiences. This workshop – informed by recent AAC&U publications such as Assessment in Cycles of Improvement (R. Miller) and A Brief History of Student Learning Assessment (R. Shavelson), as well as The Art and Science of Assessing General Education Outcomes (A. Leskes and B. Wright) – provides guidance on principles of good assessment practice along with hands-on exercises, a case study, and plenty of opportunity for Q & A.
Barbara Wright, Associate Director, Western Association of Schools and Colleges (WASC)
Guidelines for Good Assessment
Assessment Tips for the Top
Top ten ways to kill your assessment program
Designing Courses to Promote Deep, Intentional Learning
Getting students to learn deeply requires their active engagement in deliberately structured and sequenced activities that challenge their assumptions, expose them to divergent thinking, and involve them in creative problem-solving. Such engagement, however, must be intentional, based on solid research and academic “best practices.” This workshop, which will model transferable learning-centered activities, will emphasize research-based implications for teaching and learning, and the design of a well structured course. Participants will focus on creating a course that takes into account situational factors and aligns course goals, assessments, and activities and assignments. Besides experiencing activities and sharing ideas among themselves, participants will be able to ask questions and share ideas and concerns with a national leader in this field.
Barbara Millis, Director of the Excellence in Teaching Program, University of Nevada, Reno
The Academic Master Plan:
Key to Institutional Success? Or Place Where Careers Go to Die?
At the core of every sound attempt to achieve and sustain excellence and to create enduring advantage in the higher education marketplace is the Academic Master Plan. Distinct from the facilities-oriented “master plan,” the shelf-bound “strategic plan,” or today’s search-and-replace “university mission statement,” the Academic Master Plan specifies the goals, objectives, initiatives, timelines, and activities that will be used to achieve educational quality and enhance learning. As such, academic master planning is high-stakes process fraught with serious hazards. The participants are many, their aspirations divergent, and the process challenging to manage – but the benefits are many as well. The Academic Master Plan can establish academic priorities, shape curricular content and educational policies, and guide the allocation of academic resources. Its influences reverberate throughout the organization, extending to support services, business practices, personnel policies, facilities planning, fundraising, and community and government relations. This workshop will illustrate the elements and the processes integral to successful academic master planning at the departmental, college, or all-university levels. It is intended for all academic leaders – regardless of title, level, or experience.
Peter (Pete) Facione is a former university provost, dean, chair, faculty member, and national Chair of ACAD. Sal Rinella, former university president and CFO, is president-elect of the Society for College and University Planning. Both are now with STRATUS, a Los Angeles based higher education consulting firm and a division of Heery International.
Academic Master Plan
(PPT)
The following workshop is sponsored by the Consortium for Innovative Environments in Learning (CIEL)
Reflective Self-Evaluation:
Connecting Pedagogy, Engaged Learning and Assessment
At AAC&U’s 2007 meeting, Peter Ewell offered some sobering reflections on the shortcomings of the assessment movement, noting that while there are “islands of innovation,” not many schools have succeeded in connecting assessment with faculty work in order to drive change. Lack of clear ownership, internal purpose, and institutional infrastructure for creating a learning culture to support assessment results are key factors that plague the assessment movement. The leaders of this workshop use reflective self-evaluation to connect the threads essential for a rich assessment program. They have adapted to assessment mandates while retaining the highly student-centered pedagogies and curricula central to their institutional missions. Reflective self-evaluation, used systematically, permits evaluation of student achievement against faculty expectations, course objectives, and program and institutional mission. This workshop will: 1) provide participants with an overview of the pedagogical purposes, rationale, and practices of reflective self-evaluation; 2) relate self-evaluation to assessment of student learning; 3) help participants develop strategies appropriate for both traditional liberal arts and professional programs; and 4) explore how to manage these evaluations for multiple audiences – students, faculty, the institution, and the public.
Karen Spear, Executive Director, Consortium for Innovative Environments in Learning; Kathleen O’Brien, Provost, Alverno College; Marie Eaton, Professor of Humanities, Fairhaven School of Interdisciplinary Studies, Western Washington University; Andrew Wingfield, Assistant Professor of Integrative and Interdisciplinary Studies, New Century College of George Mason University; Charlene Callahan, Professor Psychology, New College of Florida; and Paul Burkhardt, Dean of Adult Degree and Graduate Programs, Prescott College
Supplemental Materials
Framework for Self Assessment (PDF)
Bibliography on Reflective Practice (PDF)
Creating a Vital Campus(PDF)
Reflective Self-Evaluation PowerPoint
(PDF)
Teaching for Democracy:
Resources, Challenges, Possibilities
Democratic learning experiences and outcomes are now central to the aims of many universities, programs, and faculty. This focus on teaching and democracy raises challenges including the contexts in which we work, course transformation, and pedagogical approaches. This workshop will offer a deeper understanding of democratic learning outcomes; the opportunity for participants to talk in depth with others about a particular course(s), their experiences related to teaching and democracy, and/or curricular challenges; a stronger sensibility for the complexities ofteaching for democracy; and familiarity with others working on these issues. In addition to gaining exposure to the latest thinking related to democratic learning objectives and key terms and concepts, participants will discuss teaching practices, course design, and broad curricular objectives. This workshop is aimed at instructors, department/unit chairs, academic deans, researchers, and those in student affairs who work directly or indirectly on student learning outcomes.
Jennifer Simpson, Associate Professor of Drama and Speech Communication, University of Waterloo; Joseph Jordan, Associate Professor, African/Afro-American Studies, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill; Elizabeth Minnich, Senior Fellow, Association of American Colleges and Universities
ACAD Workshop:
Strategic Planning—Inception to Implementation
This workshop will explore strategic planning from the vantage point of a successful planning process at Skidmore College. Facilitators will engage participants in beginning to think through the strategic needs of their home institutions and developing a process for creating an effective strategic plan. The emphasis will be on pragmatic ideas for creating a real plan and then keeping it alive, as opposed to letting it “gather dust on the shelf.” This workshop will address issues of timing (when and when not to do a strategic plan), creating a visionary document, collaborating with and achieving buy-in from the community, the roles of various constituencies (faculty, administration, trustees, et al.), and (most importantly!) implementing its provisions over the life of the plan. Institutions are encouraged to send a team including administrators, faculty members (e.g., chairs of key governance committees), and trustees.
Philip A. Glotzbach, President, Susan A. Kress, Vice President for Academic Affairs, Michael D. West, Vice President for Finance and Administration, and Suzanne C. Thomas, Chair, Board of Trustees – all of Skidmore College
ACAD Workshop:
Especially for New Deans and Associate Deans
New deans and associate deans often find themselves overwhelmed by the scope and unwritten rules of their new jobs. This interactive workshop will explore both how deans learn their jobs and what they need to know to be successful. Two deans and two associate deans—one experienced and one newly in the position—will lead an interactive session that will address areas of concern for new deans, including setting priorities, developing new professional relationships, maintaining perspective and negotiating change. This session will be appropriate both for new deans and associate deans and for seasoned administrators who mentor or advise others.
Virginia M. Coombs, Provost and Vice President for Academic Affairs, Keuka College; Charlotte G. Borst, Provost and Academic Vice President, Rhodes College;
Bradley Caskey, Associate Dean, College of Arts and Sciences, University of Wisconsin- River Falls; Chris Frost, Associate Dean for Undergraduate Studies, San Diego State University
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