Beyond CSUN
Assessment 101: The Assessment Cycle, Clear and Simple
Date: Wednesday, October 1 8:30 a.m.-5:00 p.m. OR Wednesday, November 12 8:30 a.m. - 5:00 p.m.
Location: Kellogg West Conference Center
Pomona, CA
Assessment 101 is a practical introduction to the basics of assessing student learning for any administrator, faculty member, or other educator. The workshop offers a broad introduction to the terminology of student learning outcomes assessment and the rationale behind the process, with special emphasis on the first steps of the assessment cycle. At each step, you’ll learn about good practices, benefits, common misunderstandings, and pitfalls to avoid.
Workshop topics will include:
- The language of assessment
- Developing learning outcomes at the course, program, and institution level
- Mapping the curriculum to learning outcomes
- Aligning assignments, courses, and curricula with outcomes
- Developing sustainable, multi-year assessment plans
- Choosing appropriate direct and indirect assessment methods
- Developing and using rubrics to analyze evidence of learning
The workshop will be constructivist and learner-centered. Blending brief presentations with interactive exercises, the facilitators will guide you as you apply what you’re learning. Assessment 101 is an excellent way to prepare for WSCUC’s core competency retreats on writing, oral communication, quantitative reasoning, critical thinking, and information literacy.
Registration fee: $245 (Note, after the registration deadline, if space is available, late registration fee will be $265/per person.)
Registration deadline: September 17, 2014 (for the October date) OR October 24 (for the November date)
More information, October OR More information, November
Retreat on Core Competencies: Quantitative Reasoning and Assessment in Majors
Date: Thursday, October 2 9:00 a.m. - Friday, October 3 2:30 p.m.
Location: Kellogg West Conference Center
Pomona, CA
This workshop is designed to support two institutional priorities: student learning within majors or professional programs , and quantitative reasoning as a university-wide learning goal.
This workshop will assist teams in choosing appropriate assessment approaches for both majors and quantitative reasoning; creating meaningful assessment plans; setting expectations for performance; and ensuring that efforts ultimately improve student learning and success.
Through keynote addresses, breakout sessions, team mentoring, and a rich array of resources, facilitators will expose participants to state-of-the-art practices in both assessment of majors and quantitative reasoning, and show how to connect the two when appropriate. Teams will also have the opportunity to network with colleagues from other campuses and refine their plans.
Registration deadline: September 17, 2014
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Retreat on Core Competencies: Critical Thinking and Information Literacy
Date: Thursday, October 16 9:00 a.m. - Friday, October 17 3:15 p.m.
Location: Hilton Oakland Airport
Oakland, CA
Facilitators will lead this two-day workshop to support participants in integrating and assessing critical thinking and information literacy skills at their institutions. The format blends brief presentations with interactive team exercises, inter-institutional discussions, and mentoring to engage each participant fully in the work. Participants will be guided through a series of topics and exercises that can be applied to their particular institutional context, culture, and student population. This hands-on retreat will address campus strategies for developing, integrating, and assessing these learning outcomes across the academic curriculum and co-curricular programs. The focus will be on designing learning opportunities for students to demonstrate these skills and abilities within the context of multiple disciplines and general education. The retreat will also engage participants in developing strategies for faculty, librarians, administrators, and other academic partners to set standards of performance and assess students’ attainment of these learning outcomes at or near graduation.
Registration fees: $485 per team member. After September 26, if space is available, late registration fee will be $510 per team member.
Registration deadline: September 26
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Retreat on Core Competencies: Written and Oral Communication
Date: Thursday, November 13 9:00 a.m. - Friday, November 14 2:30 p.m.
As overarching (meta) competencies, oral communication and written communication need to be translated into specifics in order to provide a clear focus for faculty, students, and other educators as well as for assessment efforts. The skillful exercise of written and oral communication skills is dependent upon the context in which the communication takes place, the specific task, the audience, and the rhetorical framing appropriate to that task and context.
Toward this goal, this workshop will assist participants to:
- Define oral communication as an outcome or set of outcomes
- Define writing as an outcome or set of outcomes
- Consider key characteristics of oral performance
- Identify the key vocabulary and concepts informing introductory and advanced writing curricula
- Evaluate the advantages and disadvantages of different assessment methodologies for oral and written communication
- Create innovative written communication pedagogies sensitive to local cultures
- Explore assessment tools for oral communication
- Develop a program assessment for written communication designed to evolve as programs mature
- Explore ways to set standards for graduating students’ oral and written performance
Registration fees:$485 per team member. After October 24, if space is available, late registration fee will be $510 per team member.
Registration deadline: October 24
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The Meaning, Quality, and Integrity of Degrees Workshop
Date:Friday, January 30 8:30 a.m. - 4:30 p.m.
Location: Woodbury University,
Burbank, CA
This interactive workshop offers an opportunity for campus teams and individuals to learn more about how to define, articulate, and assess the meaning, quality, and integrity of the degrees their institution offers – and why it matters. It is also a chance to learn more about the national context, as well as WSCUC’s 2013 Handbook of Accreditation requirement that institutions include a component addressing the “Meaning, Quality, and Integrity of Degrees” as a part of their self-study for reaffirmation of accreditation.
Participants will
- Develop an institutional perspective on the meaning, quality, and integrity of degrees that reflects your institution’s mission and extends across the breadth of undergraduate and/or graduate programs offered.
- Identify numerous resources, tools, and processes for successfully articulating the meaning, quality, and integrity of degrees, including assessment resources to support improvements
- Create a plan for communicating to internal and external audiences what degrees from your institutions demand and what they offer students.
- Determine the purpose, focus, and expected components of the WSCUC-required component “Meaning, Quality, and Integrity of Degrees.”
- Produce a work plan for addressing the meaning, quality, and integrity of your institution’s degrees that includes common elements of all degrees and that reflects the mission and values of your institution.
- Develop a community of colleagues with whom to share ideas, resources, and good practices.
Registration fee: $325/per team member. After the registration deadlines, if space is available, late registration fee will be $350 /per team member.
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2015 WSCUC Academic Resource Conference (ARC):
Accomplishing Our Mission of Student Success: Higher Education’s Imperative
Date: Wednesday, April 22 8:00 a.m.- Friday April 24 4:00 p.m.
Location: Oakland Marriot City Center
Oakland, CA
Sponsored by WASC Senior College and University Commission
The 2015 ARC will explore these urgent questions related to accomplishing our mission of student success:
- How do we ensure that we are improving the chances of success for all students?
- In the face of shrinking budgets and increased demands for accountability, how do institutions plan, organize, and act to meet the needs of individual students today and the needs of society tomorrow?
- How might the changing ecology of higher education support this bigger picture of student success … or stand in its way?
- What roles might emerging institutional or programmatic models, processes, and technologies play in achieving this broader notion of student success?
- How do we provide evidence of student success at the individual and societal levels?
- Finally, how does WASC Senior College and University Commission assure student success through its accreditation standards and processes?
Join us at the western region’s pre-eminent meeting place for vision, values, and networking as we explore questions, weigh options, and plan for the future.
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