Assessment Awards handed out at luncheon
For the second consecutive year, Student Health Services was awarded first place in the student development area at the Assessment Awards Luncheon hosted by the Provost’s Office on May 16. The Department of Public Safety won first place in the administrative units division. The luncheon was held to recognize exemplary efforts in assessment in the administrative and student development areas.
Financial Aid and Scholarships won second place in administrative units assessment, while honorable mentions went to Human Resources and Equal Opportunity, and to Facilities, Planning and Management.
In the student development unit, Counseling Services took second place, with honorable mentions going to University Housing, University College Academic Advising, and Campus Recreation.
Assessment is a process that helps campus units identify areas for continuous improvement. The current system has been in place since the 2007-2008 academic year. Assessment assists and supports departments in their ongoing efforts to improve learning outcomes or unit objectives, including help with research design, data analysis, survey construction and administration. Submitted reports are reviewed by universitywide assessment committees (UWAC) for each of the three areas: student learning, administrative units and student development.
According to John Beard, CCU’s associate provost for assessment and accreditation, 114 reports were submitted for 2014-2015. He said there are usually about eight to 10 departments or units the committees can agree on that are making great strides in their units, but it can be difficult to narrow it down to the final two or three because they have all been so impactful.
“It’s always great when we can give these departments any kind of recognition for all their hard work,” said Beard.
Each winning department received a plaque commemorating its success as well as a monetary award for use by the department.
UWAC consists of one main committee and three subcommittees that guide the University in its assessment and accountability practices across all institutional areas. The committees are comprised of individuals from every department. Public Safety and Student Health Services were two of nine that were recognized for doing an outstanding job on assessment during the 2014-2015 academic year.
