QTA Committee Accomplishments 2024/25

“The effectiveness of an institution rests upon the contribution that each of the institution’s programs and services makes toward achieving the goals of the institution as a whole.” (Middle States Commission on Higher Education)

QTA continues its contribution to that end through the following accomplishments:

Continue to monitor the core foundations assessment implementation, results, and recommendations for continuous improvement.

• Continuing the process from May 2024, the QTA co-chairs provided live critical thinking assessment training to 32 additional faculty in August 2024 and 9 additional faculty in December 2024. A critical thinking assessment training video was also created for faculty who could not attend training or wanted a refresher.  
• QTA developed an infographic showing the college- and school-wide results of the Collaboration assessment data. The infographic is posted on the QTA portal page and included in the annual core report. The infographic was shared with deans and assistant deans for dissemination to program leaders and faculty. An announcement and core report link were posted on AdminWire for dissemination to the College community.   
• ARP developed an access-restricted internal dashboard to track core assessment data file completion by individual faculty members.  
• QTA continued with the previously developed comprehensive core report structure. The format clearly presents activity summary, data results, analysis, and next steps for each core foundation and information literacy.  
   

Continue to advance data-driven assessment use across campus by providing clear expectations and effectively collaborating with academic schools and administrative units.

• QTA reviewed each administrative unit's annual report, providing comments and feedback. 
• QTA co-chairs met with administrative teams to provide an overall explanation of administrative unit assessment purposes and best practices. (Enrollment/Academic Ops; GS; WD)
• QTA reviewed the annual school reports and course-level assessment documents. Detailed feedback was provided for each CLA document. The comments were provided to school leadership for dissemination to faculty via program directors and department heads.  
• QTA, in conjunction with the program review committee, provided comments on 4 programs, with specific attention to assessment. 
• QTA and Academic Affairs continued the college-wide assessment day as part of the Spring 2025 semester closing activities. Sessions were held in two separate time blocks (9-11 AM and 1-3 PM) to allow for assistant dean/dean participation and support. Session objectives for academic areas included completing their academic year course-level assessment reports, discussing the results and recommendations within the department/program team, and developing an assessment schedule for all courses (if not already in place).  

Continue to provide targeted assessment-related professional development for internal stakeholders. 

• QTA provided three professional development sessions on the program review process during the academic year. The first session introduced the program review process. The second session focused specifically on assessment, including core, program, and course-level assessment. The last session was a "check-in with Q&A." Programs were asked to bring a draft of their report to facilitate assistance and real-time support.
• QTA provided new faculty with professional development during the Spring 2025 semester, with a high-level introduction to program-level assessment and a specific focus on course-level assessment. 
• QTA provided targeted assessment support to 10 individuals and small faculty groups, as well as three administrative areas.
   

Continue to explore the development of program-specific quantitative thinking assessment.

• Minimal progress was made toward developing a program-specific quantitative thinking assessment. Ultimately, the team determined that an established college-wide quantitative thinking assessment process is already in place. As a result, efforts will shift to revising the critical thinking rubric to incorporate a stronger emphasis on ethical thinking and to develop an assessment process for oral communication.

Intentionally cultivate a positive and constructive perception of assessment among full- and part-time employees by increasing their understanding of its importance, relevance to the student experience, and its role in continuous improvement.

• The QTA co-chair received several communications from faculty, expressing gratitude for specific course-level assessment feedback and/or requesting additional support. 
• All faculty participating in the Summer 2025 core foundation critical thinking assessment submitted their data by the requested deadline. 
• As part of the Spring 2025 assessment day activities, several program teams reported robust discussions concerning quantitative data and anecdotal observations within individual courses, specifically noting planned changes for future course offerings.
• QTA reviewed one Outstanding Assessment Award application and provided a recommendation to President Reed. 

• Reviewed and updated the QTA SharePoint portal pages, including the Plan and Process.