QTA Committee Accomplishments 2025/26

“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 foundation assessment implementation, results, and recommendations for continuous improvement. Ongoing development of additional core foundation areas, specifically oral communication.

• QTA co-chairs provided live technological literacy training sessions for faculty and staff. A recorded training video was created for those who could not attend and/or wanted a refresher. The training video is accessible via a public link on the QTA SharePoint site and embedded within QTA and ARP email communications to participating faculty and staff.
• QTA developed an infographic showing the College- and school-wide results of the Critical Thinking assessment data from the 2024-25 assessment cycle with a comparison to the 2020-21 cycle results. The infographic is included in the 2024-26 Core Report and posted on the QTA SharePoint site. 
• ARP continued to refine an access-restricted internal dashboard to track core assessment data file completion by individual faculty members. 
• QTA modified the previously developed comprehensive core report structure to support accessibility standards by limiting data tables and using pictured charts with alternative text. The format continues to address activity summary, data results, analysis, and next steps for each core foundation and information literacy.  Accordingly, the 2024-25 and 2025-26 content was combined into a 2024-26 Core Report.
• QTA provided support to the Communications faculty group as they further developed the oral communication rubric. The group completed a departmental pilot during Fall 2025, including norming sessions and the development of training materials. During Spring 2026, the group held a three-part training series to introduce program faculty to the rubric's concepts, performance levels, and terminology, while also seeking clarification of any unclear or discipline-sensitive elements. The next phase of the process involves faculty piloting the rubric with actual student presentations in their courses during the 2026-27 academic year, followed by structured debriefing sessions with Communications faculty. 

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

• QTA co-chairs reviewed each administrative unit's annual report, providing comments and feedback. 
• QTA co-chairs reviewed the annual school reports and course-level assessment (CLA) 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 7 programs, with specific attention to assessment. 
• QTA continued support for the College-wide assessment day as part of the Spring 2026 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 a discussion of assessment results and their impact on the program’s curriculum, discussion surrounding program review, and completion of an electronic document template.
  
   

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 assessments. 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 2026 semester, with a high-level introduction to program-level assessment and a specific focus on course-level assessment. 
• QTA provided targeted assessment and program review support to the business department.

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.

• QTA received feedback from faculty and administration expressing gratitude for assessment-related feedback and support, and an increased emphasis on assessment within department-team discussions.
• QTA reviewed five Outstanding Assessment Award applications and provided a recommendation to President Reed.
   

Systematically examine the evidence expectations outlined in the MSCHE accreditation standards (14th edition) and develop a comprehensive roadmap that identifies specific, verifiable evidence items aligned with each standard.

• QTA facilitated a standard-by-standard audit of accreditation standards and criteria to identify evidence (policies, data, web links, etc.) to support the various steering committees’ upcoming self-study work.