A Short History: Development of the Gen Ed Assessment Plan

In January 2018, the GEOC established an assessment subcommittee to develop a plan for assessing the newly adopted Gen Ed program. Starting in February 2018, the subcommittee began meeting on a bi-weekly basis to discuss Gen Ed assessment goals, models, instruments, logistics, data analysis, reporting, and actions in response to the data. In addition, the subcommittee discussed protections for instructors against punitive uses of Gen Ed assessment data, concerns about workload, the need to address different disciplinary practices, and the support and professional development needed to implement and sustain a useful process. Also in February 2018, three subcommittee members attended the American Association of Colleges and Universities (AAC&U) conference on Gen Ed assessment to learn about best practices and to inform GEOC's assessment planning process.

In March 2018, the subcommittee shared a draft of a proposed assessment process with the full GEOC to seek feedback; the process was tentatively approved. The subcommittee additionally gained GEOC approval to apply for a campus visit from a NILOA (National Institute of Learning Outcome Assessment) coach to provide professional development in creating rubrics to assess Gen Ed. The NILOA coach offered three workshops on campus in August 2018; all Gen Ed instructors with courses in Diversity, Equity & Inclusion (DEI), Quantitative Experience (QE), and Social Inquiry (SI) were invited to participate. The resulting rubric drafts formed the basis for subsequent piloting of the rubrics using assignments from Gen Ed courses by the subcommittee, instructors, and students. From September 2018 through January 2019, the subcommittee revised the rubrics based on internal piloting and feedback, including consultation with the Provost's Working Group on QE. In February 2019, all Gen Ed instructors in three target areas (DEI, QE, and SI) and representatives of the Student Senate were invited to attend piloting workshops and to submit feedback to the subcommittee. Based on feedback from all groups, the subcommittee revised the rubrics again. The subcommittee presented revised DEI, QE, and SI rubrics to the full GEOC in April 2019; all were approved.

Also during Fall 2018 and Winter 2019, the subcommittee sought information from instructors in English and Communication about the established assessment practices in BC, IC, and OC to inform the development of the assessment process. Given the well-developed history of assessment in these areas, the subcommittee requested assessment data for BC, IC, and OC in the first rotation of Gen Ed assessment as a pilot for data management, analysis, and reporting.

In February 2019, the assessment subcommittee collaborated with the Wayne Experience Community of Practice to draft learning outcomes for WE based on the WE goals. After some revisions, the outcomes were presented to the full GEOC for approval, which was granted in April 2019.

To address workload concerns, the subcommittee continues to explore tools to streamline data collection and reporting, such as Canvas rubrics, to minimize instructors' responsibilities. We expect to pilot with Canvas rubrics to begin in Spring/Summer 2019.