VIU_Magazine_Summer_2017

VIU.EDU
AT-A-GLANCE
BY CHRISTINA KOONTS
Assessment plays an
important role in an
organization, Virginia
International University
included. The role
assessment plays impacts
everyone who has a stake
in VIU.
The process allows for
the Office of Institutional
Effectiveness to
better help plan and
implement strategic
plans for different staff
departments as well as
the deans of VIU’s schools
of study.
Creating strong and
effective plans for all
aspects of the university
allow for continued
growth and overall
achievement. Assessment
is an integral part of how
VIU’s future is shaped.
WHAT IS ASSESSMENT?
Assessment is being able to give value or
importance to something; for an organization
it determines what we do as departments
and individuals, and then work to improve
our work and processes in those avenues. In
the context of higher education, assessment
is defined more narrowly and specifies a
particular assessment use. Assessment in U.S.
colleges and universities is now understood as
a means of developing and improving student
learning and teaching:
Assessment is the systematic collection, review,
and use of information about educational
programs undertaken for the purpose of
improving student learning and development.
(Palomba & Banta, 1999 [2015], p. 4)
SO WHAT IS ASSESSMENT USED FOR?
Improving performance, both academically
and organizationally! Simply put, assessment is
defined as continuous improvement.
WHERE IS IT USED?
The Office of Institutional Effectiveness (OIE),
overseen by Associate Vice President Ms.
Christina Koonts, recognizes that assessment
is conducted through different measures for
a variety of assessment uses, though with a
common aim of systematically using evidence
to improve institutional effectiveness.
Assessment at VIU, then, happens in four areas:
(a.)
School-level
programmatic
assessment of student
learning (for all
degree and certificate
programs).
(c.)
Evaluation of nonacademic/support
and
student affairs units.
(b.)
Bachelor degreelevel
programmatic
assessment of general
education learning.
(d.)
Institutional
assessment/evaluation
of educational
and administrative
effectiveness.
With respect to (c), evaluation of nonacademic/support
and student affairs units
is defined by the Office of Institutional
Effectiveness as follows (adapted from Banta &
Palomba, 2015):
Assessment: Aggregating individual measures
for the purpose of discovering group strengths
and weaknesses that can guide improvement
actions.
WHY DOES ASSESSMENT MATTER?
With the constant changing work environment,
there is a periodic need to review how jobs are
defined, departments are organized, processes
are structured, and problems are managed. The
goal of assessment is to assist managers and
deans in implementing effective action plans
and appropriate solutions toward achievement
of organizational objectives.
In essence, the point of assessment is not the
sheer collection of reports and data; it is instead
the application of the data to promote changes
and developments within the organizational
culture and operations. Collection without
analysis and application is fruitless.
At VIU we conduct assessment both
organizationally and academically.
Organizationally, we conduct goal-setting
exercises in each department, all of which are
tied to the strategic goals of the institution. This
process is important because it is what drives
fulfillment of our institutional strategic plan.
We have a direction that we need to go in, and
by monitoring and evaluating performance
and achievement, we are able to ensure that we
are getting there. Academically, we are looking
to fulfill student learning outcomes for each
program. All assessment is centered around
measurement of what learning is taking place.
We want to be sure that our students learn
what they set out to, in order to be successful
after graduation. Additionally, we are able to
find weaknesses in the programs and drive
Summer 2017 University Magazine, VIU
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