1 vsa update the next generation of the college portrait presentation by william e. kirwan usm...
TRANSCRIPT
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VSA UPDATEThe Next Generation of the College Portrait
Presentation by William E. KirwanUSM Chancellor
Association of Governing BoardsSunday, April 19, 2009
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Voluntary System of Accountability (VSA)
• Initiative by public 4-year universities to supply
basic, comparable information on the undergraduate
student experience to important constituencies
through a common web report - the “College Portrait”
• Sponsored by AASCU & NASULGC
• Funding from Lumina
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Goals of VSA
• Demonstrate accountability and stewardship to public
• Assemble information that is – transparent
– comparable
– understandable
• Measure educational outcomes to identify and enhance effective educational practices
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VSA Participation
• 320 institutions from 49 states and Puerto Rico
– As of April 2, 2009
• 61 percent of 520 NASULGC & AASCU institutions
• More than 225 College Portraits posted on
www.collegeportraits.org
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College Portrait
• Student & Family Information– student/campus characteristics– cost of attendance– success/progress rate
• Student Experiences & Perceptions– group learning / active learning– interaction with faculty– institutional commitment– diversity experiences– student satisfaction
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College Portrait
• Student Learning Outcomes
– Pilot project to measure learning gains in critical thinking,
analytic reasoning, written communication at institution level
– Measured and reported in a standard way using either CAAP,
CLA, MAPP
– Learning gains (value-added) are the difference between
actual and expected scores of graduating and entering
students after controlling for academic ability
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Comparison not Ranking
• Public presentation of common data for users to easily access and compare info
• Breadth and variety of data so users can focus on elements important to them
• Policy Statement of VSA Board on appropriate use of VSA data “vigorously oppose any ranking scheme”
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Demand for Learning Outcomes
• Not a fad but reasonable response to changing
information needs
– Learning outcomes reporting has bipartisan support in
Congress
– Intervention from associations prevented mandate in
Higher Education Opportunity Act
– Bologna Process
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College Portrait Display
• College Portraits (CP) hosted on central website
– Compatible with assistive technology
– Users can search by state/institution
– Users can directly contact institutions
– Ability to track user traffic
• Institutions continue to place CP Logo on website
with direct link to own CP
www.collegeportraits.org
University Contact Info
Link to CP
Link to University website
Send email to Admissions
Links to specific data elements
University & Community info
on first page
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College Portrait Application
• Web-based data entry
• Benefits & Features:
- Standard professional display
- More robust creation process
- Error checks/data validation
- Individual institution access, user account mgt
- Upload of selected data
Administrative Home Page
Access to Data Entry Pages
Upload XLS & NSC files
User Permissions
2 user role options
Control access to sections/functions
Previewing Pages
After validating data preview link will appear
at top of page
show
Initial preview displays first page of section
Click on menu links to view other validated pages
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Support Resources
• VSA website, participant only area
- Archived introductory webinar
- Administrative Guide
• Within CP Application
- In context HELP text
- Administrative Guide
• Support Team: [email protected]
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Application Work in Progress
• Improved formatting for print versions - Preview- Published
• Email distribution list
• More “information request” elements
• Interactive help for users
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Upcoming Events
• Integrate VSA Cost Calculator within CP application
- Beta testing in Summer 09
- Released in early Fall 09 (tentative)
• Learning Outcomes Seminars
- Summer 2009: Focus on administration of tests
- Summer 2010: Focus on application of results
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Timelines
• April 17 (extended): Deadline for posting CP with Fall 2008 CDS data
• Summer 2009: Update Future Plans, Cost of Attendance as appropriate
• Fall 2009: release of integrated VSA cost calculator
• October/November 2009: Submit Fall 2003 NSC cohorts
• January/February 2010: Release of CP, v4