Integrating Strategic Planning with Assessment

2012 West Texas Assessment Conference

Dr. Karen ShumwayAssociate Dean, College of Business

Agenda• Challenges of Assessment and Strategic

Planning• Establishing An Integrated Perspective• Strategic Planning and Assessment

Roadmap

The “Old” Way of Doing Planning & Assessment

Prior Challenges

With Old System

Strategic planning either ad hoc or absent

Departmental level choices of tracking and reporting formats

Manual input and extraction of information

Information difficult to locate and/or extract for relevant and timely use

THE PROBLEMS OF ASSESSMENT

WHO• Who is in charge?• Who is involved?• Who has responsibility?• Where do I fit in?

HOW MUCH• Do we have enough measurements?• How many measurements do we need?• How many measurements do we need to add? Can we

reduce some?

WHEN• What steps come first?• What steps come next?• When are we going to do them?

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?

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Roam, Dan (2009). The Back of the Napkin

THE PROBLEMS OF ASSESSMENTWHERE• Where are we now?• Where are we going?• Are we all headed in the right direction? How does it all fit

together?

HOW• How do we get it done?• How will things change?• How will outcomes be different?

WHY• Why are we doing this? Why is it important?• Why does it appear to change all of the time?• Why isn’t there one answer? Why isn’t there more flexibility?

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Roam, Dan (2009). The Back of the Napkin

The Journey Begins With Planning…

“If you don’t care where you are going, it doesn’t matter which road you take”

Establishing An Integrated Perspective

Sharing Ideas & Integrated Practices

IntegratedTechnology Toolsets

Integrated Processes The New VisionIntegrated

Mindset for Planning and Assessment

Syn

ergy

“…untapped quality improvements”

Integration of People, Process, & Technology

Departments

Institutional Leadership, Academic

Leadership, Deans,

Department Heads

(Banta, Jones, & Black, 2009)

Pockets of Shared Practices

Prior Vision

Assessment Practices Individuals

CollegesDepartmental & College Technology

Tools

Integrated Information

Establishing An Integrated Perspective…

Vision for University/College & Programs

• Integrated Approach At All Levels For

Planning Budgeting

AssessmentAccreditation

• Alignment with University Master Goals & Strategic Direction (Banta, Jones & Black, 2009)

• Assessment Process & Structure Needs To Facilitate: Student Learning and Engagement Comprehensive Student Advising & Retention Efforts

How did we get here?• Changing Landscape of Higher Education

– Focus on Globalization– Increased Emphasis on Accountability – Increased Emphasis on Transparency– Processes must be focused on Quality and

Continuous Improvement– Changing Pressures and Incentives

• Campus Realization that we all succeed or we all fail!

Strategic Planning and Outcomes Assessment

Sustainable Integrated System

Strategic

Tactical

Strategic Planning Tools

Project Management Tools

Strategic Planning Budgeting

Assessment Program and Project

Management & Tracking

Data Gathering Tools

Student Learning and Engagement

Comprehensive Student Advising & Retention Efforts

Strategic Planning and Assessment Roadmap

External Environmental

Pressures Build

Define Assurance of Learning and Planning

Assumptions

Define the Objectives with Measurements of Success

Define the Project Management Approach

Identify Disciplined

People (Collins, 2001)

Discipline Our Thoughts(Collins, 2001)

Discipline Our Actions(Collins, 2001)

Identify Technology Accelerators

(Collins, 2001)

Plan for Organizational

Change

Quality Enhancement Plan

To Visio

n

Define the Mission

Begin theJourney

PlanningRoadmap

ContinuousImprovement

Cycle – Year 2

Continuous Improvement

Cycle – Year 1

Integrated Continuous Improvement

Processes Fully Deployed

Road Map to New Vision

We are Here

External Environmental

Pressures Build

Define Assurance of Learning and Planning

Assumptions

Define the Objectives with Measurements of Success

Define the Project Management Approach

Identify Disciplined

People (Collins, 2001)

Discipline Our Thoughts(Collins, 2001)

Discipline Our Actions(Collins, 2001)

Identify Technology Accelerators

(Collins, 2001)

Plan for Organizational

Change

Quality Enhancement Plan

To Visio

n

Define the Mission

Begin theJourney

• Formative and summative assessment of student’s total educational experience through program learning goals and effectiveness and efficiency goals.

• Sustainable technology solutions to support both direct and indirect assessment measures as well as continuous improvement.

• Assessment results subjected to continuous improvement strategies, potentially including use of external partnerships such as advisory councils and accrediting bodies.

Support for Master Goals and Strategic Directions

• Assessment data management system designed to improve student advisement, success and retention, particularly in the first two years through formative assessment.

• Program enhancement through continuous review and improvement of curricula across departmental and college structures.

• Link University Learning Goals to college, program, and course learning objectives through a cascading matrix structure that supports students’ intellectual growth.

Support for Master Goals and Strategic Directions

U.S. Department of Education (2006). A Test of Leadership: Charting the Future of U.S. Higher Education. Report of the Commission Appointed by Secretary of Education Margaret Spellings, Washington, DC: Author. Available at http://www.ed.gov/about/bdscomm/list/hiedfuture/reports/final-report.pdf

Collins, J. (2001). Good to Great: Why Some Companies Make the Leap and Others Don’t. HarperBusiness: New York.

Banta, T.W., Jones, E.A. & Black, K.E. (2009). Designing Effective Assessment: Principles and Profiles of Good Practice. Jossey-Bass: San Francisco.

Session Reference List

Roam, D. (2009). The Back of the Napkin: Solving Problems and Selling Ideas with Pictures. Penguin Group: New York.