Office of Institutional Research and Evaluation

Assessment Subcommittee of the Faculty Curriculum Committee

January 2008

Assessment Grants for Academic Departments and

Programs: An Invitation to Apply

The past several years have seen significant growth in the quantity and quality of information we have about student learning at St. Olaf. Faculty and staff have begun reviewing findings from the National Survey on Student Engagement, the Collegiate Learning Assessment, the Research Practices Survey, and other assessment instruments, in order to document, understand, and improve student learning.

While college-wide assessment findings are likely to have significance for college-wide curriculum and pedagogical practices, they may also have significance for decision-making at the department/program level. In addition, departments and programs may wish to gather information specific to their majors or concentrators, especially in view of current efforts to articulate program-level intended learning outcomes.

To support departments and programs in these efforts, the Office of Institutional Research and Evaluation is partnering with the Assessment Subcommittee of the faculty Curriculum Committee to offer small grants of up to $500 per academic year (including 2007-08). Below is information about the purposes of these grants, parameters for grant expenditures, and procedures for grant administration and reporting.

What do we hope to accomplish?

Assessment grants for academic departments and programs are intended to:

  • Support the improvement of student learning in majors and concentrations
  • Promote the analysis of existing college-wide assessment data in relation to program-level intended learning outcomes
  • Support the development of new approaches to gathering department- or program-specific assessment data
  • Create time and space for faculty to consider collectively the implications of assessment data for their own departments or programs
  • Help departments develop expertise in collecting and using assessment data
  • Foster evidence-based innovation and improvement in department/program curriculum or pedagogy
  • Help make the collection, analysis, and use of assessment data an ongoing, organic feature of program-level academic decision making

What can departments do with an assessment grant?

  • Grant funds may be used to fund expenses only. They cannot be used to fund faculty compensation or student work.
  • Funds may be used for expenses related to the collection of assessment data, the consideration of assessment data, or both. Examples of activities and expenditures that would advance the purposes listed above include (but are not limited to) the following:
    • Subsidizing an assessment consultant to help the department design a plan for collecting and analyzing evidence of student learning from its majors
    • Paying expenses for a half-day retreat on- or off-campus
    • Purchasing commercial instruments for administration to a sample of majors, such as Major Field Exams
    • Purchasing books or other materials that would support teaching or assessment activities
    • Providing modest material incentives (e.g., bookstore gift certificates, additions to students’ Ole Cards) for students who participate in assessment activities
    • Purchasing meals for a series of assessment-focused department meetings
    • Providing funds for attendance at a teaching-focused or assessment conference or workshop
  • Funds received in Spring 2008 must be expended by May 31, 2008. Expenses to be incurred during the period June 1, 2008 – May 31, 2009 must be incorporated in a 2008-09 funding request.

What do departments/programs need to do to secure funding?

  • Department or program faculty should first determine how they will use the evidence they will collect to sustain and strengthen student learning in relation to one or more of the intended learning outcomes of the program. What specific academic decisions, curriculum features, pedagogical practices, or other aspects of the department’s academic program do you hope to illuminate with the assessment data you will analyze or collect?
  • A department Assessment Liaison (who need not be the department chair or program director) completes a short application, available on the St. Olaf website. The completed application should be submitted via email to the Evaluation and Assessment staff of the Office of Institutional Research and Evaluation (ea-staff@stolaf.edu).
  • Funding requests will be evaluated by the Director of Evaluation and Assessment in consultation with the Assessment Subcommittee of the faculty Curriculum Committee. Decisions will generally be conveyed within approximately one week of the submission of the request.
  • For the first two academic years of this project, departments will be funded on a first-come, first-served basis, so long as the completed funding request clearly reflects the purposes and parameters of the grant program as described above and in the application form.
  • Copies of successful requests for funding will be posted on the St. Olaf assessment website.

Grant funds will be transferred to department accounts once the department has submitted a brief report on project findings and implications to the Office of Institutional Research and Evaluation. Reports must be submitted within one month of the conclusion of the grant period, or no later than June 15 for projects that are completed by May 31 (to enable funding transfers to fall within the appropriate fiscal year). These reports will be posted on the St. Olaf assessment website.