ASSESSMENT COMMITTEE

Minutes of December 3, 2004

Board Room - 1:00 p.m.

1. Ursula Gaertner called the meeting to order at 12:37 p.m. A moment of silence was observed.

Present were Shannon Amiotte, Jim Dudek, Troy Ferguson, Ursula Gaertner, Marilyn Kockrow, Shauna Pourier, Janet Red Feather, Irvine Twin, Verine White, and Gerry Geraud. Excused were Stephanie Charging Eagle, Trudy Ecoffey, Geraldine Little Whiteman, and Joan Nelson. ABSENT were Bill Swanson and Karen White Butterfly. RE-ASSIGNED is Susie White Thunder, elected to the Bush Committee.

AGENDA

1. Call to order: Noted above.

2. Prayer: The Chair allowed a moment of silence.

3. Roll call of members present: Noted above.

4. Reading of Minutes of November 12, 2004: Members will Email any corrections to Ursula within a reasonable time, and thereafter, the Minutes will be approved.

5. Officers’ Reports (Ursula, Marilyn, Janet): There were no new reports.

6. Committee Reports:

A. OLC assessment policy (77-000) - tabled. Ursula wants to keep it on our agenda so does not vanish.

B. General Ed ad hoc - The Board passed the General Education philosophy and outcomes and can now identify a test to assess these outcomes. Gerry will contact the task force. Our goal is to have this decided by early spring. Course evaluations are online, per Gerry, and students are on the computers completing them. Faculty should have them by early January, 2005. In classes with only one or two students, Tony is considering not keeping the evaluations, as that might compromise the identity of the students. Gerry G. is piloting post-testing for 083/093 Remedial English and Math.

C. Professional Development Opportunities - Gerry will present on an issue involved with assessment and we’ll see what that would look like. Gerry will send topics and we’ll give feedback. We’ll discuss this at the January meeting.

D. Flow chart development from assessment to planning to budgeting - Institutional Development Committee has put together some kind of plan that goes from strategic planning to reporting to assessment. Samuel sent Ursula a write-up covering this. Ursula needs some time to review the plan -- she’ll try to work with Samuel to make it flow logically.

E. Review Assessment Report for 2003-04 - See Exhibit “A, Assessment Report of Student Achievement 2003-2004.

6. New business: Susie White Thunder was elected by the faculty to the Bush Committee and is now exiting the Assessment Committee.

7. Announcements: None.

The issue was raised again concerning OLC’s becoming a University. Discussion ensued, and ideas were exchanged. Some felt the mission of the college already includes this as a goal, so we ought to proceed steadfastly toward that goal. Others reflected community sentiment and concern that we might lose the Lakota perspective in the course of changing. We might lose some of our uniqueness as an institution. Discussion was re-oriented toward the President’s goal of achieving academic excellence as the standard by 2011, so we want to make progress in the three areas he outlined.

8. Adjournment: MOTION to adjourn MADE by Irvine, SECONDED BY Gerry and PASSED UNANIMOUSLY. We were adjourned at 1:50 p.m.

Respectfully submitted,

Janet Red Feather

Recorder

EXHIBITS: EXHIBIT “A,” Assessment Report of Student Academic Achievement, 2003-2004, spiral bound.