Assessment Committee Meeting of February 4, 2011

Members Present: Verine White, Lakota Studies Department, Dana Jones, Business Department & Committee Chair, Lenora Hudson, Director of Assessment and Institutional Research, Crystal Paulson, Applied Sciences Department, Dr. Bill Young, Education and Foundational Studies Department; Dr. Andrew Thompson, Graduate Studies Department, and Dr. Ursula Gaertner OLC Administration

Wocekiya was said by Verine White.

Meeting was called to order at 10:00 am, 2/4/2011 by the Chair. The agenda was presented and approved by consensus with one change item: Approve January rather than December minutes.

The committee then reviewed the prior January 21, 2011 committee meeting minutes. Crystal moved to accept the minutes with changes as identified by the committee. Motion was seconded by Andy. Chair called for the vote which was unanimous in favor of the motion.

Old business,

1. The Chair raised the issue of assessing support operations of the college that impact student outcomes. He surveyed the committee with respect to the fulfillment of textbook orders through the OLC bookstore. A number of the committee members had problems in obtaining the correct book, the correct edition of books. Ursula recommended that the proper procedure was for faculty to work through their respective department chairs, through the VP for Instruction and thus obtain the necessary clout with the Business Office to improve procedures and textbook delivery.

2. Bill Young then gave an oral report of the status of his review of the Assessment calendar. Ursula and Lenora discussed the College Center alumni and employer surveys, and especially those that Ursula had conducted. Andy gave information about the 2004 studies of the Pine Ridge Reservation Work Force by Dr. Katherine Pickering of CSU (Boulder), who had an extensive relationship with the Tribe. It was felt that these resources should be accessed so that the most valuable final reports could be produced.

3 & 4. Discussion then went directly into the work team status and the full review of the assessment policies. The Chair raised the issue of why and for whom the assessment data was being collected. Concerns were expressed that the information would be as widely distributed as possible, i.e. on the web site. The committee felt that the aggregated data for the Accuplacer and MAPP (Proficiency Profile) testing should be available. Ursula also stated that testing in the major fields should be detailed as well. Crystal spoke about the NOCTI test battery as being applicable to most fields. Andy offered the teachers’ Praxis and the nursing NCLeX. Dana said that the Business department is requiring the GMAT. The Holistic scoring of English 103/113 essays serves to assess some of the Humanities and social studies department objectives as well as an assessment of the core educational achievement at the 2 yr. level.

Ursula returned to the issue of non-academic support department’s effect on student academic achievement. The construction of dorms proximate to the college centers, and the performance of the bookstore (above) were pertinent examples. Financial aid lists of student drops, adds, academic probation, et cetera could be better distributed to the faculty through the academic division under a more comprehensive assessment policy. These issues should be considered in the “why and for whom.”

5. The discussion of the holistic scoring results were tabled because Susanne Auer was not present at the meeting.

New business: none

All business being conducted, the meeting was moved to adjourn by Andy, Bill seconded the motion, the vote was unanimous, and the meeting was adjourned at 12:20 pm

Approved _____________

Approved with changes ____________

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Chairperson Dana Jones date

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Secretary Andrew Thompson