Cabrillo's SLO Assessment Review Committee

Assessment is a meaningless activity unless the results are analyzed, discussed and used as the basis for any necessary changes to improve teaching and learning. The group which looks at the assessment results for the entire college is the SLO Assessment Committee. This campus-wide representative group is the center of the college’s assessment process, collecting assessment results from each area of the school, analyzing them and then reporting back to the campus at large.

Each component of the college, divided into sectors, assesses how they individually contribute to student mastery of the college’s core competencies. The sectors include:

Transfer and Basic Skills Instruction
Occupational Programs
Library
Student Services
Administrative Services (Business Services, the President’s office and non-instructional portions of Instruction such as division offices).

The assessments are part of each sectors' regular departmental planning process. Results are recorded and discussed within departments and then within the sector. For example, any academic program’s assessment results become part of the department’s Instructional Plan, which is then discussed by the Council for Instructional Planning. Business Services departments submit their plans to the Planning Resource Committee. After they are scrutinized within the sector, the assessment portions are forwarded to the SLO Assessment Review Committee. The committee tries to form a picture of the college as a whole and analyzes the student needs and issues that all the collective assessment results reveal.

Membership

The Assessment Review Committee is a subcommittee of the Faculty Senate. This 13 member committee is chaired by the Learning Outcome Assessment Coordinator and composed of representatives from the following:

Student Senate
Faculty Senate
CCEU
CCFT
Campus Researcher –ex officio
Manager
Accreditation Liaison Officer- ex officio

The Sectors:

Administrative Services
Student Services
Library
Instruction – Transfer &Basic Skills
Instruction – Occupational

Membership is by appointment by the groups represented. The Faculty Senate will appoint the Instruction representatives. Membership in the committee is driven by a need to achieve a balance between all members of the campus community – students, classified staff, instructors and administrators.

Duties

The charge of the committee is to oversee all campus assessment activities and to discuss their results. It has three main tasks which occur yearly on the following schedule:

Task #1: Facilitates and Archives Assessment Results (Spring semester)

The committee will receive assessment reports (the assessment portions of each Program or Services Plan) from all sectors by May 20th each year. Reports are both paper copies and also electronic for the SLO web site.
The committee will archives reports in binders and stores for Accreditation by June 1.
During Accreditation, it will provide assessment information for the Self-Study.

Task #2: Reviews Reports(Fall semester)

The committee will read the assessment portions of each Program or Services Plan received the previous spring semester, looking for assessment issues and possible topics for campus-wide dialogue.
Each year, the committee will write an Assessment Report summarizing report findings.
The first draft of this Assessment Report is given to Faculty Senate by Nov 1 and the final report to Governing Board, Master Planning Committee, CPC, Senates (Faculty and Student) and unions by February.

Task #1: Facilitates Campus Dialogue Process (start Spring semester)

The committee will evaluate dialogue topics that arise from reports or from groups wishing to suggest a topic using set criteria.
As needed, the committee will organize the six-step dialogue process during spring semester. This process includes the following steps:

Step One: As the Assessment Review Committee reads assessment reports from across the campus, it searches for issues that need a campus-wide dialogue. Also, individuals and groups (CPC, Instructional Council, Administrative Council, Faculty Senate, Student Senate, CIP, CCFT, SEIU and Student Services) can come to the committee to suggest issues that require a campus-wide dialogue.

Step Two: The Assessment Review Committee uses the following criteria to evaluate issues to discuss:

How does the issue relate to the four college competencies?
How does it affect student learning?
Is there any evidence in assessment reports to support it being a problem?
How will discussing it improve student learning?

Step Three: The Assessment Review Committee organizes 3-4 Think Tanks on the issue. The Think Tanks:

Are composed of 8-10 people with representatives from the five areas across campus (Student Services, Administrative Services, Transfer and Occupational Instruction and the Library).
Receive background materials prepared by the Assessment Review Committee on the issue (defined in Step Two), including evidence.
Discuss the issue in depth
Brainstorm possible solutions to it.
Prepare a written report on the discussion that goes back to the Assessment Review Committee.

Step Four: The Assessment Review Committee compiles the reports from the 3-4 Think Tanks into a written report with the proposed solutions that is made available to the college and posted on the Assessment Web site.

Step Five: The Assessment Review Committee organizes two Town Hall meetings on the issue. These two meetings are held at different times so that as many campus members can participate. They are facilitated. The Meetings use the Let’s Talk format and rules for dialogue for the discussion. What’s said is recorded.

Step Six: The Assessment Review Committee summarizes and writes a report about the Town Hall Meeting. The report is posted on the Assessment web site and is also sent to: CPC, Instructional Council, Faculty Senate, the Master Planning Committee, Component Heads, President’s office, CCFT and SEIU.

Responsibilities

The committee is charged with the following responsibilities as it facilitates the assessment activities of the entire campus.

The committee may identify best practices and recommend changes in a sector’s assessment process if the committee feels it needs to be altered or if the Accreditation Standards change.
This committee will not evaluate the Assessment Reports (the assessment portions of Program and Service Plans) that are written by departments within the specific campus sectors. These are assessed within the sector as a regular part of campus processes. For example, in Instruction, Assessment Reports are included as part of each department’s Instructional Plans. Those plans are evaluated by the Council on Instructional Planning. In Business Services, assessment occurs as part of the Department Review Process. Those reports are presented to the Planning Review Committee which evaluates them. They are then forwarded to the College Planning Council.
The Committee has the responsibility to initiate campus-wide dialogue after evaluating issues using the criteria listed above.