One University Assessment Awards Given for Improved Learning and Operations

Academic Affairs and the Office of Institutional Effectiveness (IE) bestowed awards on several University faculty and staff members, offices and programs during the One University Assessment Celebration on April 28 in the SOE Education Commons.

The awards recognize and celebrate the efforts of faculty and staff who delivered learning experiences and services through innovative modalities and reflected on improving learning and operations. Awards were given in four categories:

• Assessment Champion—recognizing campus community members who advocate for meaningful assessment to enrich the student experience and who have made outstanding contributions to the University’s culture of improvement.
• Outstanding Assessment—recognizing a distinguished academic, co-curricular and functional area for overall robust assessment.
• Best Engagement Strategies—recognizing programs/units for engaging faculty, staff and students to participate and contribute to the assessment process.
• Best Use of Results—recognizing an academic, co-curricular, and functional area for how results from the assessment process are used in making decisions.

Receiving the Best Student Engagement Strategies award from Chris Johnson, associate provost for academic affairs and professor in the College of Engineering and Computer Science (center), were the bioengineering instruction team of Doug Yung and Anna-Blessing Merife and student consultants Assul Larancuent and Zoe Rennock as part of the Partnership for Inclusive Education.

Chris Johnson, associate provost for academic affairs, greeted attendees. “Every year I see this culture growing stronger and smarter as innovators like you all find new ways to do assessment and new ways to use assessment results to improve your operations and programs,” he said. “These awards are meant to recognize that innovation and the effort behind it.”

This year’s recipients include:

• Assessment Champion | Academic—Jamie Desjardins, associate teaching professor and director of undergraduate programs in the Department of Communication Sciences and Disorders, College of Arts and Sciences.
• Assessment Champion | Co-Curricular/Functional—Christopher Maldonado, assistant director, career systems, Career Services.
• Assessment Champion | Shared Competencies—Kelly Delavan, information literacy librarian, Libraries.
• Outstanding Assessment | Academic Programs—Chemical Engineering Bachelor of Science, College of Engineering and Computer Science
• Outstanding Assessment | Co-Curricular—Center for Learning and Student Success (CLASS)
• Outstanding Assessment | Functional—Human Resources
• Best Faculty Engagement Strategies— Department of Biology
• Best Staff Engagement Strategies—Falk College Dean’s Office
• Best Student Engagement Strategies—Bioengineering Instruction Team and Student Consultants, Partnership for Inclusive Education (PIE)
• Best Use of Results | Academic—WRT 205 Student Learning Outcomes Assessment for the Liberal Arts Core
• Best Use of Results | Co-Curricular—Barnes Center at The Arch DEIA Committee
• Best Use of Results | Functional—Maxwell Staff Council

After the awards, 2022 Assessment Leadership Institute participants were recognized for their poster presentations detailing assessment activities over the past year:

• Nicole Beckwith, Dietetic Internship CAS, Falk College
• Jamie Desjardins, Communication Sciences and Disorders Bachelor of Science, College of Arts and Sciences
• Mary Kiernan, Food Studies Bachelor of Science, Falk College
• Kal Srinivas, SummerStart, Retention and Student Success

Jerry Edmonds, senior assistant provost, concluded the event by acknowledging “this great opportunity to highlight faculty, staff and students’ work to learn about and improve learning and program and unit operations” and thanking everyone for their continued efforts.”

Visit the IEA website to see event photos and presentation materials describing recipients’ work to examine and enhance learning and operational success.