Another year, another great conference! It was wonderful to get to visit with so many colleagues at the Regional Assessment Conference on April 22. I heard a range of presentations on campus assessment initiatives and strategies, enjoyed a dynamic keynote address (Dr. Jillian Kinzie rocks!), and ultimately came away invigorated— with a host of ideas for moving forward on my own campus.
As we’ve taken time to catch up this past week, I’ve been working on my “to-do” list. After digging my conference room and office out from under all of RCCAC 2016 materials, I pulled together some takeaways from this year’s conference:
- Assessment works! Kinzie shared some excellent stories and examples of colleagues and institutions that are closing the loop on assessment and making strides in student learning. (Be sure to revisit her presentation under the “RCCAC Keynote 2016” tab above.)
- There are multiple assessment roads. My colleagues and I shared lots of assessment strategies that have worked well for us, and while they may differ across campuses, they all lead to a common goal of improving student learning.
- Faculty are the key to a great assessment plan. Many of the presentations at the conference were from faculty active in assessment at their institutions.
- It takes a culture to improve a campus. Assessment is not owned by a single department, program, or college. Everyone needs to be engaged to focus on improving learning and build a true assessment culture.
It’s about time I get moving on my new and improved post-conference “to-do” list, which now includes making plans for next year’s conference. Hope you will consider joining us!
Sheri Barrett, Ed.D