At some future point, when a definitive history of the assessment movement is written, one of the most frequently cited, influential publications will be "Assessment Update" ("AU"). Since 1989, this bimonthly newsletter has been published by Jossey-Bass in partnership with Indiana University-Purdue University Indianapolis…

Accreditors, speakers at assessment conferences, and campus leaders all decry the fact that too few faculty are closing the loop--that is, studying assessment findings to see what improvements might be suggested and taking the appropriate steps to make them. This is difficult enough with locally developed measures; adding the need to interpret…

Since the publication of "A Nation at Risk: The Imperative for Educational Reform" by the U.S. Department of Education in 1983, American higher education has faced the need to develop its own effective means of learning assessment to forestall the prospect of government-imposed standardized procedures. The latter potential may have moved closed…

All postsecondary institutions in Tennessee have the opportunity to earn an annual budget supplement for instruction from the state if certain criteria, based on educational outcomes, are obtained. A comprehensive assessment program at the University of Tennessee at Knoxville is described. (MLW)

This book examines current assessment practices in higher education and offers suggestions on planning assessment programs, carrying them out, and using the results to improve academic programs. Examples from all types of institutions (community colleges, liberal arts colleges, and comprehensive, doctoral and research institutions) are used to…

This booklet opens with a list of the features that society now demands from higher education and then describes approaches to assessing the community college mission. Twenty-first century expectations for higher education are being shaped by: (1) a change in focus from teaching to learning; (2) the need to base credentials on demonstrated…

Four dozen departments at the University of Tennessee, Knoxville, are using faculty-developed exit examinations for majors as one component of a comprehensive program evaluation process. The experience of 11 program faculties in developing and using such examinations are summarized. (Author/MLW)

There may be many obstacles to faculty and student affairs in higher education collaborating on assessment, but they can be surmounted. Discusses strategies used on campuses across the country that break down some of the cultural, bureaucratic, and leadership barriers. (Author/MKA)

This chapter outlines the understanding gained when working with faculty to learn about assessment, to develop a plan, and to support them as they carry out and interpret their assessments. (Contains 1 table and 1 exhibit.)

College faculty do not know enough about the current generation of college students, what they seek in college, how they spend time, what they expect of faculty and themselves. To accomplish the college's objectives for students' intellectual and personal development, they need the cooperation of student personnel workers, who work with students…