Student Affairs Assessment Council 2013 Retreat
Minutes
June 20, 2013
Attendance: Jo Alexander, Gus Bedwell, Tina Clawson, Maureen Cochran, Dave Craig, Kami
Hammerschmith, Jeff Kenney, Pat Ketcham, Carolyn Killefer, Jodi Nelson, Juliana Recio, Michele
Ribeiro, Kayleen Salchenberg, Rick Stoddart, Kent Sumner, Jennica Vincent, Melissa Yamamoto,
Jessica White, Aaron Cochran
The 2013 retreat took place at the Adair Clubhouse from 9am-4pm. Melissa Yamamoto facilitated
an ice breaker to help the group get to know one another a bit better since we’ve had several new
members join us in the past year.
For the majority of the day, Jessica White facilitated a discussion about curriculum development
using the WHERETO model (Jessica’s presentation was e-mailed to the Assessment Council; contact
Maureen if you’d like her to re-send). Throughout the discussion, Jessica prompted the group to
reflect upon curriculum that they’re interested in developing throughout each stage of the
development model.
2013-14 Planning: Per usual, the last hour of the retreat was spent discussing how we would like
to spend our time in the upcoming year. Ideas included:
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Creating a Culture of Inquiry (Initiative 6) proposals:
o Prioritize early in the year
o Possibly create work groups to move proposals forward
We should do a formative assessment of the assessment council, perhaps at the end of the
fall term; how are we doing? Are we headed in the right direction?
Trainings: MS Excel, Qualtrics, analysis, formative assessment, curriculum
More clarity around the 3 major reports; what does the audience want from the
Assessment, Annual and Departmental Highlights reports? How can we create 1 plan for the
department that feeds into all 3 reports? More clarity on the Departmental Highlights
scope, efficiency, outcomes (metric compendium); for example, what does efficiency look
like in the MU?
More info on the student engagement software; how do we see ourselves interacting with
this? Invite Josh Norris to present on both his curriculum structure in the Adventures in
Leadership program, and on the videos that they’ve created to share their success stories in
a short, creative & engaging way.
Focus in on one of the Learning Goals for Graduates; what are some assessments we could
use to measure our contributions?
Formalize orientation to the Assessment Council for new members
o Separate orientation (not during a regular assessment council meeting)
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 technical orientation (Compliance Assist, Student Voice, Qualtrics, etc.)
 culture of the Assessment Council; norms, expectations, etc.
o Potential idea: scavenger hunt for new members to go around campus to engage
with other Assessment Council members
o Create a “position description” for being on an assessment council (expectations,
activities, responsibilities) with discussion of what it really looks like to be an
engaged member. This will also require current members to answer the question:
What are our expectations?
o Mentoring between “veteran” and “novice” Assessment Council members
Reach out to departments who don’t engage currently
Organize a way for Assessment Council folks to know about professional development
opportunities on campus (ex: from the Center for Teaching & Learning)
o Rick Stoddart offered a great first suggestion: July 24th 1-2:30pm “Getting Started
with Qualtrics” training, Autzen Room
Next Meeting:
July 17, 2013
MU Council Room
9-10:30am