Assessment at Temple University Libraries is part of a robust institutional culture of assessment, fostered by offices like Institutional Research and Assessment. I visited the IRA office last week to talk with Gina Calzaferri, just promoted as Director of Assessment & Evaluation. This office is essential to many University efforts, from providing for centralized and authoritative data for external needs, to helping drive decision-making by University administration.
Institutional Research & Assessment is comprised of two organizational areas, and in my job I get to work with both. Data Reporting & Analysis serves to collect centrally the statistics required by agencies like IPEDS (Integrated Post-Secondary Education Data System) as well as the many ranking publications like U.S. News & World Report. They produce the annual At a Glance brochure each year, a useful tool to find accurate figures on enrollment (34,349) or high school GPA of incoming freshman (3.54).
Gina directs Assessment & Evaluation, providing the infrastructure for program reviews, the support for the assessment of student learning and continuous improvement towards institutional effectiveness. Her commitment to this mission relates closely to her personal story. She herself was a first generation college student from rural Pennsylvania and her dissertation research (for an EDD in Higher Education from Penn) concerned the kinds of access issues that rural students face in earning a college degree. When the position in Evaluation & Assessment opened at Temple, it was a perfect fit for Gina. She’s been here for over 4 years.
Assessment & Evaluation coordinates multiple surveys each year, including the Temple New Student Questionnaire and the National Survey of Student Engagement. The results of these surveys are freely available on the web site, and may be of interest to library staff in understanding our student body. For instance, the New Student Questionnaire asks why students choose to go to college, and why they choose Temple.
Gina chairs Temple’s Assessment Planning Committee, with representatives from all schools and colleges (as well as Student Affairs and the Libraries). This is the committee that helps the IRA office to roll out initiatives, to communicate about upcoming events and training. Members coordinate the tracking of student learning outcomes assessment within each academic program.
Of course Gina’s office is also engaged with the accreditation process. While some might assume accreditation is the driver of assessment, she disagrees.
When it comes to assessment, “The point we are trying to drive home is that [accreditation] should really be the last thing on our minds. Assessment that is ongoing and systematic is for program improvement. It is to understand what you are doing well and not doing so well. We need to be accountable to our stakeholders and assessment helps us to do that; students, parents, government officials; Whether it is assessment of student learning or institutional effectiveness as a whole”
Gina continues. “Assessment helps us to tell our story; this is what we do very well here. It lets people know why they should come to Temple.”
Institutional Research & Assessment provides us with resources and support for all of us to show how planning, assessment and resource allocation are connected. We want to be able to say, “Here are the numbers that demonstrate that we need another faculty or staff member. Assessment supports that demonstration of need.”
I couldn’t have said it better myself. Thanks Gina!