Faculty in 11 academic programs will be honored at an Oct. 4 awards ceremony and reception for their efforts to assess student learning.
Following a review of programs’ annual assessment reports, members of the University Assessment Committee and the Office of Curriculum, Learning Design and Academic Assessment nominated these programs for recognition. Provost Laura Huenneke approved the winners.
The awards recognize excellence in assessing student learning and encourage faculty to share their promising practices in curriculum, learning design and assessment with their colleagues.
Three programs will receive a Seal of Assessment Excellence, which recognizes exemplary work in three assessment phases: 1) Mission, degree program student learning outcomes, curriculum map and assessment strategy; 2) Data collection; and 3) Use of assessment findings to promote learning strengths and/or to make changes to curricular design. NAU’s Seal recognition process has received national attention and was partly the reason NAU received the 2009 Council for Higher Education Association Award for Progress in Outcomes Assessment.
This year’s Seal of Assessment Excellence winners are:
- The College of Education’s master’s and certificate programs in educational technologies, which used assessment findings for continuous program improvement, including undertaking a research study of the validity and reliability of program performance assessments.
- The College of Engineering, Forestry and Natural Sciences’ bachelor’s in mechanical engineering program, which used assessment tools and processes to improve student learning.
- The College of Social and Behavioral Science’s bachelor’s of social work program, which presented clear and thorough assessment findings, interpretations and recommendations organized by program competencies.
Eight programs also were selected to receive a Letter of Commendation, which recognizes outstanding work in any one of the three assessment phases. Those winners are:
- Bachelor’s in accountancy
- NAU-Yuma’s bachelor’s in business administration
- Bachelor’s in civil engineering and environmental engineering
- Master’s in clinical speech-language pathology
- Bachelor’s in computer science
- Bachelor’s in hotel and restaurant management
- Bachelor’s in business administration, management
- Nursing: Bachelor’s, master’s and doctorate
Information on the university’s assessment awards is online.