1. Shared Governance In the past four years, there has been a significant, positive change in the collaborative and collegial relationship between the Provost, Vice-Provost, and the Director of the Office of Academic Review and Curricular Advancement and the faculty governance committee mandated with the responsibility for the academic quality of the curricula, in general, and assessment and program review, in particular. The factors we believe had the greatest impact on this improved relationship were: A completely revised Common Curriculum (i.e., general education) with assessment embedded into each component, A Director of the Common Curriculum who is committed to and knowledgeable about assessment and the scholarship of teaching and learning, A President who is deeply committed to assessment and has a number of assessment scholarly publications, The strategic commitment initially made four years ago (and still practiced today) by the Provost and key faculty governance committees to begin creating an honest and transparent culture of inquiry designed to use evidence to drive short-term and long-term decision making and strategic planning, Strong faculty leadership on the assessment and program review committee. Many committee members have developed expertise in the scholarship of assessment and have several scholarly presentations and publications and, A periodic and extensive evaluation of assessment and program review policies and practices that make them “living” guides for effective policy and practice. Next Steps We need to institutionalize what we have begun by continuing to foster shared governance based on collaborative and collegial relationships between the administration and the faculty. It has not been easy, but we have built a good foundation. We have established an open and transparent leadership ethos that, we believe, has made a very positive improvement on the relationships between our administration and our faculty. We have a number of “culture of inquiry” projects underway including: a major revision of our policies for assessment and program review, an online annual reporting system that focuses on assessment. We are close to scaling up effective assessment and program review across the institution. Strengthening the Culture of Assessment Through Faculty Development and Shared Governance Faculty Development Workshop Outcomes First Year We were pleased with the enthusiasm and commitment of participants. All participants indicated they learned a substantial amount. Several said they were much more confident in their understanding of and use in assessment. A junior faculty member said participating in the Teagle course gave her the credibility to move her department toward more appropriate goals. The cooperative magic we were hoping for also appeared when a person from a department that “had felt lost and spinning our wheels for quite some time,” used information from another participant to create a new assessment approach. We began the process of sharing our learning outside the institution. Several participants have presented at a number of academic conferences. Other have submitted papers to academic journals. The most important thing we have learned in this first year was that the goals for Assessment 101 did not conform to the time available. Significant changes were made to the Assessment 101 curriculum in the second year based on what we learned about the needs of the participants. This included reducing some readings and adding time to cover research design. We expanded hands-on work since this learning was most productive. Second Year The first portion of Assessment 101 accomplished our goals. We built a solid foundational understanding; the participant response was gratifying. Our brief pre and post assessment evaluation of their comprehension of student outcomes assessment also showed a significant increase in sophistication. Others found the course well structured: “I greatly appreciated the notes and structured course we had during the first half of the course. I was able to reflect on the reading that was assigned and it seemed that the assignment and the discussion were well linked to reinforce the ideas. I am more comfortable doing assessment.…” Somewhat more poetically, another wrote “I want to thank you for taking us all on an amazing journey of discovery.” The second half of the course was less successful; the growth of understanding slowed and engagement declined. We saw a number of potential explanations. Too many meetings, a discursive faculty member, and some of the curricular changes may explain the decline. Abstract This poster session is designed to engage attendees in a conversation with the presenters about how the College of Saint Benedict and Saint John’s University are expanding and strengthen faculty assessment activities through faculty development and shared governance. A grant from the Teagle Foundation and on-campus conversations between faculty members and the administration have lead to dramatic improvements in the policies, procedures, and practices of assessment and program review. A Workshop in Student Outcomes Assessment for Faculty and Staff In May 2008, we received a $149,667 grant from the Teagle Foundation for four years to increase faculty expertise in assessment, create an institutionalized system of assessment mentoring, refine data sharing and communication structures related to assessment, and enhance oversight processes and structures to sustain the assessment momentum. Thirty-one faculty and staff members have completed the year-long workshop. Twelve are enrolled this year. Next year, we anticipate another 12-15 people will take the course. Workshop goals include giving participants the opportunity to: Become familiar with “real world” postsecondary student outcomes assessment questions, challenges, and successes to effectively work independently and collectively with their colleagues in their departments, divisions, and across the institutions, Have opportunities to discuss, debate, and participate in activities so they may experience planning, designing, conducting, analyzing, and reporting meaningful student outcomes assessment in their departments, divisions, and across the institutions and, Develop a working knowledge of the relative history, trends, and purposes of postsecondary student outcomes assessment nationally and on-campus to contextualize their assessment efforts in departmental, divisional, and institutional missions, goals, and priorities. Each year, three Teagle Student Research Scholars are trained in assessment theory and practice and participate in the workshops as peers. These students also help faculty and staff with their individual assessment projects. Dr. Philip Kramer, Director, Office of Academic Review and Curricular Advancement & Dr. Rita Knuesel, Provost