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Assessment Structure at Scranton
Educational assessment at the 探花系列 applies methods of inquiry to collect information on student learning experiences, and using this information for the continuous improvement of teaching and learning. Guided by the Office of Educational Assessment, which resides with the Division of Academic Affairs, our approach engages faculty, staff, and administration together in support of the assurance of learning.
Mission Statement of OEA
The Office of Educational Assessment provides oversight and coordination of the development of a campus-wide culture of assessment at The 探花系列. It provides support for developing faculty and staff expertise in the measurement and analysis of student learning outcomes, program learning outcomes, and institutional learning outcomes. In consultation with faculty, departments, school/colleges, the office provides direction and consultation for analyzing and reporting assessment results. The office provides resources to faculty and staff for the effective assessment of the student learning experience and the promotion of best practices in assessment.
The Mission of the Office of Educational Assessment is to:
- Develop and refine structures and processes for the collection, management, analysis, and application of educational assessment data (using a quality improvement framework – plan, implement, review, and improve).
- Collaborate with faculty and directors of co-curricular programs to develop strategies for effective assessment at the program and institutional levels.
- Consult with programs, including GE, to help implement, revise and/or update assessment plans.
- Assist programs governed by discipline specific external accreditation to articulate evidence of the use of assessment data to improve teaching and learning.
- Provide consultation for review and analysis of assessment data.
- Communicate the most current information on best practices in assessment to the University community.
- Communicate the most up-to-date assessment requirements (currently Standard 14) by the Middle States Commission on Higher Education.
- Synthesize and demonstrate evidence of a sustained and organized approach to educational assessment at the 探花系列 to stakeholders and the Middle States Commission on Higher Education.
- Plan and provide opportunities for continuing education about best practices in assessment.
Learn more about the OEA Staff, here.
Comprehensive Assessment Plan
Student learning assessment has long been part of the academic life of the 探花系列. Guided by the Comprehensive Plan for the Assessment of Student Learning, we embrace a systematic approach to academic and co-curricular learning, with the faculty-led Office of Educational Assessment (OEA), and collaborative Educational Assessment Advisory Committee (EAAC) at the heart of our approach.
Purpose
This Comprehensive Plan for Sustaining Assessment Practices to Enhance Student Learning at the 探花系列 outlines a comprehensive, systematic strategy for the University’s approach to student learning assessment. The plan describes processes and cycles for the development and assessment of learning outcomes for academic and co-curricular learning programming, and associated reporting and application procedures.
Grounded in learning outcomes at program and institutional levels, and for the general education program, improvements to student learning are thus part of a formal cycle of gathering, analyzing, disseminating, and acting upon evidence gathered. Assessment also serves a valuable role in helping us to celebrate and share the value and impact of a Scranton education.
In shaping our direction, the University community considers best practices in higher education, including those developed and endorsed by scholars and practitioners within the field of learning assessment. Our ethical commitment to reflective accountability, evaluating our programs and activities with honest candor in the spirit of better serving to our students though the best possible programming, is closely tied to our Catholic, Jesuit mission and ways of proceeding. Our practices are also designed to address external accountability obligations, including addressing Middle States’ Standards of Accreditation and those of other programmatic and disciplinary accreditation bodies.
The Plan pays particular attention to the importance of the University’s Catholic and Jesuit mission: namely, its dedication to . Drawing on underlying concepts from the Ignatian pedagogical paradigm, the University’s student learning assessment plan ensures ongoing evaluation to build a sustained, evidence-based process for assessing student learning outcomes across programs and curricula.
Assessment Roles and Responsibilities at the 探花系列
Doing assessment well takes the care, time, and collaboration of faculty, staff, and administration. As an institution committed to the Jesuit ideals of cura personalis (care of the individual person) and cura apostolica (care of the institution), a culture of care, reflection, and continuous improvement are at the heart of what we do.
The OEA is at the core of educational assessment, which falls under the administrative purview of the Provost and Senior Vice President for Academic Affairs. The OEA reports directly to the Assistant Provost for Institutional Planning and Effectiveness, whose role includes building connections and assuring collaborative engagement between institutional and learning assessment activities in support of our mission and goals. The Assistant Provost serves as the University’s Middle States' Accreditation Liaison Officer, and, in this capacity, as a guide and resource to internal groups in understanding and conforming to Middle States expectations and requirements for institutional assessment and the assessment of student learning.
In addition to the work of the OEA, each academic college, the Weinberg Memorial Library, and division of Student Life all have duties under the Comprehensive Plan to support student learning and assessment.
Read more about assessment roles and responsibilities, here.
Past Members (OEA)
Past Directors of The OEA
Dr. Mary Jane DiMattio, RN, Ph.D.: Director, OEA (2013 through 2022)Dr. Mary Jane DiMattio Associate Professor of Nursing, will serve as the OEA Director. Dr. DiMattio is an alumna of The 探花系列, has a master’s degree in nursing education, and research-focused doctorate in Nursing from The University of Pennsylvania. She has served in a variety of capacities within and outside of the University in roles related to research, assessment, and continuous quality improvement. Most notably, Dr. DiMattio chairs the Nursing Department’s Evaluation Committee, charged with collecting, monitoring, and reporting outcome data for programmatic improvement and Commission on Collegiate Nursing Education accreditation. In addition, she chaired the Quality Committee of the Board at Mercy Hospital, continues to serve on the Board of Trustees at Regional Hospital of Scranton, and participates on a Nursing Research Council at Geisinger Health System. She also participated on the University committee that developed the initial draft ILOs in 2013. Having been a member of the Monitoring Report Coordinating Committee, Dr. DiMattio’s service in this new role will help to maintain important continuity and institutional knowledge in the development of our assessment processes through and beyond the context of the Monitoring Report.
Email: maryjane.dimattio@scranton.edu
Dr. Satyajit Ghosh, Ph.D.: OEA Co-Director (2022-2025)
During his long teaching career Dr. Ghosh has always been interested in assessment. He served on various assessment committees: Subcommittee on Assessment, Middle States Accreditation Committee (1997); Committee on Program Evaluation (1994-1996); and the GE Subcommittee of Middle States Accreditation Committee (2006). But it was 2007-2008 when he became very directly involved with educational assessment as he started to work closely with KSOM Assistant Dean Paul Perhach who was the main architect of Kania School’s assessment program. Dr. Ghosh worked as a faculty assessor on every KSOM assessment day that was held between 2008 and 2012. During this time with the help of his departmental colleagues Dr. Ghosh also developed the Student Learning goals for Economics and Finance majors. He continued his assessment related activities through his two recent committee appointments. In 2013 he served on the Institutional Learning Outcomes Working Group and helped to create a “draft” of the institutional learning outcomes—an integral part of University’s assessment plan. He served on the Middle States Monitoring Report Coordinating Committee in 2014. Over the past few years Dr. Ghosh has been developing various interactive teaching tools, based on “active learning models” to “close the loop” in individual course assessment plan and help students attain their learning goals. He presented various research papers containing these alternative pedagogical tools and their assessment in several national and international conferences. Dr. Ghosh has also served as a Faculty Assessment Fellow and as Director of General Education Assessment, and the OEA representative to the Faculty Senate General Education Review Committee.
Past Faculty Assessment Fellows
Tara Fay, M.S.
Prof. Fay currently serves as the Laboratory Supervisor for Human Anatomy and Physiology and teaches Human Anatomy and Physiology lecture and laboratory, General Physiology laboratory, and a travel course called Extreme Physiology. She became interested in using assessment as a tool to help her continually improve her courses and has attended numerous teaching workshops and conferences related to pedagogy and assessment.
Linda Ledford-Miller, Ph.D.
Dr. Ledford-Miller first became involved with Assessment under the then-CAS Dean Dreisbach. She attended several workshops by external assessment consultants sponsored by the Dean, and subsequently led the Department of World Languages and Cultures in the creation of its Program Assessment Plan for modern language majors, completed in 2008. The Department revised its Assessment Plan in fall 2013. In spring 2014 she collaborated with Dr. Joseph Wilson to begin an Assessment Plan for Classics. Dr. Ledford-Miller was an inaugural Assessment Fellow from November 2013 until Fall of 16, and was an active member of the Monitoring Report Coordinating Committee. Together with colleagues from the MRCC, she attended a special workshop in Philadelphia on "Creating and Selecting Assessment Tools." She served as co-author of the 2014 Middle States Monitoring Report.
John Deak, Ph.D.
Dr. Deak learned about assessment practices and expectations when co-chairing the committee responsible for drafting the Middle States periodic review report in 2012-2013. He has attended Middle States workshops regarding assessment of student learning, participated in the Intersession 2014 CAS Assessment Pilot, and participated in several assessment related workshops and activities on campus. During his tenure as an assessment champion and fellow, Dr. Deak has assisted faculty and departments in refining their assessment practices and in conveying faculty concerns regarding assessment.
Harry Dammer, Ph.D.
Dr. Dammer has been an advocate for assessment since he developed an assessment plan for Sociology and Criminal Justice Department in 2007. Since that time he has worked on assessment planning and implementation in his Department and also has become active in assessment in the Academy of Criminal Justice Sciences (ACJS). His recent activity with ACJS includes reviewing the assessment procedures of criminal justice programs across the country to determine if they meet accreditation standards. Dr. Dammer feels strongly that assessment need not be onerous, has improved his own teaching, and has helped his Department focus on improving student learning for all who take Sociology and Criminal Justice classes.
Cyrus P. Olson III., D.Phil. (Oxon.)
Dr. Olsen is Associate Professor of Theology/Religious Studies at The 探花系列, where he has been employed since 2006. A graduate of the at The University of Washington, and Systematic from The University of Oxford, his research and teaching focus on religion and society from 1750-Present. In addition to his primary academic appointment, Dr. Olsen is also Research Fellow and Network Co-Lead for , and an Affiliate Research Fellow through a at the , a subsidiary of the specializing in Neurology at Brigham and Women's Hospital, Harvard Medical School, located in Cambridge, MA.
Nicholas P. Truncale, M.S.
Prof. Truncale participated in the pilot Intersession Assessment Group in 2014, assessing a GE Natural Science course “It’s Only Rocket Science” he developed. Since then he created a new course, Foundations of Physics and Engineering, which serves as his department’s first year Eloquentia Perfecta (EP) Level I oral communication and digital technology requirement. He assessed all of the EP student learning outcomes earning the course permanent EP status and also presented these assessment results at a physics education conference. He co-authored a physics program review, participated in a departmental student retention study, and “closed the loop” by helping to enact changes based upon the results of the retention study. A Faculty Assessment Fellow since 2014, he currently directs the.
Adam Pratt, Ph.D.
Dr. Pratt joined the OEA in September 2017. As a member of the History Department, he teaches courses on the Age of Jackson, the American Civil War, and Native American History, as well as introductory courses to U.S. history. In addition, he teaches courses on historical research methods for undergraduates. In addition to the OEA, he sits on the General Education Assessment committee, and is a member of the CAS Curriculum and Assessment Committee and the Faculty Senate Curriculum Committee.
Office of Institutional Research
The Office of Institutional Research provides data and data reporting services to members of the University community to support decision making and institutional effectiveness.