Writing Assessment: SCHEV, SACS, APR, Oh My!

by Sarah Baker, WAC Assistant Director

We are now in our ninth year of departmental writing assessment efforts. Since our last report in Spring 2009, 18 new units either have completed or initiated their writing assessment. Although the process of conducting workshops to generate faculty-created rubrics was designed to address the SCHEV mandate, it also can be used by units in Academic Program Review (APR) and by units not in APR but who must develop learning outcomes and measures for the SACS reaccreditation process. Some units also are using their findings for outside accrediting agency reporting, such as ABET, as many of these agencies also ask for the assessment of communication and/or written competence. These rubrics also can address more than one learning outcome, in addition to writing, such as critical thinking or disciplinary knowledge. Every academic unit must enter its learning and program outcomes, measures, and findings into the WEAVEonline web-based assessment management system.

Completed (since 2006): Administration of Justice, Anthropology, Applied Information Technology, Art History, Biology, Chemistry, Computer Science, Economics, Electrical & Computer Engineering, English, Individualized Studies (BIS), Mathematical Sciences, Modern and Classical Languages (French, Spanish), Nursing, Physics, Recreation, Health, and Tourism, School of Management.

In Process: Civil, Environmental & Infrastructure Engineering, Conflict Analysis and Resolution, Dance, Global Affairs, History, Music, Social Work, Sociology, Systems Engineering.