The first day of the four-week program, which began with a keynote address by Karen Swan, a faculty member in the Research Center for Educational Technology at Kent State, included a noon awards ceremony to honor departments and faculty members who took extra measures to spearhead effective pedagogy efforts during recent semesters.
“UD has already been recognized as a leader in the field of assessment,” Rich said, “and that recognition falls into two domains.” Rich emphasized that UD's excellence in those two domains--institutional assessment and program assessment--“are a unique part of the educational architecture at UD.”
Speaking of the periodic review process, Rich said that “it wouldn't be sustained if it didn't have an impact” and added that the distinguishing feature of UD's assessment program is that it “was designed of and by the faculty.
“We designed our assessment [program] for our institution, not for other institutions,” Rich said. “It is still being designed, and, as long as we're engaged, we will keep re-designing it because we're doing it for the right reasons: to better the education of our students and to make sure that they are learning the most that they can.”
Rodriguez spoke next, addressing the importance of collegiality in the process. “Assessment is important,” he said, “and it is about improving communication with colleagues.”
Rodriguez added that although the term “assessment” could often be misinterpreted, the focus, in the case of the assessment program at UD, was really on faculty support and leadership.
“It's not necessarily a welcome task,” he said, “but the idea is to change the outcome of teaching and to allow the faculty to see the importance of these outcomes and to gain a sense of accomplishment.”
“Now we are in the third generation of faculty fellows engaged at UD in assessment,” said Rodriguez, who announced the honors. “It is important to highlight that it takes dedicated staff and faculty in this process.”
Stein, who joined Rodriguez and Rich in honoring seven individual UD faculty members, spoke briefly about UD's Assessment Faculty Fellows program, which was created and initiated by the Office of Educational Assessment “to create, maintain and support a University-wide cadre of faculty with a deep commitment to outcomes assessment.”
The seven certificates of appreciation went to Suzanne Burton, associate professor of music; David Usher, associate professor of biological sciences; Louis Rossi, associate professor of mathematical sciences; Hye-Shin Kim, associate professor of fashion and apparel studies; Gail Wade, associate professor of nursing; Delphis Levia, assistant professor of geography; and Bonnie Robb, associate professor of foreign languages and literatures.
Burton, Usher, Rossi, Kim, Wade, Levia and Robb received the special recognition for working closely with chairpersons and faculty in coordinating, supporting and maintaining student learning outcomes assessment processes and for sharing their knowledge with colleagues at UD.
Winter Faculty Institute sessions will take place at various locations across campus through Wednesday, Jan. 30, and will include workshops, technology seminars and collegial sharing. For more information on the institute, visit [www.present.udel.edu/calendar].
Article by Becca Hutchinson
Photos by Tyler Jacobson, AS '06
