PROGRAM REVIEW AND ASSESSMENT COMMITTEE

Minutes of: November 6th 2003

Present: L.L. Berman, C. Coron, J. Critzer, M.Kennedy, M. Moss, R. Mugno, H. Podnar, E. Schmitt, W. Shyam.

Started: 9:30am.

At the beginning of the meeting, the members reflected on the presentation given by Dr. Kennedy and Dr. Beatty before the UCF body. It was concluded that the presentation and the following discussion certainly served the purpose of clarifying the current assessment efforts and specifying faculty concerns about the process. The presentation should be regarded as a step in establishing a communication channel, and as a such was considered to be a positive experience.

The next order of business was reviewing the older assessment material compiled by the PRAC members during the previous academic year. The members found the material informative, but also concluded that it was difficult to find a model that would be a perfect fit for SCSU.

The meeting continued with the planning session for the following Assessment Forum in Worcester, MA. It was decided to sign for as many different workshops as possible.

Dr. Kennedy asked the PRAC body for help with the revision of the SCSU assessment manual. The members agreed, conditional to their time availability. It was suggested that, once the consistent version is finished, the manual should be published on-line.

Dr. Kennedy expressed her interest in organizing an assessment related event, with a number of invited speakers. The event would serve as an additional communication medium and a training opportunity.

Dr. Kennedy shared the idea about a university wide group that will help the assessment effort, with membership that does not change every year to assure continuity. The members agreed that the SCSU community includes a number of faculty that do want to get actively involved in the assessment process, and can develop SCSU assessment culture.

The meeting concluded with thoughts and short answers to a simple "What is assessment?" question. Dr. Kennedy collected the answers and will try to unify the meaning of the assessment at SCSU.

Adjourned at 11:10am

Recorder: H.Podnar