ABOUT CACC

Establishment of the Campus Assessment Coordinating Committee

In March 2002, the Provost's Council charged an ad hoc committee to develop a proposal to coordinate assessment activities on campus, particularly surveys of UMBC students, alumni, staff, and faculty. It was clear that greater coordination of assessment activities would greatly benefit the campus by:

• improving communication about assessment efforts and facilitating the sharing of information
• improving the quality of information collected through assessment efforts (e.g., encouraging use of standard questions for consistency over time)
• increasing collaboration opportunities and more efficient use of resources
• avoiding duplication of efforts and coordinating timing of surveys to avoid over-surveying of some groups
• providing better assessment data required by Middle States and other accrediting agencies
• facilitating access to institutional data and contact information

It also was clear that, without some way to centrally track and authorize survey requests, there were no controls over methodological issues (survey questionnaire design, sampling, analytical techniques), no consistent way to approve or disapprove external and internal survey requests, no efforts to share resources and knowledge, and no standards or guidelines for authorizing requests to contact students, staff, or faculty.

The members of the ad hoc "Survey Plan/Process Committee" were: Nancy Ochsner (Director, Institutional Research), Marilyn Demorest (Vice Provost, Faculty Affairs), Deb Moriarty (Associate Vice President, Student Affairs), Miriam Tillman (Assistant Vice President, Institutional Advancement), and Ted Foster (Assistant Dean, Engineering). The ad hoc committee met several times during the spring and summer of 2002 and considered various options for coordinating assessment activities at UMBC. Among the options considered were the establishment of an assessment office, the use of existing mechanisms (Human Resources Office, Registrar's Office, Institutional Review Board), use of the campus governance structure (e.g., Campus Steering Committee), establishment of an assessment officer within the Office of Institutional Research, and establishment of a committee or panel to review and coordinate campus survey efforts.

Recommendation

The final recommendation of the ad hoc committee was to establish a Campus Assessment Coordinating Committee (CACC) and to create a position of Assessment Officer (FY2005 budget) within the Office of Institutional Research. The CACC was formally established in January 2003. The purpose of the CACC is to help improve the quality and usefulness of assessment activities on campus, develop an effective strategy for survey management and data collection, and coordinate and approve internal and external requests to survey UMBC students, alumni, staff, and/or faculty. The CACC will officially sanction surveys that require access to institutional data/contact information. Responsibilities include:

• Maintaining standards and criteria for reviewing survey requests and procedures for submitting these requests.
• Reviewing internal and external requests to survey UMBC students, alumni, staff, and faculty. (See section on "Important Distinctions" below.)
• Authorizing administration of reviewed surveys.
• Informing requestors of proper procedures and regulations (IRB process; permission from Registrar/ Alumni Affairs/Human Resources; selection of addresses/contact method; sampling; FERPA and other regulations).
• Providing advice and guidance in terms of questionnaire design, sampling, and other methodological issues (when Assessment Officer position is established).
• Maintaining tracking document of these surveys, recording information such as: Survey title, description, population/sample, frequency, year of inception, steward/contact, IRB status
• Tracking issues and problems (keeping minutes; documenting decisions; conducting needs analysis).
• Maintaining repository for contributed survey reports.
• Developing a campus assessment plan.
• Submitting annual report to Provost on Committee activities.

In addition to the advantages to the campus in terms of coordinating timing of surveys as well as sampling issues and dissemination of results, survey requestors can benefit from the CACC's help in providing information about procedural issues (IRB process, sampling process) and timing of other surveys, as well as some guidance in terms of questionnaire design and methodological issues. This type of methodological support, however, will not be fully realized until the establishment of a campus Assessment Officer position (see section on "Assessment Officer Responsibilities" below).

Important Distinctions. The CACC does not replace the functions of the IRB (Institutional Review Board). This committee helps requestors determine whether or not their proposed projects require IRB approval.

"Survey" requestors who do not need access to UMBC contact or institutional information are exempted from needing authorization from the CACC. Examples of this type of exempted "survey" are opinion polls wherein the data gatherers question people as they walk by or drop in (if no respondent identifying information is recorded) and forms or surveys that are distributed in a classroom setting (again, if no respondent identifying information is recorded).

All requests that require the use of institutional information to identify a sample should go through the CACC process. In addition to paper surveys, this includes other data gathering techniques, such as: web surveys, focus groups, and telephone surveys.

Assessment Officer Responsibilities. Ultimately (by FY2005), the campus should create a position of Assessment Officer to develop a UMBC Assessment Plan and to lead campus assessment efforts. The Assessment Officer will chair the CACC and will expand the role of CACC to help insure quality survey efforts and useful results. This assistance would include help with questionnaire design, methodology, and analysis. The Assessment Officer also will coordinate web survey support for the campus as well as data entry support for paper surveys.

In addition to chairing the CACC, the Assessment Officer will coordinate campus assessment plans and efforts, including regional accreditation reviews and USM academic program reviews. This position will provide leadership and technical expertise in campus- and program-level evaluation as well as outcomes assessment.

CACC Members. CACC membership includes representatives from the four major divisions along with key areas impacted by assessment activities. The ad hoc committee, therefore, recommends CACC representation from:

• Institutional Research (Chair; Assessment Officer) Dir., Inst'l Research, N. Ochsner
• Institutional Research Coord. of Analytical Studies, C. Pierson
• Academic Affairs V.Provost, M. Demorest
• Human Resources HR Dir., V. Bell
• Student Affairs Assoc. V.P., D. Moriarty
• Institutional Advancement Asst. V.P., M. Tillman
• Institutional Advancement DB Admin., B. Stone
• Academic Services Assoc. Reg., A. Arkell-Kleis
• Office of Information Technology (OIT) Dir.,Infrastructure, M. Carlin
• Institutional Review Board (IRB) Member, IRB, T. Robinson
• Institutional Review Board (IRB) IRB Support Office Administrator,T. Sparklin
• Residential Life Dir., Res. Educ., K. Leisey