Call for Proposals - NC State Undergraduate Assessment Symposium

Call for Proposals - NC State Undergraduate Assessment Symposium
Aligning Pedagogy, Curriculum & Assessment
Embassy Suites, Cary, NC April 24-26, 2009
Proposals are due by 5:00pm on October 31, 2008

The NC State University Office of Assessment will begin accepting proposals on September 1, 2008, for presentations at the 2009 Undergraduate Assessment Symposium. Our theme this year is Aligning Pedagogy, Curriculum & Assessment. Consistent with this theme, we are especially interested in proposals that highlight assessment efforts that seek to enhance undergraduate student success by illuminating the interactions between pedagogy, curriculum, assessment and learning. The Symposium, now in its seventh year, brings together faculty members and administrators from around the country to share ideas and learn from each other about the assessment of the total undergraduate student experience. We are pleased to have Dr. Arthur Levine, president of the Woodrow Wilson National Fellowship Foundation and co-author of When Hope and Fear Collide: A Portrait of Today's College Student, as our keynote speaker.

GUIDELINES FOR PROPOSAL proposals should present assessment efforts that are in a mature stage of development, rather than in a planning or pilot stage. Special consideration will be given to proposals that address how assessment results were used for planning and improvement. Sessions should engage participants and should focus on how participants can implement the methods and strategies presented in a more general sense in addition to focusing on how the presenters made them work on their campuses. Participants should leave each session with something that can help them to improve assessment on their campus. Sessions should be interactive, engaging and provide opportunities for audience participation. Please note that strong preference will be given to proposals describing assessment practices, activities, and/or methods that have been implemented for at least one cycle. The sessions will be 60 minutes in length; laptops and LCD projectors will be provided in each room. See instructions below for submitting your proposal.

TRACKS
I. Academic Disciplines: This track is for proposals addressing unique challenges faced by the various disciplines in carrying out assessment including how to more effectively assess academic disciplines, how faculty and administratorscan work together to develop effective assessment strategies and how disciplinary accrediting bodies impact assessment activities.

II. Academic Support Services: This track is for proposals that address effective ways of dealing with the special challenges presented when assessing academic supportservices, including tutorial services, advising services, library services, honors programs, orientation programs and living-learning communities.

III. Assessment Tools: This track is for proposals submitted by sponsors at the Silver level or above addressing sponsor solutions to campus assessment issues. Proposals should give background on the issues faced at the institution that led to the use of the product and how the use of the product impacted assessment, planning and improvement at their institution. Proposals must have wide appeal and cannot be simply a product demonstration.

IV. Community Colleges: This track is for proposals that address proven approaches for meeting the unique assessment challenges faced by community colleges. Topics may be from any of the other tracks with particular relevance given to their application at community colleges.

V. Experiential & International Education: This track is for proposals that address how to assess the impact of international education and experiential education (including service-learning, undergraduate research, cooperative education and internships). Topics include how to more effectively assess international and experiential education programs that are tied to the academic curriculum, assessment aspects that are unique to international and experiential education, and best practices regarding assessment in these areas, including specific tools and methods.

VI. General Education: This track is for proposals that address innovative approaches to assessing general education and how assessment of general education has been connected to planning and improvement. Other topics that may be included in this track are how commercially available tests are being utilized to assess general education and how portfolios can be integrated into general education assessment.

VII. Institutional Effectiveness: This track is for proposals that address assessment of institutional effectiveness. Topics include how assessment results can be more effectively linked to strategic planning and budgeting, effective institution-wide systems for assessment, organizational levelassessment, and institutional accreditation.

VIII. Student Development: This track is for proposals that address how to assess the impact of S tudent Development programs and services on student learning and development. Proposals should address how the unique relationship these units have with students provides special assessment opportunities and challenges.

IX. Symposium Theme ~ Aligning Pedagogy, Curriculum & Assessment: This track is for proposals addressing the interactions between pedagogy, curriculum and student learning, and assessment practices that lead to enhancements in all three areas.

INSTRUCTIONS FOR PROPOSALS All proposals must be submitted electronically. Faxed or mailed proposals will not be considered. If you cannot submit your proposal via the online form, please fill out the proposal form completely and emai lit to virginia_mccollum@ncsu.edu.