The UNM Office of Assessment is set to host its second annual Institutional Assessment Days on Tuesday and Wednesday.
Director of Assessment Neke Mitchell said the purpose of IAD is to determine whether or not UNM core curriculum is making the desired impact on student learning, and if the University is preparing students to enter the workforce with skills desired by employers.
“The whole idea of the core is to provide students with a foundational knowledge that will help them better succeed in their upper-level courses,” she said.
The University-wide initiative involves undergraduate student surveys and “institutional assessments” generating feedback to gauge UNM’s ability to provide a positive academic experience, she said.
This includes online satisfaction surveys to share their impressions of academic advising, transfer student experiences, tutoring services and the Dean of Students Office, among other things.
Mitchell said the institutional assessments, which are done with paper and pencil, include the ACT Collegiate Assessment of Academic Proficiency and the ACT WorkKeys Assessment.
Participation in the IADs are incentivized, she said, as students who take at least three of the online surveys and one of the institutional assessment test modules can receive free items in exchange for their time.
The rewards range from a UNM T-shirt, discount coupons for food and other Lobo apparel, a USB flash drive, campus parking passes and three official academic transcripts, which normally must be purchased.
These students will also be entered for a chance to win larger prizes, including up to $400 in gift cards, Mitchell said.
According to the IAD website, this is one more way to measure UNM’s effectiveness and efficiency, while ensuring that students are learning the skills necessary to succeed after college.
The ACT WorkKeys assessment consists of eight different test modules, but Mitchell said they’ll be focusing on three: Applied Mathematics, Locating Information and Reading for Information.
If students take those three test modules, they also get what’s called a National Career Readiness certificate, which can potentially increase a student's success while applying for jobs.
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Another benefit of taking ACT WorkKeys assessments is feedback for students who might be lacking in certain areas, in the form of individualized performance scores, Mitchell said.
The assessment informs participants the areas you need to work on.
“This is just as much about helping the students as it is about providing UNM with information about its impact,” Mitchell said, “and that’s what we want to emphasize.”
Student Affairs Specialist Leonel Diaz plays a role in marketing for IAD and organizing the online survey for the Dean of Students Office, which encompasses the Women’s Resource Center, advocacy centers such as LoboRespect and many other facets of University life.
“From a departmental perspective, IAD is figuring out what we want to learn about what we do, so that we can either improve, continue, change or modify in someway,” Diaz said. “Every office on campus is welcome to participate in it.”
But without input from students, the assessments won’t mean much.
“Without student voices,” he said, “it’s like driving a car without having a driver.”
Johnny Vizcaino is a news reporter for the Daily Lobo. He can be reached at news@dailylobo.com or on Twitter @thedailyjohnnyv.
