Student Outcomes - College of Business and Technology
2021-2022 Assessment Model
The College of Business & Technology has an assessment model that is designed to help the college achieve two important goals. On the one hand, it provides the data necessary to meet the mandates of accrediting organizations. It also provides the information necessary to evaluate and improve the learning outcomes and employment potential of graduate and undergraduate students within the College.
Undergraduate Assessment
Assessment at the undergraduate level has two components: assessment of the common core and assessment of major programs. Assessment of the common core is designed to ensure that these classes are achieving their goal of ensuring that our graduates have the competencies expected of BBA graduates, and that these classes contribute to NSU’s mission. The accreditation process allows disciplines to identify their own learning outcomes, and develop their own methods of collecting and analyzing the relevant data. Thus, while providing the mandated accreditation materials, disciplines are able to gain insights into the scope of student learning among their majors, and to discern areas that may need further attention. The sessions of planning and discussion that are part of the assessment process are welcome occasions for collegial interaction, focused on student learning and curriculum. These discipline-defined discussions provide a much-needed forum for the exchange of ideas, pedagogies, methodologies, course delivery media, and so forth.
Common Core
The first component of the CBT’s undergraduate assessment involves the assessment of the Bachelors of Business Administration Core. The Core consists of 14 courses that are completed by all recipients of BBA degrees. The assessment of the core has internal and external components. The internal component consists of class based assessments that are designed to measure the BBA Core’s effectiveness in developing intellectual skills and competencies that contribute to the university’s mission of creating and expanding a culture of learning, discovery and diversity.
The external component of common core assessment involves the use of a standardized test administered by Peregrine Academic Services. This instrument assesses students’ levels of achievement in areas that have been identified by the Accreditation Council for Business Schools and Programs (ACBSP) as elements of the common professional component of a degree in business administration. The use of a standardized external instrument has made it possible to measure the scores of our students against those of students at other institutions in the ACBSP’s Southwestern Region.
Assessment within the Major
The basic model employed for assessment within each major consists of a 4-stage process. Each degree program defines learning outcomes for their major and constructs a matrix indicating which courses are responsible for teaching those outcomes. Next, a document is submitted that indicates what data will be collected to measure each learning outcome. The third step in the process is the actual collection of data. The final step is the evaluation of those data and implementation of any needed corrections in either the program or the assessment process. The results of this “closing the loop” process are reported to NSU’s Office of Assessment.
Each degree program has a program coordinator. These coordinators work with the Assistant Dean to ensure that assessment instruments are administered in the selected classes. The coordinators discuss the results with the faculty in each department, and work with the Assistant Dean to make sure that timely reports of these results, along with any planned changes in programs or assessment instruments, are reported to the Office of Assessment.
Graduate Programs
The assessment process has also been implemented at the graduate level. Plans for the assessment of graduate programs are developed by program directors in consultation with the faculty responsible for teaching required classes in their programs. Faculty involved in teaching the required class for the MBA and Professional MBA programs have identified key learning objectives in their classes, and designed instruments to assess the progress of students in mastering those objectives.
A similar process was used by the director of the Masters in Accounting and Financial Analysis program. Graduate faculty members in Accounting and Finance identified key learning outcomes covered in the required courses, and an instrument has been designed to assess students’ progress in achieving these outcomes. This instrument is administered in the second required seminar for students in that program.
Summary
All of the College of Business and Technology’s degree programs have assessment plans in place, and are collecting the data necessary to participate in the annual reporting process. The processes of data collection, assessment, faculty consultation, and reporting ensure that a process of continuous improvement is taking place. Furthermore, all degree programs are now reporting their results in Chalk and Wire. The collection of data in Chalk and Wire facilitates the assessment of progress over time, and creates a centralized repository of assessment results.