campus partner(s)

University of Puget Sound and Whitman College

state(s)

WA

amount

$50,000

initiative

Engaging Evidence

award date

11.2010

project director

Alyce DeMarais

The University of Puget Sound

Grant Summary

$50,000 over 10 months to undertake the planning phase of a project that will develop and use assessments of major-specific senior capstones to refine department and program outcomes and in so doing, improve students' academic experiences. Specifically, Puget Sound will define rubrics for the assessment of senior experiences at the department / program level; explore and share best practices across campus; and enhance the accessibility of existing data so that they can be integrated with the senior experience assessments. Whitman will facilitate and enhance communication about its Senior Assessment in the Major (SAM) as a means of increasing understanding about assessment efforts across major and the institution; analyze existing data to more systematically identify major-specific learning outcomes in the SAM; develop a more efficient SAM evaluation tool; and use the data gathered to clarify specific learning outcomes moving forward. Over the course of the grant, the institutions will share resources, project results, and best practices.