Using Quality Benchmarks for Assessing and Developing Undergraduate Programs

Foreword ix
Peggy Maki

Preface xi

About the Authors xvii

1 The Need for Quality Benchmarks in Undergraduate Programs 1

Part One: Benchmarking For Eight Key Program Domains 23

2 The View from the Top: Checking the Climate and the Leadership of a Program 25

3 First Things First: Attending to Assessment Issues, Accountability, and Accreditation 46
with George B. Ellenberg, Claudia J. Stanny, Eman El-Sheikh

4 The New Architecture of Learning Design: Focusing on Student Learning Outcomes 71

5 Evaluating Curricula 92

6 Student Development: Solving the Great Puzzle 120

7 Constructively Evaluating Faculty Characteristics 148

8 Back to Basics: Program Resources 183

9 The Art, Science, and Craft of Administrative Support 208

Part Two: Benchmarking In Practice 231

10 Benchmarking Quality in Challenging Contexts: The Arts, Humanities, and Interdisciplinary Programs 233
Jane S. Halonen with Gregory W. Lanier

11 Special Issues in Benchmarking in the Natural Sciences 257

12 Conducting a Self-Study 272

13 Serving Our Students and Our Institutions 296

Appendix A Using Benchmarking to Serve as an External Reviewer 307

Appendix B Sources of Data 318

Appendix C Assessment Materials for the Arts 322

Appendix D Disciplinary Accrediting Organizations for Bachelor’s Degree Programs Currently Recognized by the Council for Higher Education Accreditation 331

References 334

Index 357