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Thanks!
Terri


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-------- Original message --------
From: "Albrecht, Mary Lewnes" <[log in to unmask]>
Date:12/09/2015 11:04 AM (GMT-05:00)
To: [log in to unmask]
Cc:
Subject: News from Annual SACSCOC Conference


Dear Colleagues -



Yesterday, during the annual business meeting of SACSCOC, our regional accreditation was reaffirmed by the SACSCOC Board of Trustees. I want to thank each of you for your contributions to the successful reaffirmation.

I want to share with you some thoughts from attending the recent SACSCOC Annual Conference.



Today's rhetoric by politicians and policy makers is confusing the issues of assessing outcomes. Please realize that much of the conversation at the national level relates to outcomes or measures - graduation rates, retention rates, job-placement rates, for example.



When we discuss outcomes in the context of institutional effectiveness and improvement, we focus on student success in achieving learning outcomes - have they acquired the knowledge, abilities, skills, and values of the discipline they studied.



We need to assess the quality of student work and not solely the quantity of student work. The Assessment Steering Committee is reviewing where we are with the three years of assessment reporting and will be identifying areas where we can help specific programs to improve their processes. And, the Tennessee Teaching and Learning Center has initiated the search for a Faculty Assessment Consultant.



Again, I thank you for your good work in moving the process of assessing student learning outcomes forward. We need to keep the end in mind; and, that end is continual improvement of our academic programs.



Sincerely,

Mary

Mary Lewnes Albrecht, PhD
Associate Vice Provost for Accreditation
University of Tennessee, Knoxville
527 Andy Holt Tower
Knoxville, TN 37992
Voice: 865-974-7074
Email: [log in to unmask]<mailto:[log in to unmask]>
Office: http://sacs.utk.edu<http://sacs.utk.edu/>
Faculty: http://plantsciences.utk.edu/albrecht.htm

"Our progress as a nation can be no swifter than our progress in education . . . The human mind is our fundamental resource." John F. Kennedy
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