How to Generate Purposeful Change on Your Campus
A realistic approach to institutional assessment
"A disturbing and dangerous mismatch exists between what American society needs of higher education and what it is receiving. Nowhere is the mismatch more dangerous than in the quality of undergraduate preparation provided on many campuses. The American imperative for the 21st century is that society must hold higher education to much higher standards or risk national decline."
This sober warning, issued by the venerable Kellogg Commission in a summary report on the state of higher education, conveys a clear challenge to those who lead institutions of higher learning: Take an unstinting look at your institution, be forthright about your findings, and take steps to begin improving the quality of the undergraduate experience on your campus. It's a situation leaving no doubt that a comprehensive institutional assessment program is no longer a luxury, but an imperative.
This paper shares observations and recommendations on what colleges and universities can do to establish a framework for systematic campus assessment.
