Trinity Valley Community College
Administrative Outcomes Update #2
May 10, 2006 |
How Do I Write Appropriate Administrative Outcomes? |
The construction of Administrative Outcomes in the past has often focused on capital expenditures, or the implementation of a course and/or program. The focus should be on the outcomes of the efforts of the institution for students, staff, or other stakeholders. So it is suggested that planning units take this process one step further.
Here are three examples:
---In the past, Administrative Outcomes have been worded as----
Desired Outcome:
Moonstruck department will purchase 10 new computers for the Lunar Lab.
Assessment Method:
Determination will be made whether computers were purchased or not.
Assessment Criteria:
100% of the computers will be purchased.
In reviewing this type of outcome, I would ask the following question – does the actual purchase of computers impact our students, or is the use of those computers in a lab setting? You could argue that the purchase of computers provides “access;” however, this is still a weak outcome. We need to know if the provision of this technology actually impacts students/staff/others in more systematic ways.
Now you ask -- what do I need to do?
Answer: Remember, the focus is on OUTCOMES for our students, staff, community, or other stakeholders. It’s not easy to write in this manner at first, but if you are having difficulty, you can often remedy this by doing the following:
In this example, the outcome at first was “to purchase 10 new computers.”
To move to a more appropriate outcomes-based statement, fill in the blank in the following statement….
“….The department will purchase 10 new computers in order to ____________________.”
In this case, you may choose to fill in this blank with “…to expand the utilization of computer technology by students in the Lunar lab.” Your outcome is the expanded utilization of technology, NOT the purchase of computers. If this is the intent, look at the suggested revisions below.
---Suggested revision for Administrative Outcomes wording----
Desired Outcome:
Moonstruck department will expand students’ utilization of computer technology in the Lunar lab.
Assessment Method:
The Moonstruck Department will measure the usage of machines by looking at number of hours that students use computers, and the number of students served.
Assessment Criteria:
Usage of machines in the Lunar lab will increase from 100 hours of use per week during the fall and spring semesters to 150 hours per week. The average number of students served per week will increase from 25 to 45 during the fall and spring semesters.
Implementation Strategy –
The Moonstruck Department will purchase new computers for the Lunar Lab, as well as provide access to software with expanded capabilities. Additionally, the Lunar Lab will be fitted with a logging system to evaluate student usage of computers.
Again -- buying computers may still need to occur, but this becomes an implementation strategy for the larger outcome of usage in this example. Additional implementation strategies will likely need to be employed as well – because we know that simply buying computers doesn’t ensure that students will use them (see examples above).
Notes – You must be clear in your mind as to what you are measuring (especially if you are measuring it at multiple locations). So, in this example, I envision an hour of use as one student logged into one machine for an hour as counting as one hour – not that the lab was open that many hours. Additionally, I envision the number of students served as counting the number of distinct students served, so if a student comes in 5 days a week – they count as 1 student. It may seem too trivial to get to this level of detail at this point; however, you need to think in this level of detail when you are creating your Administrative Outcomes and when you are talking about measurement. As many of you have expressed about the goals you had for this year– you don’t want to be thinking about this after the year has gone by – it’s too late to clarify then. Do this up front! Again, the time to specify these things is when you are creating the outcome, so that you are not creating problems for yourself at the end of the year.
Okay – more examples---
---In the past our outcomes have said---
Desired Outcome:
The Zippy Office will purchase ‘zippy processing software.’
Assessment Method:
Determination will be made whether the software was purchased and installed.
Assessment Criteria:
100% completion of both the purchase and the installation of ‘zippy processing software.’
Question -- Does the actual purchase of a software impact our students, or do we need to look at the use of the software as impacting our true outcome?
Again, fill in the blank “The office will purchase ‘zippy processing software in order to_____________________.” See the example below for one possible answer to this.
---In the future our outcomes should say---
Desired Outcome:
The Zippy Office will decrease the processing time for Star Student Advice Services by 2 weeks on average…,
Assessment Method:
The Zippy Office will measure the processing time for Star Student Advice Services for the fall and spring semestes, and will evaluate changes from teh prior year.
Assessment Criteria:
Processing time for Star Student Advice Services will improve from an average of 3 weeks in the Fall term to an average of 2 weeks. Processing time for Star Student Advice Services will improve from an average of 2 weeks in the spring term to an average of 1 ½ weeks.
Implementation Strategy:
To purchase ‘zippy processing software,’ as well as other possible strategies (e.g. restructuring who’s responsible for processing ‘zippy’ requests, or hiring ‘zippy’ student support at peak times, etc…).
Again, purchasing ‘zippy processing software’ may be an implementation strategy used for accomplishing this, but it is NOT the outcome.
---In the past our outcomes have said ---
Desired Outcome:
The Creative Learning Department will offer an orientation for all students taking Far Out courses.
Assessment Method:
The Creative Learning Department will evaluate whether orientation for Far Out courses was offered.
Assessment Criteria:
100% of all campuses will be offering orientation for Far Out Courses.
Question: Do we really need to measure whether or not we offer an orientation? Is this an outcome or an implementation strategy? For example, if the measure of success was offering the orientation for the course, but only 10 of the 500 students who were targeted participated in the orientation, have we really accomplished the desired improvement?
Once again, fill in the blank “The office will offer an orientation to students in order that _____________________.” See the example below for one possible answer to this.
---In the future our outcomes should say---
Desired Outcome:
The drop-out rate for Far Out courses will be reduced.
Assessment Method:
The Creative Learning Department will measure the percent of students who enrolled in Far Out courses who also completed the Far Out Course orientation. The Creative Learning Department will compare drop-out rates for the Far Out course from each term this year to each term in the prior year to determine if there is improvement.
Assessment Criteria:
75% of the students who will enroll in Far Out courses will participate in the orientation.
The overall drop-out rate in Far Out courses will decrease from 50% to 25%.
Implementation Strategy:
The Creative Learning Department will offer orientation for Far Out Courses. Students enrolled in these courses will receive 10% off of their book purchase for having participated. Results of students’ learning styles and study skills will be shared with the instructor of the Far Out course in which they are enrolled. Additionally, instructors will be provided with suggestions on how to best prepare to teach the types of learners in a given class.
Again, the orientation is the implementation strategy used to accomplish the outcome of improved participation/and drop-out rates.
| *For those of you that also write Learning Outcomes (LEAPs), please remember that the examples above are for Administrative Outcomes only (not Learning Outcomes). |