Integrating Measurable Outcomes into the Work of Teams

Abstract

In the pursuit of creating a culture of assessment, Purdue University has been developing organizational structures to encourage teams and units to integrate assessment and evaluation throughout their work projects. We created an Evaluation and Assessment Consultative Team (EACT) five years ago to assist units with their assessments, and for the past few years, the Libraries have explicitly required teams to include measurable outcomes in their annual planning documents. This presentation will describe the planning process that our teams and units go through to integrate assessment into their work, including staff development activities sponsored by EACT that prepare teams for this process. Examples of team-engendered assessments will be shared as well. The brief presentation of the assessment situation at Purdue will be a springboard into a discussion of the challenges teams face when asked to include outcomes in their planning. The audience will be divided into small groups to construct a list of challenges and will report them out. Then, as a group, we'll brainstorm staff development, administrative, or other techniques to address those challenges.