Assessment has often been associated with terms like “busy work,” “waste of time,” or “pointless exercise.” What if an organization changed that perspective by associating quality assessment with “resources” and “money?” That’s exactly what happened at Queens University of Charlotte.

Members of the university’s assessment committee – Jamie Slater, Tim Burson, and I – chronicled that shift in an article published in the July/August 2011 edition of Assessment Update. The article highlights the major components of Queens University of Charlotte’s endeavor to close the loop on assessment practice. For many years, academic program assessment had been viewed as a fruitless exercise – the results shared with few and read by fewer. In some cases, assessment made no lasting impact.

The committee made a goal of connecting resources to assessment. Based on the assessments submitted by each academic unit, the committee compiled a list of recommendations for the university’s administration. The result: new hires, additional resources, and forward momentum for those programs which demonstrated vibrant and honest assessments.

To read more about Queens University of Charlotte’s attempt to connect assessment to resource allocation, visit Assessment Update online.

About the Authors
Dr. Jamie Slater is the Director for Institutional Research, Dr. Tim Burson is a professor in the McColl School of Business, and Dr. John A. McArthur is director of undergraduate programs in the Knight School of Communication at Queens University of Charlotte. Read more about the Assessment Committee’s presentations at NCICU and SACS.