Faculty, staff present at Collaboration Conference

Nine SMU faculty, staff members, and one student presented at the Collaboration Winter 2010 Conference, “Assessment for the Changing Learning Environment” in February. SMU had the largest number of presentations accepted to this competitive regional conference and tied Bethel University for the most attendees. Dr. Patrick Barlow, director of assessment said, “This is one illustration of SMU’s ongoing commitment to a campus culture dedicated to the scholarship of learning and teaching.”

The presentations were all received very positively by people attending this conference. Feedback from this conference is always very constructive and this was certainly the case this time. Dr. Chad Kjorlien explained that “the other side benefit to attending this conference is the chance to reconnect and introduce some of our Twin Cities colleagues [Elizabeth Childs and Jake Hanauer] to people from our Winona campus.”

The presenters and their projects were:

•“Utilization of National Surveys and Standardized Tests for Program-Level Assessment” with Patrick J. Barlow, director, Office of College Assessment; Kevin Dennis, assistant professor and chair, Department of Mathematics and Statistics; and Tom Marpe, associate professor and dean, School of Business.

• “Using Class Capturing Software to Assess Communication Skills” with Chad Kjorlien, director, Office of Instructional Technology and the Center for Excellence in Learning and Teaching; and Brooke Lenz, assistant professor, Department of English.

• “An Introduction to Clickers and E-Portfolios as Assessment Tools” with Dean Beckman, associate professor, Department of Mass Communication; Carol Daul-Elhindi, instructional services librarian, Fitzgerald Library; and Travis Fick, fourth-year student, Departments of Journalism and Public Relations.

• “Assessing Mission Alignment: An Integrative Approach” with Richard Tristano, professor, Department of History.