PLAN FOR ASSESSING AND IMPROVING STUDENT LEARNING

DEPARTMENT OF BUSINESS ADMINISTRATION

The Department of Business Administration offers a B.S. degree in Business Administration, a one-year M.S. degree in Business Administration for International Managers (MSBA - IM), and a Ph.D. in Business Administration. Students in the B.S. and Ph.D. programs choose concentrations for specialization beyond core requirements.

The process underlying the development of an assessment plan began in 1994-95 with a comprehensive review and evaluation of the Ph.D. program by the Department’s Graduate Studies Committee comprised of seven faculty and two doctoral students. Detailed data on admissions quality, time to completion, completion rates, and placement for the 1984-85 to 1994-95 period were contrasted with data from the 1970 to 1984 period. A new curriculum, detailed student evaluation procedures, and a governance system were developed and implementation began during the 1997-98 academic year.

A review of the MSBA - IM program was begun during the 1996-97 academic year. A feature of this review was a survey of all previous graduates (approximately 300). Further, individual meetings of all enrolled students were conducted Fall 1997 and focus group sessions were conducted Summer 1998 with two separate classes. We are now in the process of finalizing a strategic plan for changing the program based on the survey, interviews, discussion with key people in Asia and Europe, and the faculty.

A review of the B.S. program was begun during the 1997-98 academic year. Utilizing student surveys, discussions with placement officials and recruiters from companies, and faculty input, a new core curriculum structure was developed and approved by the faculty, December 1998. The Undergraduate Studies Committee is now preparing the detailed program options and requirements for faculty consideration, April 1999.

Supplementing these comprehensive reviews were two faculty retreats, Fall 1996 and Fall 1998. The Fall 1996 retreat covered ways of evaluating teaching effectiveness. The Fall 1998 retreat covered developing behavioral learning objectives and identifying ways to assess student learning. Finally, for the 1998 and 1999 Annual Faculty Activity Reports, faculty have been asked to identify how they assess students’ learning.

Students pursuing either the B.S. degree or the M.S. degree in Business Administration are expected to have:

1. knowledge and understanding of the basic functional areas of business management;

2. knowledge and understanding of one or more areas of concentration including the critical skills necessary to solve business problems;

3. knowledge of written and verbal communication skills, and computer use;

4. knowledge of the legal and international environments in which businesses operate;

5. knowledge of mathematics and statistics sufficient to apply quantitative reasoning and analysis;

6. knowledge of the economic, political science and behavioral science fields to be able to manage human and material resources effectively.

In addition, students completing these two degrees are expected to demonstrate the ability to:

1. apply basic business principles to solve new and recurring decision problems;

2. conceptualize and analyze business problems;

3. communicate their conceptualization, analyses, and solutions effectively, both verbally and in writing.

The purpose of the doctoral program is to prepare scholars for knowledge development and knowledge dissemination. Knowledge development includes the creation of new ideas and applications; knowledge dissemination includes the presentation of ideas and applications through publications, teaching and scholarly presentations. These two activities are pursued throughout a student’s time in the program:

First year: understand existing knowledge and theory and their role in research;

Second year: apply existing knowledge and theory to new research;

Third/Fourth years: create new knowledge and theory for research and application.

All students will be evaluated relative to the stage of the program they are in and how they are progressing towards being able to understand, apply, and create new knowledge, theory, and applications.

The B.S. and M.S. degree programs currently are at the end of their reviews and revisions. From the review processes, we have learned much about how students acquire knowledge. For both programs, we will periodically conduct surveys of graduates to obtain feedback on their professional progress and the relative merit of these two programs. For the smaller M.S. program, we will also hold individual and group meetings with students to assess their progress towards learning goals.

More specific measures of learning will be developed as the structure of the curricula become clear. For the B.S. program, it is planned to pilot test a comprehensive senior examination, Spring 2000.

Other sources of data that will be used are the University’s alumni and graduating seniors surveys, the placement report of the Career Services Office, and feedback from firms who interview our graduates.

Annual Student Review. Each doctoral student will provide his or her advisor with a written progress report by the 15^th of May of each year. Accordingly, each doctoral student will be evaluated by the faculty in the student’s chosen area of concentration by May 31^st. Written feedback on status and progress will be provided each student. This evaluation will include the following areas as applicable:

(1) course work,

(2) development of independent research interests and productive relationships with faculty,

(3) assistantship duties.

Areas in which the student is performing at or above expectations, as well as areas of concern will be noted along with recommendations for enhancing the student’s professional growth and development. The feedback will be routed to the student via the Department Head and a copy of the student’s progress report and of the written feedback will be placed in the student’s file.

Evaluation Examination or Paper Requirement. Depending on the specific chosen area of concentration, each student will be asked to either take a written examination or write a paper demonstrating understanding of existing knowledge and theory as well as the ability to present ideas or applications creatively and effectively. This activity may begin during the summer after the first year of course work, but must be concluded with a faculty evaluation of the student’s examination or paper by January 31^st of the student’s second year. Each student should be provided written feedback on the evaluation of this requirement, in addition to verbal counsel by the student’s advisor.

Second Year Evaluation. All Ph.D. students will be required to write a second-year paper or to take a further examination in their chosen area of study. The second-year evaluation is intended to demonstrate the student’s readiness to engage in independent academic research. Again, the individual areas of concentration will determine the appropriate method of evaluation. The evaluation process must be completed by January 31^st of the third year.

Preliminary Examination. During the third year, each student is expected to prepare and defend a dissertation research proposal. This defense should be completed by August of year 3.

Final Examination. When the doctoral student’s advisor and examination committee believes that the dissertation is ready for a public defense, a final examination will be scheduled. It is desired that this final examination will be completed by August of year 4.

The outcomes assessment process will be managed by the Undergraduate Studies Committee (B.S. degree) and the Graduate Studies Committee (M.S. and Ph.D. degrees). The chairs of these two committees will conduct meetings and/or surveys of students, review progress of the various efforts to assess learning in the programs, and provide a report to the Department Head and faculty at the annual faculty retreat in the fall of each academic year. The appropriate committees will review the report and develop recommendations for improvement in the programs to the Department Head. In consultation with the appropriate Studies committee, the Department Head will initiate improvement activities suggested by the assessments.

Complete the structure of the revised B.S. degree program.

Complete the strategic plan for the MSBA - IM program.

Complete the course revisions for the Ph.D. program. Conduct doctoral student and faculty interviews to assess the first two years of the revised program.

Develop the pilot senior comprehensive examination for the B.S. degree and administer it late spring 2000.

Complete the program revision of the revised MSBA - IM program, including detailed learning assessment procedures.

Develop standard reporting forms for evaluating and reporting doctoral student progress and examination results. These forms should require the preliminary and final examination committees to assess each student according to the program objectives.

Continue to develop the undergraduate senior examination. Implement learning assessment procedures for the revised MSBA - IM program. Continue to improve and refine the assessment procedures for the Ph.D. program

RESOURCES AND SUPPORT NEEDED

The primary area of assistance will be in the development of the senior comprehensive examination. Financial assistance may be requested to acquire one or more existing examinations developed for this purpose. Further, technical assistance in the development and evaluation of such an examination will be required from appropriate University resources. Otherwise, the Department should be able to implement and monitor the assessment procedures without substantial amount of outside assistance.