The Virginia Assessment Group is proud to present its fall 2010 conference themed "Conducting Sustainable Assessment in a Changing Environment." Whether you are a seasoned assessment veteran or someone new to assessment, this conference will provide learning and networking opportunities. Early registration is only $125, and rooms are $84 a night.

Registration: Sign up early for a discounted registration (click here)

Proposals: We encourage you to submit a conference proposal. Please send to Ling Whitworth. Deadline Extended: August 31, 2010. (click here)

*Conference discount for accepted presentations: $50 for up to 2 presenters per workshop/session.

Note, the following meals are provided at this conference: breakfast on Tuesday and Wednesday; lunch on Tuesday. Additionally, heavy hors d'oeuvres will be served at Monday's reception, and snacks will be available at all breaks.

Conference Tracks:

• Faculty’s Role in Assessment: SACS 3.4.10 states “The institution places primary responsibility for the content, quality, and effectiveness of the curriculum with its faculty. (Responsibility for curriculum)” To fully comply with this standard, development of faculty’s ownership of academic program assessment is essential. This track is organized to share successful strategies, best practice models, and lessons learned from the past.


• Administration’s Role in Assessment: Facing greater challenges from significant budget reduction to public calling for transparency and accountability, the federal, state, institution and college administration play vital roles in guiding, supporting and demonstrating our student learning and effectiveness in operation. How do changes at these different levels of administration affect colleges and universities? What are the key issues related to establishing a trust and a balanced relationship between administration and academic areas? This track is organized to address these concerns through sharing policy-making insights and practical strategies that have been proven to be successful.


• Foundation for Continuous Improvement: An assessment that aims at continuous improvement is a logically organized process and not an isolated incident. To be successful in conducting assessment in a changing environment, we need to establish an integrated infrastructure and process to promote continuous improvement. The discussion on this track is organized around two topics: the infrastructure (e.g. organization, communication, using technology to support the assessment) and using the infrastructure to foster a culture of continuous improvement


• Measurement of  Student Learning: Measuring student learning outcomes is essential to our success in fulfilling our mission and vision. How can we effectively measure learning outcomes in general education, subject areas, and activities that are taking place outside of classrooms? This track serves as an opportunity for our colleagues from various types of institutions to show cases, share expertise, and to discuss the lessons learned.

Summary Schedule:

Monday, November 15
6:00pm - 6:30pm President's Welcome
6:30pm - 8:30pm Reception (heavy hors d'oevres served)

Tuesday, November 16
7:00am - 8:30am Breakfast
8:30am - 9:20am Plenary Speaker
9:30am - 12:00pm Concurrent Sessions (including "Beginner's Workshop")
12:00pm - 1:30pm Lunch
1:30pm - 5:30pm Concurrent Sessions/Posters/Roundtables

Wednesday, November 17
7:00am - 8:30am Breakfast
8:30am - 10:45am Concurrent Sessions
11:00am - 12:00pm Keynote Presentation

Hotel:

For attendees, we have secured a limited number of rooms at the conference hotel, each for $84.00.

The Kirkley Hotel
2900 Candlers Mountain Rd
Lynchburg, VA 24502
(434) 237-6333. 

For more information on the Kirkley Hotel, please visit www.kirkleyhotel.com.

For sponsorship opportunities for this conference, please contact Keston Fulcher, fulchekh@jmu.edu.