Fall 1999
Vol 8 Issue 1

IN THIS ISSUE...

A New Millennium

Spotlight on Adjunct Faculty

A Conversation with Anna Solley

Stranger Things Have Happened

Professional Development for Adjuncts

Adjunct Faculty Collegial Support Partnership Program

Rio Salado College Model for Adjunct Faculty

Devil's in the Details

Building a Web of Inclusion

ASSIDERE

Introduction

SEE ALSO...
The Labyrinth

Adjunct Faculty Involvement in Student
Outcomes Assessment
DSAAC Committee

All across the Maricopa district, adjunct faculty are involved in Student Learning Outcomes Assessment. Each campus has its own Assessment Plan and although the plans are diverse, each college integrates adjunct faculty into assessment in many beneficial ways. The following is an alphabetical list of colleges, with a short description of some of the methods used to include adjunct faculty in the process of student assessment.

Chandler-Gilbert
Adjunct faculty are invited, encouraged, and paid to attend all faculty development events including CGCC's annual Faculty Forum on Assessment. Faculty guidelines, memos, and flyers are distributed to all faculty and contain information regarding assessment. Every syllabus is required to include a statement of the campus assessment plan. New adjuncts are particularly encouraged to attend training sessions on classroom research, collaborative learning, syllabus preparation, active learning and alternate assessment techniques. Adjunct faculty members are encouraged to participate in their division meetings when interpreting assessment results, discussing implications, and recommending changes in curriculum, course content, or utilization of resources to improve student learning.

Several divisions offer specialized training:

English

• two-day summer assessment workshops on rubric grading of essays;
• participation in the revision of evaluation rubrics and instructional goal setting;
• all ENG faculty receive a copy of the annual ENG assessment review.

Math

• adjuncts are invited and paid to attend four days of workshops prior to the beginning of each semester on classroom research, teaching tips, collaborative techniques, use of technology, rubric assessments of common finals, and active learning strategies;
• adjuncts have the opportunity to contribute to the review of the common final exams and to assist in textbook selections.

Aviation

• adjuncts attend briefings and training in all FAA requirements for the written and practical assessments;
• adjuncts participate in the collection of material for student portfolios (folders), which include all mid-term and final assessments, as well as the results of all practicals.

Counseling

• all faculty participate in the competency survey, results, and recommendations for adjustments in teaching focus and teaching styles;
• adjuncts are encouraged to utilize their expertise in designing lessons.

Cross-curricular

• adjuncts may choose to participate in the goal setting project to assess student's personal development and satisfaction.

Estrella Mountain
The voices and participation of adjunct faculty members are an important part of our assessment efforts at EMCC. We have an adjunct faculty representative who attends our monthly Student Academic Assessment Committee meetings and is responsible for keeping adjunct faculty members aware of assessment issues, so that their input can be gathered, voiced, considered, and acted upon. We also hold Abilities Implementation workshops, to which adjunct faculty members are invited and for which they are compensated. These workshops are opportunities for sharing ways to implement the abilities in the classroom. Additionally, we have a section of ExSAACtly!, EMCC's assessment newsletter, that is dedicated to adjunct faculty members.

Gateway
Gateway is actively involving adjuncts in their assessment efforts. At the institutional level, the college has offered a paid in-service on a Saturday morning on the critical thinking outcome. This event was well attended by members of each division. During the Adjunct faculty In-Service at the start of each semester, GateWay presents workshops on assessment methods. At the division level, orientations include assessment updates. In addition, Chairs ensure that adjuncts are participating in program level assessment as appropriate. Gateway provides communications, resources, and opportunities for adjunct faculty to facilitate the process of improved teaching and learning.

Glendale
Most of the efforts to inform Adjunct faculty come through department initiatives at GCC. For example, the English Department sponsors an assessment day attended by all English faculty, regardless of teaching classification. They have developed a rubric for grading which directly influences faculty awareness of assessment and indirectly affects student learning by improving teaching and instruction. The Communication/Foreign Languages Department holds teacher orientation nights before each semester to discuss assessment and the departmental attempt to gain some consistency between instructors and courses. In the Applied Science Department, adjunct and residential faculty use common assessment tools, with training occurring in discipline groups. Other departments sponsor similar assessment activities.

In terms of the macro-assessment of student outcomes, all graduating students have an equal opportunity to be a part of the random sample. This includes residential and adjunct faculty's students. The College-Wide Academic Achievement Committee communicates with all faculty regarding the importance of assessment and encourages them to personally invite graduating students to participate in the assessment process. To further GCC's efforts toward college-wide awareness of assessment, during the first week of accountability in January 2001 we will have an all-faculty meeting in which the results of the campus-wide assessment will be presented along with a discussion of department and program level assessment activities.

Mesa
Adjuncts at MCC are sent communications through direct mail about the student outcomes efforts each spring. This mailing includes a flyer to acquaint or reacquaint them with the project and its goals, along with a letter explaining the procedure for notifying and excusing students who wish to participate. We also attend the adjunct faculty orientation session each fall to inform them about the project and invite their participation. We have adjunct faculty on the outcomes committee, although there is no remuneration for their participation. We use the department chairs to communicate and to keep adjunct faculty "in the loop." We send flyers to the departments and visit the Chair Association at least once a year to invite their participation and to disseminate outcomes information to all faculty. The Chairs are a valuable resource in spreading the word about MCC's assessment program.

Paradise Valley
At, PVCC, adjunct faculty are involved in assessment at the department/division level. Several departments hold an assessment meeting at the beginning of each semester. Faculty discuss the outcomes and measuring tools for the semester as well as results from the previous semester's assessment. Adjuncts are encouraged to meet with residential faculty at the discipline and course levels.

One division holds holistic grading workshops in the fall semester. Adjuncts are encouraged to attend. At these workshops, instructors learn to assess composition papers and reach agreement as to common criteria in the evaluation process. These workshops have been very successful.

In the institutional assessment plan for General Education, we collect material for student portfolios. The material is collected from all instructors, including adjuncts, for the chosen students. The material is scored using a holistic rubric. Notification is given to all instructors of the outcomes and the means of collection.

Phoenix
At PC, departments are encouraged to include assessment discussions in regularly scheduled training sessions with their adjunct faculty. Each department has an assessment liaison who may be called on to assist the Chair in these discussions and training sessions. Adjunct faculty are also invited to campus training sessions in the various outcome areas where measures are identified and implemented.

Rio Salado
Rio Salado College's Plan for Assessment and Improvement of Student Learning was shared in draft form with adjunct faculty for their input before the final version was written and shared with NCA.

At the program level, adjuncts are included in several ways:

• implementation of the assessment tool in real time courses;
• participation as "expert graders" for the writing, speaking and listening and humanities competencies;
• participation in discussions of the outcomes and improvement strategies in Adjunct faculty Assessment Dialogues at the All Faculty Meetings;
• participation in Professional Development Workshops on the Writing Competency.

At the Department or Discipline levels, adjuncts are included in the following ways:

• participation in design and implementation of assessment tools integrated into assignments and exams;
• participation in the college strategic priority on the Writing Competency by sharing expectations and the writing rubric with students;
• participation in analysis of data discussion and improvement strategies in department meetings.

Scottsdale
The year-end assessment reports submitted each May do not differentiate between Residential Faculty Policies (RFP) and adjunct faculty. All faculty are kept informed of Outcomes Assessment activities through their department chairs and through The Watercooler, the assessment publication of Scottsdale Community College. Adjunct faculty are directly involved in some department-level assessment efforts, while other departments only do formal assessment in RFP-staffed course sections.

South Mountain
At SMCC, Outcomes Assessment is always discussed during the Adjunct Faculty Orientation. Typically, residential faculty present workshops which review the plan and indicate the importance of adjunct participation. Adjunct faculty participate in the Outcomes Assessment Lunch during Assessment Week each January by giving presentations. This luncheon provides a setting for faculty to present the use of outcomes data to improve instruction. Each year a significant number of adjuncts do presentations. Adjuncts also participate in discipline meetings to plan and discuss outcomes assessment. Over half of all adjuncts are actively engaged in the Outcomes Assessment Plan. All faculty participate in the formative evaluation each semester.