» CAS Endorses the Committing to Quality: Guidelines for Assessment and Accountability in Higher Education
tagged in the category of Announcements, Updates
on March 15, 2012
As postsecondary education becomes ever more important both for the economy and democracy, institutions must take the lead in ensuring that college degrees reflect a high level of student achievement. With growing national attention on college cost and quantity of degrees awarded, U.S. higher education must broaden that dialogue to focus directly on quality. And the critical conversations must be had on campuses.
A new publication from the New Leadership Alliance for Student Learning and Accountability, Committing to Quality: Guidelines for Assessment and Accountability in Higher Education, provides a roadmap for discussing educational quality and taking action to improve it. The publication is endorsed by twenty-seven national higher education organizations, including CAS, but we are seeking to expand this group and invite your organization to also endorse it individually.
A true focus on quality requires everyone on college and university campuses — presidents and chancellors, faculty members, academic and student affairs administrators, and students — to work together to answer the question “Are our students learning?” As you know, students are engaged in a range of activities while in college, many of these outside the classroom, so it is imperative that we assess learning across the entire institution. I encourage you to advocate for not only demonstrating this contribution, but to also advocate for everyone across an institution to working towards the same institutional outcomes and assessing them at all levels.A complimentary copy of Committing to Quality is available here and hard copies may be requested here. I ask that you share this publication with your members and ask them to discuss and use it. Should your organization choose to endorse it individually, along with CAS, please contact me. An updated list of endorsers will be maintained on the Alliance’s website and we will include all new endorsers in the next printing of this publication.
Thank you for supporting Committing to Quality as a part of the Council for the Advancement of Standards. I hope that your organization will be able to do so individually as well.
By: Zaneeta E. Daver, Associate Director
New Leadership Alliance for Student Learning and Accountability
1025 Connecticut Avenue NW, Suite 1000, Washington, DC 20036
p. 202.828.1261 | f. 202.857.9799 | e. zaneeta@