The joint theme of the 2023 VAG and VRAS Conference is Begin with the End in Mind: Exploring the Purpose and Goals of Assessment and Accreditation. The theme pushes us to explore, reflect, and connect our work to the goals, outcomes, objectives, and visions of higher education. In alignment with the theme, the VAG/VRAS Conference Planning Committee seeks to create a conference experience focused on reflecting on how assessment and accreditation tie into the mission and vision of the institution, student learning and program outcomes, continuous improvement, and accreditation standards.
Join us at the Delta Hotels by Marriott Richmond Downtown in Richmond, VA on November 15-17, 2023.
Seeking and achieving excellence in teaching, learning, and student success requires a shared commitment, holistic planning, and institution-wide engagement. What strategies, frameworks, or ideas best ensure that assessment and accreditation achieve our goals of excellence? How do we build and sustain cultures of continuous improvement and accreditation that do not simply check a box? How do we address inherent tensions between stakeholders, institutional bureaucracy, compliance requirements, resources, and time to effectively seek and achieve excellence?
Current, emerging, and future trends in higher education are essential concerns that require dynamic and continually evolving institutional strategic planning. What are the implications for assessment? What are strategic priorities for the field of assessment to address? How can assessment be leveraged for equity, engagement, and effectiveness in higher education? What are promising practices and proven approaches to ensure that assessment advances rather than impedes student success?
To advance the goals of our institutions, there needs to be collaboration and connections both on and off campus. How do we bring people together? How do we make purposeful connections to both develop and advance common goals? How can we involve diverse perspectives and ideas, giving both internal and external stakeholders an opportunity to be part of the conversation?
Accreditation by SACSCOC requires an intentional connection between institutional strategic planning, the Quality Enhancement Plan (QEP), and assessment efforts. SACSCOC is now poised to require institutions to address diversity, equity, and inclusion efforts in their decennial and fifth-year interim reporting. Sessions in this track may address one or more of the following questions:
- How are institutions assessing their strategic plans and how do these processes align with the SACSCOC Principles of Accreditation? What does it mean for an institution to use its mission to identify appropriate assessment measures?
- What are the implications of the new DEI requirements on assessment design? QEP planning? Institutional strategic planning? How might the requirements promote collaboration?
- What does DEI look like within the context of an institution’s mission? Is there diversity in how institutions define DEI and support DEI initiatives? How can institutions consider and embed the DEI requirements within measures of student achievement as required by Standard 8.1?
- If institutional strategic planning, QEP development, and DEI planning are not in the same cycle, how can institutions align the efforts with each other and with SACSCOC standards?
Have something to showcase? Interested in presenting? Check out the Call for Proposals page for more details.
Not ready to present? Think about volunteering.
Check back periodically for more details.