Higher Education Doctoral Program Assessment Report

Calendar Year 2013

(Submitted: March 21, 2014)

8.1.A. Introduction to the Doctoral (Ed.D.) Program Assessment

The Assessment Plan for the Higher Education Doctoral Program (Ed.D.) was developed to assess the success of the program’s mission which is:

Program Mission: The mission of the higher education doctoral program at the University of Arkansas at Little Rock is to create scholar-practitioners and faculty and administrative leaders who will make a positive difference in the knowledge and performance of higher education students and institutions.

This mission was designed to conform to the UALR College of Education’s primary orientation which is its Conceptual Framework:

Conceptual Framework

“Leaders in Learning demonstrate Communication, Specialized Expertise, Professional Development and a strong commitment to diversity in competency (knowledge), disposition and behavior (skills).

8.1.B. Doctoral Student Learning Goals

The Higher Education doctoral program is designed primarily to prepare graduates for mid- and senior-level leadership positions in colleges and universities, faculty positions for two- and four-year colleges, and educational research and policy positions in state, federal, and private higher education-related agencies.

Standards employed by the UALR Higher Education program to serve as the learning goals for the Ed.D. in Higher Education are adapted from the CAS Professional Standards for Higher Education developed Council for the Advancement of Standards in Higher Education. The specific standards used by the Higher Education doctoral program are a mix of the CAS General Standards (Appendix 1), Masters-Level Student Affairs Professional Preparation Programs Standards (Appendix 2), and the Graduate and Professional Student Programs and Standards (Appendix 3).

As noted previously, Higher Education, as a discipline, does not have a regional or national accrediting organization. Therefore, the standards employed by the UALR Higher Education Doctoral program to serve as the learning goals for the Ed.D. in Higher Education are adapted from the CAS Professional Standards for Higher Education developed Council for the Advancement of Standards in Higher Education. The specific standards used by the Higher Education doctoral program are a mix of the CAS General Standards, Masters-Level Student Affairs Professional Preparation Programs Standards, and the Graduate and Professional Student Programs and Standards. Those standards include: 1. Mission and Objective, 2. Recruitment and Admission, 3. Program / Curriculum, 4. Leadership, 5. Ethics, 6. Legal Responsibilities, 7. Equity and Access, 8. Diversity, 9. Organization and Management, 10. Campus and External Relations, 11. Financial Resources, 12. Technology, 13. Facilities and Equipment, and 14. Assessment and Evaluation.

The standards that apply for the Assessment Plan are: 3. Program, 4. Leadership, 5. Ethics, 6. Legal Responsibilities, 7. Equity and Access, 8. Diversity, 9. Organization and Management, 10. Campus External Relations. 12. Technology, and 14. Assessment and Evaluation. We did not use Standards 1. Mission and Objectives, 2. Recruitment and Admission, 11. Financial Resources, and 13. Facilities and Equipment in the Assessment Plan because these standards are addressed in other sections of the Institutional Self-Study.

8.1.C. Doctoral Learning Objectives or Outcomes Associated with Each Student Learning Goal

The relationship of the Higher Education doctoral degree to the college’s conceptual framework is reflected in the program’s outcome goals for each graduate. The program objectives listed below are used to meet each of the CAS standards. Standards satisfied by each objective are included in the objective below:

1.  To develop students as leaders who bring a critical, reflective, and ethical perspective to leadership and professional practice in higher education. (CAS #3, #4, #5)

2.  To develop educational leaders who are able to address the needs of society, higher education, and the diverse populations they serve. (CAS #3, #5, #7, #8)

3.  To develop students of conscience who respect diversity and who are committed to the service of others and their communities. (CAS #5, #7, #8, #10)

4.  To enrich student’s historical and cultural consciousness of American postsecondary institutions. (CAS #3, #10)

5.  To provide students with critical understandings of the various structures and policies that shape and inform policy and practice in the American higher education system. (CAS #3, #5, #6, #7, #9, #12)

6.  To integrate theories from appropriate fields with students’ own professional experiences in order to relate theory to practice. (CAS #3, #10)

7.  To strengthen students’ leadership, teamwork, written and oral communication, research, assessment and analytical skills. (CAS #3, #10, #12)

8.  To develop students’ professional skills and dispositions in higher education, including their appreciation for education as a lifelong process of professional and personal development. (CAS #3, #5, #12)

8.1.D. Doctoral Key Assessments

There were myriad possible assessment points that the Higher Education faculty could have chosen to assess. However, since the College of Education’s PAAG only requires a minimum of six assessment points, we decided to choose what we thought were absolutely key assessments that would measure the success of the Higher Education doctoral program. Thus, assessment of the Higher Education Doctoral program is divided into five segments each of which provides an integral set of skills and competencies that are essential to the success of our graduates. As shown in Table 8.1 below, these segments include: 1) a set of Higher Education core courses, 2) a set of Research Methods core courses (evaluated in the Comprehensive Qualifying Examination), 3) a set of concentration area courses (concentration areas include: administration; student affairs administration; two-year college leadership; and faculty leadership), 4) Written and Oral Comprehensive Qualifying Examinations, and 5) the defense of dissertation proposal (first three chapters of the dissertation) and a final dissertation. Success of each component of these segments is measured using a variety of assessments and each component of these segments achieves one or more of the CAS standards as reflected in Table 8.1. See the links for (Appendix 4) a sample of the key assessments and (Appendix 5) a crosswalk of the CAS Standards and applicable assessment from the Higher Education Program’s Assessment plan.

Higher Education Doctoral Core Course Assessments: Each of the three Higher Education core courses serves as an individual assessment point in the doctoral assessment plan. Each course has one assignment that serves as the key assessment for the course.

The primary document analysis assignment in HIED 8301 History and Philosophy of Higher Education serves as the baseline key assessment for the program since it is among the first courses taken in the Higher Education doctoral curriculum. The assignment is an analysis of a primary document focusing on the context in higher education and society at the time it was written, on the salient characteristics of the author of the document including the philosophical perspectives that may have influenced the author and the impact the document has had on higher education. See (Appendix 6.a.) for the description and guidelines for the assignment and (Appendix 6.b.) for the grading rubric and summaries for the past three offerings of the course along with a cumulative summary for the three years.

The theory paper in HIED 8303 Leadership Theories in Higher Education is the key assessment for the second core higher education course. See (Appendix 7.a.) for the description and guidelines for the assignment and (Appendix 7.b.) for the grading rubric. For the current assessment, this course is being assessed for this self-study report through the grades of the students. In the future, the faculty will use the rubrics used to evaluate the performances of students on the key assignment in the course (the interview assignment to which a link is provided above) to assess the annual performances of the students in the class.

Dissertation seminar (HIED 8399) is the last course the students take in the Higher Education curriculum. The course is taken either concurrently with or after passage by the students of the written and oral comprehensive qualifying examination. The assignment is for the students to complete the first two chapters of their dissertations: Chapter 1 Introduction; and Chapter 2 Literature Review. See link (Appendix 8.a.) for the description and guidelines for the assignment

Table 1 Doctoral Program Key Assessment by Standard

CAS
Standard / 3:
Pro-gram / 4:
Lead-ership / 5: Ethics / 6:
Legal Resp. / 7: Equity&
Access / 8:
Diver-sity / 9:
Org. & Mgt. / 10.
Camp.Ext.
Rel. / 12.
Tech-nology
HIED 8301:
Primary Doc. Analysis / X / X / X / X / X / X / X
C
o
r
e / HIED 8303:
Leadership
Theory Paper / X / X / X
HIED 8399:
Diss. Seminar
1st Two Chapters / X / X / X / X
K
e
y / C
o / Administration
HIED 8342:
Policy Paper / X / X / X / X / X / X / X / X
A
s
s / n
c
e
n
t / Student Affairs
HIED 8350: Research Assignment / X / X
e
s
s / r
a
t
i / TYC Leadership
HIED 8320:
Team Res. Project / X / X / X / X / X / X
m
e
n
t / o
n / Faculty Leadership
HIED 8330:
Research Assignment / X / X
s / C
o
m / Comprehensive Exam:
Research Section / X / X / X / X
p
s / Comprehensive Exam:
Higher Ed Sections / X / X / X / X / X / X / X / X / X
C
a
p
s / Dissertation Proposal / X / X / X / X
ton
e / Dissertation / X / X / X / X

and (Appendix 8.b.) for the grading rubric and cumulative summary of performance for the past three offerings of the course. Further elaboration on the course is provided below in the explanation of the dissertation process.

Higher Education Doctoral Concentration Course Assessments: Each student is required to choose from one of four doctoral concentration areas—administration, student affairs administration, two-year college leadership, or faculty leadership—when developing their plan of study. Therefore, though students are fairly evenly distributed across the concentration areas, one course from the core concentration area courses was selected to serve as the course from which the key concentration area assessment was evaluated.

1) The policy paper assignment in HIED 8342 Governance and Policy in Higher Education is the key assessment in the Administration concentration area. See link (Appendix 9.a.) for the description and guidelines for the assignment and (Appendix 9.b.) for the grading rubric and cumulative summary of performance for the past three offerings of the course.

2) The original research assignment in HIED 8350 The American College Student is the key assessment in the Student Affairs Administration concentration area. See link (Appendix 10.a.) for the description and guidelines for the assignment and (Appendix 10.b.) for the grading rubric and cumulative summary of performance for the past three offerings of the course.

3) The team-based research project in HIED 8320 The Two-Year College in America is the key assessment in the Two-Year College Leadership concentration area. See link (Appendix 11.a.) for the description and guidelines for the assignment and (Appendix 11.b.) for the grading rubric and cumulative summary of performance for the past three offerings of the course.

4) The original research assignment in HIED 8330 College Teaching Problems and Issues is the key assessment in the Faculty Leadership concentration area. See link (Appendix 12.a.) for the description and guidelines for the assignment and (Appendix 12.b.) for the grading rubric and cumulative summary of performance for the past three offerings of the course.

2. Describe program/major gateway and exit or capstone requirements for the Doctoral Program.

Figure 6. Key Gateways for the Higher Education Doctoral Program

Prerequisite Faculty Interview Coursework Comprehensive Dissertation Proposal

Gateways Examination Approved and

Final Defense

Written Comprehensive Qualifying Examination

The written portion of the qualifying examination is administered on three days over the course of two weekends. A summary of recent results on the Comprehensive Qualifying Examination is available at the link (Appendix 13).

Doctoral Research Methods Section:

All students are examined on the required Educational Foundations courses – Statistics (EDFN 7304), Advanced Statistics (EDFN 8305), Advanced Research (EDFN 8306) which serves as the Quantitative Research Methods section of the examination, and Qualitative Research Methods (EDFN 7373) – on a Saturday afternoon. The Educational Foundations (Research Methods) sections of the examination incorporate aspects of Institutional Review Board considerations including training in the ethical and legal responsibilities that research have when conducting research involving human subjects.

Doctoral Higher Education Sections:

All students are examined on the Higher Education core courses—History and Philosophy of Higher Education (HIED 8301) and on Leadership Theories (HIED 8303)—on the following Friday afternoon.

The next day, students are examined on required coursework in their respective concentration areas. Students in the Faculty Leadership Concentration are examined on College Teaching Problems and Issues (HIED 8330) and Curriculum Design in Higher Education (HIED 8332) during the Saturday morning session. They are examined on Financing of Colleges and Universities (HIED 8341) and Governance and Policy Making in Higher Education (HIED 8342) on Saturday afternoon. Students in the Administration Concentration are examined on Organizational Behavior in Higher and Postsecondary Education (HIED 8340) and Legal Aspects of Higher Education (HIED 8343) during the Saturday morning session. During the Saturday afternoon session they are examined on Financing of Colleges and Universities (HIED 8341) and Governance and Policy Making in Higher Education (HIED 8342). Students in the Two-Year College Leadership Concentration are examined on Organizational Behavior in Higher and Postsecondary Education (HIED 8340) and Legal Aspects of Higher Education (HIED 8343) during the Saturday morning session. They are examined on The Two-Year College in America (HIED 8320) and Issues and Challenges in Two-Year College Leadership (HIED 8322) for half the afternoon session and Financing of Colleges and Universities (HIED 8341) and Governance and Policy Making in Higher Education (HIED 8342) in the second half of the session. Students in the Student Affairs Administration Concentration are examined on Legal Aspects of Higher Education (HIED 8343) and Assessment and Program Evaluation (HIED 8353) in the morning session and The American College Student (HIED 8350) and Capstone Seminar in Student Affairs (HIED 8358) during the afternoon session.