When Phillips Community College of the University of Arkansas joined HLC’s Assessment Academy in 2021, it was already practicing assessment and the stakeholders expressed uncertainty about how much would be gained by the experience. 

Four years later, as the college completed HLC’s four-year training program, assessment has become a way of life at the institution’s three campuses, as well as a point of pride rallying more than 120 community members, including nearly 70 from the faculty, to work together. 

“Initially, we thought we were great at assessment. Pretty quickly into the program, we began to realize that while we had assessment at our college, we weren’t doing it together,” said Monica Quattlebaum, vice chancellor for the institution that was rated earlier this year as one of Arkansas’ best community colleges. 

Early work in the Assessment Academy revealed the institution did not have a definition or common language for its assessment practices. That led the Assessment Academy team of leaders from the college to create a glossary of common assessment terms and a handbook with step-by-step guidance through the assessment processes. 

The college’s leaders say those first steps paved the way for faculty buy-in of assessment as the means for greater achievement to take root. 

“These tools were the catalyst that began to commit our faculty to assessment,” said Kayla Holland, dean of business information systems and a member of the college’s Academy team. “Many were really enthusiastic about the materials, and it made us realize that faculty do want to be involved.” 

Instead of focusing simply on how assessment goals were being met, the college began encouraging its community to look at how to improve when goals weren’t being met. 

It started a recurring event called Assessment Days. Billed as a professional development opportunity, the event at first paved the way for faculty to come together by college divisions to discuss as teams how assessment practices could improve student learning. Today, Assessment Days brings faculty from throughout the college together for roundtable discussions and sharing of assessment data and progress. 

“Things were starting to make sense to me,” recalled Catherine McKinney Fullilove, who is the college’s lead behavioral health and psychology instructor. “I discovered that student learning is what the assessment process is all about. Our work with the Assessment Academy brought this home for me.” 

The institution also started a program for faculty development called Rowdy PALS. The mentoring program pairs seasoned faculty with newer teachers and is being used as an introduction to the importance of assessments when new faculty come on board. 

“It has helped me in how I assess the progress of my students and has given me guidance and inspiration for improving courses that can enhance student learning,” said Charlotte Purdy, an information technology instructor at the college. 

The college was recognized earlier this year as having the highest student retention rate at 69.7% among two-year colleges in the state of Arkansas. 

“All the work we’ve done with assessments helped us to achieve this goal,” said Quattlebaum. 

It has also left no doubt that the Assessment Academy has been well worth the effort. 

“If I were to say anything to other colleges, it’s this: If you don’t do it, you’re making a mistake. I recommend this program to any college that wants to improve its environment,” said Purdy. 

Interested in joining the Assessment Academy? Learn more about the program, and sign up for our email interest lists to be notified about the next application period.