KAREN RADELL: "Faculty at SCTC (and) the administration facilitate assessment activities, and created the Assessment Fair, in which all students take part." Photo courtesy of Karen Radell.

Assessment is a term in higher education that has been used so pervasively in the last decade that it has become a kind of buzz word—in other words, people who should know better often toss it into their speech or writing because they know it is important, they know it is current, and they know it will resonate with their audience—but the truth is, they haven’t got a clue as to what assessment really encompasses. In some institutions of higher learning, the faculty can be quite resistant to what they see as assessment activities being foisted on them by external forces. Assessment activities are often conducted by administrations under duress trying to comply with the Higher Learning Commission’s emphasis on assessment, especially of student learning, during the period while they are preparing for a site visit.  Academic Freedom is the rallying cry of faculty who are opposed to assessment. They fail to see the value of assessment and once the institution’s period of self-study is completed, so is their half-hearted compliance. Administrators, often weary of fighting with the faculty over something whose value is only tenuously grasped, are only too happy to let go of the assessment requirements until the next self-study.

What colleges and universities need to do is to understand what assessment is and how it operates. The purpose of classroom assessment, for example, is not to judge a faculty member’s expertise or competence; the focus of classroom assessment is on student learning and student outcomes. Utilized correctly, assessment is the means to an end; it is the tool by which an institution can evaluate all aspects of itself and by doing so, make a better institution. On the other hand, at the same time that colleges utilize assessment to understand the ways in which they can do things differently or do the things that they do better, the results of this assessment can also be used to explain how and why the college or university makes its decisions to the public—taxpayers, donors, internal and external stakeholders. We can over-simplify the matter by putting it this way:  assessment = accountability or even better accountability = assessment.  We have all been aware of a growing trend in the last decade, both regionally and nationally, whereby the American public is demanding to know just how successful its institutions of higher learning are—are colleges and universities really educating our young—and more importantly, how can we know this?

Tribal colleges and universities are no different. Tribal communities, perhaps more than others because of their rural locations, or historical neglect or prejudice (or both), look to tribal colleges as providing a way out of the poverty and lowered expectations that were the norm for generations. Tribal communities have a vested interest in knowing that institutions which they support, which sometimes bear the name of their tribe, actually do what they say they do and do it well. At Saginaw Chippewa Tribal College (SCTC), assessment is part and parcel of the culture, but it also helps the college be accountable not only to the Higher Learning Commission but also to the community.  Here at SCTC, assessment is faculty-driven, which is as it should be. Since 2002, all SCTC faculty, whether full-time or adjunct, have been required to conduct at least one classroom assessment technique (CAT) per semester.  Assessment has evolved since 2002 to include program review and institutional effectiveness in which both faculty and administration are engaged.

Faculty at SCTC have worked with the administration to facilitate assessment activities, and created the Assessment Fair, in which all students take part. The Assessment Fair eventually evolved into its current incarnation, the Assessment Conference.  Assessment activities are built into each faculty’s syllabus; a schedule of assessment activities (science poster presentations, Anishinaabe history plays, artwork displays, debates, etc.) is printed and disseminated to the tribal community. Students are encouraged to attend assessment activities scheduled by other classes during this two- week period at the end of the semester and faculty and administrators attend as many sessions as their schedules permit. In this way, students are as involved as faculty and not only do they understand the purpose of assessment, but they also appreciate the opportunity presented by the Assessment Conference to demonstrate the knowledge and/or skills they have gained during the semester.

At SCTC, assessment is not a buzz word; rather, assessment is a way of life. We understand that assessment is a tool that we can use to shape the future of the college. SCTC is continually assessing itself to find out where we have been and where we are going. There are several layers to assessment: one part of assessment involves measurable goals for student learning and outcomes; another part of assessment involves measurable goals for programs or degrees; still another part of assessment involves how well an institution is doing its job of recruiting, retaining, servicing, teaching, mentoring, and graduating its students.

SCTC was thus prepared for the demands of the institutional self-study and subsequent site visit which resulted in the college gaining its initial accreditation from the Higher Learning Commission in October, 2007.  The college was chartered by the Saginaw Chippewa Indian Tribe in 1998 and has been working continuously since that time towards the goal of accreditation.  SCTC faced many obstacles on the road to its goal but the college did not travel down that road alone—several different tribal councils supported and continue to support the college—both in word and deed. At the meeting with external stakeholders during the site visit last April, members of the tribal community, ordinary citizens as well as prominent leaders, addressed the site visit team with passion, humor, and dedication to make clear the investment of the entire community in the success of SCTC.

What accreditation means ultimately for the tribal community is that our students now have an even playing field from which to launch their educational careers. Students, faculty, administration, and members of the community all take justifiable pride in SCTC having achieved accreditation. Accreditation is a validation of SCTC’s mission, and with accreditation, Saginaw Chippewa Tribal College has been recognized as an equal among its peers. I am honored to be president at this exciting time in the history of the college.

Karen Radell, Ph.D., has been president of Saginaw Chippewa Tribal College since 2005.