Committee
The BSE Department Instructional Improvement Plan will be administered and managed by the CIPA (Continuous Improvement and Program Assessment) committee, a BSE committee responsible for coordinating ABET and other assessment and program improvement activities for the undergraduate degree programs in the Department. Committee members are appointed by the Unit Head and include teaching faculty representing each of three degrees and the Student Services Coordinator.
Faculty participation
The minimum expectation for all faculty with teaching appointments is understanding and implementing the assessment process for ABET, PEARL or ACE if these programs impact a course they are responsible for. Additionally, pre-tenure faculty with teaching appointments are required to report independent efforts to assess and improve their instructional ability annually on their Activity Insight Annual Report and to participate in this instructional improvement plan at least once within their first two years of appointment. Non fully-promoted and fully-promoted faculty members are expected to participate in ABET, PEARL and ACE assessment activities, and are encouraged to participate in instructional improvement activities on a regular basis. The Unit Head and/or the Promotion and Tenure committee may recommend to non fully-promoted faculty that they participate.
Participation in the plan normally involves completion of an instructional improvement activity that involves peer engagement. For example, this could include development of a course portfolio to document student learning, or investigation of teaching strategies that enhance student learning. The activity may be conducted in a structured environment such as the Peer Review of Teaching Project, or the faculty may request one or more teaching faculty in the department to serve as peer-reviewers. Alternatively, the faculty member may consult with the CIPA committee or Unit Head to develop an activity unique to his/her own needs. The faculty member will submit a brief proposal of the instructional improvement activity to the CIPA committee or Unit Head for approval 30 days prior to the start of the activity. The proposal should include a brief summary of the activity including specific objectives and a description of how the activity will contribute to instructional improvement. The proposal should clearly address how peers will be engaged in the activity.
Reporting and reflection
Upon completion of the activity, the faculty member should submit a final report to the CIPA committee or Unit Head for review and feedback. The report should be accompanied by comments/analysis of peers involved in the activity. Faculty are encouraged to include this report in their promotion and tenure files and summarize their activity through Activity Insight. The faculty member should also be willing to make a brief oral presentation at the Annual Undergraduate Curricula Workshop of the BSE department to share experiences with other faculty members in the department. The CIPA committee will maintain a record of all instructional improvement activities, provide needed reports to the Unit Head and CASNR, and will include improvement results in accreditation reports as appropriate.
Draft: December 14, 2011
Approved by BSE Faculty: April 24, 2012