Below is a timeline of events from October, 2003 to July, 2006 related to the development of SUNY-wide assessment of General Education.
For more recent developments, visit the Geneseo Assessment Blog.
- July 21, 2006: A memo from SUNY Provost Peter Salins addresses funding of Strengthened Campus-Based Assessment.
- February 23, 2005: "Discipline-based panels" formed to draft rubrics in the three general education areas to be subject to "strengthened campus-based assessment" beginning in Fall, 2006: basic communication (writing), critical thinking, and mathematics.
- February 14, 2005: In a letter to campus presidents from SUNY Provost Peter Salins and revised GEAR Assessment Guidelines, an assessment procedure is set forth that does not add a separate system-wide layer but instead "strengthens" existing campus-based assessment in three of the twelve knowledge and skill areas: writing, critical thinking, and mathematics.
October 12, 2004: GEAR Assessment Guidelines updated. - June 23, 2004: The Chronicle of Higher Education reports on the Board of Trustees' vote to approve the new assessment plan. Read a reprint of the article.
- June 4, 2004: The Ithaca Journal reports that the Academic Standards Committee, chaired by Trustee De Russy, approved the strengthened campus-based assessment plan on 5-0 vote. De Russy abstained, calling the plan "frankly shocking." "I find your comments, frankly, offensive and dead wrong," retorted Chancellor King. The Board of Trustees is to vote on the proposal in mid-June.
- April 23, 2004: The University Faculty Senate adopts this Resolution on Strengthened Campus-Based Assessment.
- April 7, 2004: UFS President Joe Hildreth circulates a one-page summary of how the Proposal for Strengthened Campus-Based Assessment addresses faculty's main concerns about earlier assessment proposals.
- April 3, 2004: The Faculty Council of Community Colleges passes a resolution accepting the new "Strengthened Campus-Based Assessment" proposal on condition that "modifications" to the proposal are made.
- March 10 and March 19, 2004: In Albany, a broadly representative Campus-Based Assessment Committee approves a plan for strengthened campus-based assessment. If adopted, the plan, described in these minutes, and in this stand-alone Strengthened Campus-Based Assessment Summary would eliminate the need for an additional system-wide assessment "layer," and would result in revisions to the GEAR guidelines. UFS is to take up the proposal at its Spring Plenary, April 22-24.
- January 29-31, 2004: At its Winter Plenary Meeting, UFS passes a motion to establish a committee that will continue dialogue with System Administration and develop a General Education assessment proposal by March 31, 2004.
- January 27, 2004: Geneseo College Senate rejects the UFS Executive Committee's four-point resolution on system-wide assessment but passes a "Sense of the Senate" motion endorsing continued dialogue with System Administration on system-wide assessment.
- December 4, 2003: UFS Executive Committee recommends that campus governance bodies adopt a new, four-point resolution on system-wide assessment. The new resolution proposes that system-wide assessment be campus-based, that it allow campuses to choose their own "externally referenced measures" for purposes of validation, and that it permit campuses to choose between outcomes-based and value-added assessment methods.
- November 5, 2003: Chancellor King writes to UFS President Joe Hildreth, announcing a pause in the implementation of the Board of Trustees' June resolution.
- November 5, 2003: President Dahl and Brockport Faculty Senate Chair Ken O'Brien talk to WXXI talk show host Bob Smith about the future of SUNY, including SUNY-wide assessment. Listen to the full broadcast or just the discussion of assessment in QuickTime.
- October 25, 2003: University Faculty Senate passes a resolution and a "Sense of the Senate" statement on University-wide assessment.
- October 19, 2003: The Times-Union runs an editorial on standardized testing at SUNY.
- October 16, 2003: An article in the Albany Times-Union reports on the possibility that SUNY-wide assessment would involve standardized testing.