Pitt’s Annual Assessment Conference Will Focus on Recent Gallup Findings

Pitt’s Office of the Provost will hold its fifth annual Assessment Conference on Friday, Jan. 27, from 8:30 a.m. until 2 p.m. in the University Club. This year’s conference will continue to explore the most effective ways to assess graduate and undergraduate student learning at the University. Faculty, staff, and administrators from all campuses of the University will be in attendance.

The keynote speaker is Helen Stubbs, a senior consultant at Gallup, Inc. Her address, “Great Jobs, Great Lives, and the Undergraduate Experience: University Alumni Results from the Gallup-Purdue Index,” will discuss the results of Gallup’s surveys of Pitt alumni. The two University of Pittsburgh Gallup reports are available at http://www.pitt.edu/gallup-report.

Pitt has contracted with Gallup to examine alumni outcomes against a national database of alumni from many hundreds of institutions nationally The Index provides insight on the impact that schools have had on their graduates, based on several categories. “Great Jobs” is measured by alumni workplace engagement, while “Great Lives” concerns alumni well-being. This year, 82 percent of Pitt graduates were found to work full-time for an employer; out of these, 44 percent report being engaged at work. Also, 49 percent of Pitt alumni thrive in their purpose, while 53 percent thrive in their social well-being.

“These data reveal how Pitt alumni compare to those of other institutions with respect to leading meaningful and productive lives. This research is a unique opportunity to examine the longterm outcome of graduates on these measures.,” says Stubbs.

The Plan for Pitt, a five-year strategic plan launched this school year, draws heavily on information gathered in the index. Juan Manfredi, vice provost for undergraduate studies, is confident that the conference will help the plan succeed.

“Pitt’s annual assessment conference has become a recognized event where the University community comes together to discuss our progress advancing educational excellence,” he says. “This goal is articulated in the Plan for Pitt as preparing students to lead lives of impact through a supportive environment, focused on a holistic and individualized approach to learning inside and outside the classroom.”

Schedule

The Assessment Conference will begin with breakfast, followed with remarks by Vice Provost Alberta Sbragia, Provost Patricia E. Beeson, and Vice Provost Manfredi. After the keynote address, three break-out sessions will begin at 10:45.

• “School of Health and Rehabilitation Sciences: Assessing Didactic and Clinical Components of Accredited Programs in Nutrition & Dietetics and Emergency Medicine” will be held in Ballroom B, presented by Kevin Conley, Associate Dean for Undergraduate Studies, School of Health and Rehabilitation Sciences; Deborah Hutcheson, Director of Nutrition and Dietetics Curricula, Department of Sports Medicine and Nutrition; and Walt Stoy, Undergraduate Program in Emergency Medicine. Manfredi will moderate.
• Conference Room A will hold “Developing and Assessing Global Learning Outcomes” presented by Belkys Torres, Associate Director for International Programs for the University Center for International Studies. Sbragia will moderate.
• In the Gold Room, “Making Assessment Work: The Case of the English Department” will be presented by Don Bialostosky, Chair of the Department of English in Dietrich School of Arts and Sciences; and Nancy Glazener, Director of Graduate Study in the Department of English. Tara Meyer, Assistant Dean of Graduate Studies, will moderate.

Lunch and a recap session in Ballroom A will follow the breakout sessions. “Resources for Assessment and Evidence-Based Teaching and Learning” will be presented by Cynthia Golden, University Center for Teaching and Learning; Mary Besterfield-Sacre, Engineering Education Research Center (EERC); and Chandralekha Singh, Discipline Based Science Education Research Center (db-SERC).