Committee on Learning Assessment for Student Success

Committee Mission/Purpose:

• CLASS's charge is to facilitate, monitor and support the development and implementation of student learning outcomes assessment plans for UVI academic divisions and for general education.

Meeting Time & Location:

• For information on the meeting time and location, please email or call Dr. Lonnie Hudspeth at lhudspe@uvi.edu or (340) 693-1315.

Committee Members:

• CLASS consists of Division Assessment Coordinators, administrators, and students. Administrators come from key functions that enable or support student learning and contribute a critical input to CLASS to enhance decision-making quality and effectiveness. Students provide the perspective of the customers we aim to serve and, likewise provide unique and important input to CLASS. Each Division Coordinator has overall responsibility to lead the assessment planning and implementation activities and processes within their Division. Specifically, Division Coordinators perform the following duties:

  • Attend and actively participate in scheduled meetings of CLASS;
  • Maintain a focus within the division on student learning and assessment;
  • Promote, in collaboration with the division chair, discussions and monitor subsequent actions on the use of assessment data in facilitating student learning;
  • Oversee the identification of courses to be assessed;
  • Ensure that appropriate student learning growth plans are in place;
  • Lead the development of assessment reports from the division for the Provost; and
  • Submit reports on assessment, as required.

Long-Term Goals:

Long-term goal is to spearhead UVI's transformation into a 'culture of evidence' and a learner-centered institution committed to student success. To specifically impact the culture change, Office of Student Learning Outcomes Assessment must achieve several related strategic objectives.

The University of the Virgin Islands' journey to effectively institute student learning outcomes assessment has been and will continue to be an evolutionary 'organizational learning process', rather than a "big bang" transformation done right the first time. The University realizes that "assessment is a learner-centered movement and plays a key role in shifting from a teacher-centered to a learner-centered paradigm by forcing us to ask, 'What have our students learned and how well have they learned it?' 'How successful have we been at what we are trying to accomplish?'"

To be successful UVI's student learning assessment program requires:

1. full faculty and Division Chair engagement;
2. emphasis on the use of assessment results to inform decisions such as academic planning and program improvement; curriculum reform; instructional methods improvements, policy changes and resource allocation;

Therefore, realizing the importance of being learner-centered, UVI's student learning assessment program is driven by the University's VISION 2012 mission and related goals of educational excellence and institutional improvement:

Mission Statement - The University of the Virgin Islands is a learner-centered institution dedicated to the success of its students and committed to enhancing the lives of the people of the U.S. Virgin Islands and the wider Caribbean through excellent teaching, innovative research and responsive community service.

VISION 2012 Goal #1 - Educational Excellence - Create a learner-centered experience that fosters academic excellence and student success through innovative, effective teaching strategies and high quality academic and student support programs.

VISION 2012 Goal #2 - Institutional Improvement - Insure that the strategic goals and objectives are met by enhancing the capacity of the University to achieve results.