May 14, 2015
Wright, Barnett, Brake named assessment fellows
A faculty member and two administrative/professional staff members will serve as fellows in a program designed to improve student achievement.
Nolan Wright, assistant professor with the School of Law Library, Deborah Barnett, coordinator, non-traditional student services, and Heather Brake, coordinator, student involvement, will serve in the Assessment Fellows Program next semester. The program, administered through the office of the Associate Provost for Academic Programs and the Office of Assessment and Program Review, seeks to provide academic and co-curricular assessment experience and skill development to faculty and administrative/professional (A/P) staff members who have an interest in student learning.
Jim Allen, associate provost for academic programs, said the program has been very successful thus far. The spring 2015 semester’s assessment fellows, Ruth Anne Rehfeldt, professor with SIU’s Rehabilitation Institute, and Christie McIntyre, associate professor of curriculum and instruction, have exceeded his expectations.
“The commitment of these great colleagues to student learning is just beyond belief,” Allen said.
Wright serves on the law school’s assessment committee, most recently as co-chair, and as its representative on the campus-wide assessment committee. For the past three years, he has also been part of a national task force charged with identifying the research skills and knowledge needed in legal practice. He contributed to two national surveys -- serving as statistician and co-authoring two reports on the task force’s findings. A specialist on legal research education, Wright is working on the new outcomes-based accreditation standards adopted by the American Bar Association (ABA) Council of the Section on Legal Education and Admission to the Bar.
Barnett and Brake will be the first administrative/professional staff appointed as assessment fellows. Their joint proposal focuses on making advancements in how SIU recognizes co-curricular learning and how evidence of that learning might be conveyed in ways that provide institutional data and student documentation to inform future educational and career goals.
Faculty and A/P staff members who are interested in the fellowship can apply during the 12th week of each semester for appointment the following semester, excluding summer semester. No more than two semesters of fellowship experience shall be awarded to the same individual in any five-year period.
