Executive Summary
With increasing public demands for accountability, there is a need to
collect and present evidence of the effectiveness of practices and
outcomes in higher education. Transformational leadership can facilitate
the use of such evidence to improve programs and services that
positively influence student learning. This form of leadership can be
initiated top-down by presidents, chief academic officers, deans, and
department chairs and/or bottom-up by students, faculty, staff, and
other stakeholders. This briefing explores the leadership styles and
insights about assessment of top administrators from eleven colleges and
universities nationwide that have established reputations for good
practice in outcomes assessment. In interviews with these leaders, we
examine their perspectives on the following aspects of assessment: the
vision, barriers, risks, methods of stakeholder engagement and support,
collection and application of data, and sustainability of the process.
Emergent themes in leading institutional change through assessment
include the need for collaboration among administrators, faculty, and
student affairs professionals; adequate training, recognition, and
rewards for faculty and staff; and incorporation of assessment data into
strategic plans, annual reports, budget hearings, and program reviews.