Communicating value across the university: Library assessment across academic, student, and administrative affairs

Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to share the approach taken by library staff at DePaul University (Chicago, IL, USA) to adopt new approaches to integrating library assessment into student learning support and learning... [ view full abstract ]

Purpose:

The purpose of this paper is to share the approach taken by library staff at DePaul University (Chicago, IL, USA) to adopt new approaches to integrating library assessment into student learning support and learning assessment programs across the university, including first-year instruction, co-curricular programs, and learning analytics.

Design, methodology or approach:

The approach taken for this presentation is primarily descriptive, exploring innovative approaches taken by DePaul University library staff to establish partnerships across campus that demonstrate the value of the library to strategic initiatives of the university. While individual initiatives to be described are at different phases in terms of implementation, the presentation will include an exploration of the design of assessment activities for those initiatives in which formal assessment has been conducted.

Findings:

For all initiatives described, a primary “finding” will be the library’s success in terms of integrating library assessment (or library contributions to institutional assessment efforts) into traditional (first-year instruction) and non-traditional (co-curricular learning) areas of institutional concern. For initiatives that have progressed to the point of formal assessment, e.g., through assessment of student work products, the findings of those studies will be shared.

Research or practical limitations or implications:

There are limitations of the work to be presented, as well as implications for future practice. Among the limitations is the fact that some of the initiatives to be described are still in their early stages, while others have run a more complete course of design, delivery, and assessment. The implications of the work to be presented, however, far outweigh the limitations, as the approach taken by DePaul University library staff may serve to introduce to participants several new opportunities for strategic partnerships in the assessment of student learning, support for innovation in teaching, and use of campus facilities. 

Initiatives currently in progress at DePaul that have implications for broader practice include: assessment of first-year information literacy instruction; assessment of “embedded” information literacy instruction; assessment of library contributions to co-curricular education; assessment of library contributions to institutional investment in learning analytics; assessment of library contributions to institutional investments in the articulation of “transferrable skills” relevant to entry into the workplace; and assessment of investments in library space as a mechanism for promoting innovation in teaching and learning.

Conclusions:

This presentation will draw conclusions regarding the opportunity to take a broader view of the library contribution to institutional efforts to assess student learning and the value of educational programs made available across the campus, and across academic and non-academic divisions of the university. Conclusions may likewise be drawn, based on the DePaul University experience, regarding the value of taking this broader view of library assessment as an under-appreciated facet of institutional assessment efforts to bring greater attention to the library as a strategic investment for the university.

Originality and Value:

This proposal will provide a case study based on 5 years of innovation and relationship-building across a university with a documented record in supporting student success, curricular innovation, and the adoption of new technologies in support of teaching, learning, and scholarship. Local experience in advocating for greater attention to the library as a component of co-curricular education has exposed a considerable opportunity for alignment with student affairs assessment initiatives in the United States. Local experience integrating library data into an enterprise-system for use of learning analytics has exposed a critical need for alignment with institutional research, enrollment management, and student success initiatives with academic and administrative affairs divisions.

While DePaul University examples have been highlighted in recent programs sponsored by the Association of College & Research Libraries and bepress Scholarly Publishing Services, this will be the first presentation of a high-level view of the strategic opportunities pursued by library staff across the university over the past 5 years.