Dear First Year Seminar Faculty,

							Dear First Year Seminar Faculty,                                                         June 26, 2008

During AY 2007-08, FYS faculty were asked to assign a student reflective essay at the end of their First
Year Seminar to provide the faculty and FYS program with useful information about whether, how and
why the program is achieving its goals. (A full report of these findings will be provided by The Office
of Academic Assessment in Fall, 2008). To expand the assessment options for 2008-09, the Office of
Academic Assessment has partnered with FYS to provide a variety of classroom assessment strategies
for faculty.

In order to continually build upon the successes of the First Year Seminar Program, FYS is
requesting all faculty teaching a First Year Seminar in Fall, 2008 and Spring, 2009 to complete one of
the assessment options provided in the attached documents by the Office of Academic Assessment
based on the findings of last year’s student reflective essays.

Each of these assessments is specifically designed to assist faculty in fulfilling the goals of the FYS
while simultaneously teaching a Liberal Studies distribution block and emphasizing a Liberal Studies
skill. They were all selected from the popular book, Classroom Assessment Techniques by Angelo & Cross
(1993), and tailored to match the various academic goals of the First Year Seminar Program.

As well, the Office of Academic Assessment has been invited by the First Year Seminar Program to
provide the following support to faculty as they implement the student learning assessments for their
First Year Seminars:
    (1) An interactive workshop in August (depending on faculty interest) to discuss these
        assessment options with fellow faculty;
    (2) One-on-one consulting support throughout the summer and upcoming academic year;
    (3) Easy access to all student learning assessment support materials via the OAA website;
    (4) Mid-semester and end-of-semester luncheons to bring FYS faculty together to discuss what they
        are learning from their student assessments and share successful strategies and insights;
    (5) Use of the FYS Director’s e-mail list to provide monthly assessment updates to faculty as new
        support and materials become available; and
    (6) The option of using OAA-created rubrics to enable efficient grading of each of the student
        learning assessments (forthcoming in August).

Faculty who are interested in taking part in the interactive workshop this summer should contact
Melinda Treml, Research Specialist in the Office of Academic Assessment (523-8695), prior to the end
of July. These assessment options will also be discussed during the First Year Seminar Faculty Retreat
in August. Enclosed is a packet of materials containing the following information for each Student
Learning Assessment: (1) full descriptions; (2) related FYS goals and Liberal Studies Skills each
assesses; and (3) example assignment prompts. Please begin to consider which assessment strategy(ies)
might best fit into your own course plans for Fall, 2008 or Spring, 2009.

Thank you for your time and consideration.

In Partnership,
The First Year Seminar Program and The Office of Academic Assessment