Assessment and Accreditation Council
The Assessment and Accreditation Council advises on and facilitates matters related to:
- Student learning outcomes assessment
- The University's reaffirmation of accreditation through the Higher Learning Commission
In 2008, the Council was charged by the Provost to look more comprehensively at student learning outcomes assessment. Over the past eight years, the Council has been working to facilitate a campus-wide effort focusing on the assessment of student learning outcomes at both the undergraduate and graduate curricular and the co-curricular levels. As part of their early efforts, the Council developed a first-generation framework for the assessment of student learning outcomes and established an annual Learning, Teaching and Assessment Forum. Following Northwestern's 2014-15 accreditation review, the Council established a Student Learning Outcomes Assessment Subcommittee in September 2015. The subcommittee's charge is to work across schools and units to identify strategies that encourage and support assessment at the course, program, and school level. The subcommittee comprises members of the Assessment and Accreditation Council as well as additional faculty members and staff involved in assessment activities. In 2015-16, the Subcommittee developed a strategic framework for assessment within Northwestern's decentralized model to articulate an institutional strategy for student learning assessment.
Additional information about learning assessment at Northwestern, including the strategic framework and efforts of the Council and Subcommittee, can be found on the Searle Center for Advancing Teaching and Learning's Assessment of Student Learning website.
In addition, the Council serves as an advising body for the University's reaffirmation of accreditation by the Higher Learning Commission. Northwestern was recently reaffirmed for accreditation in July 2015 and will undergo its next comprehensive evaluation for reaccreditation in 2024-25. More information about Northwestern's accreditation process can be found on the University Accreditation page.
Council Members
- Bennett Goldberg, Committee Chair and Director, Searle Center for Advancing Learning and Teaching, Assistant Provost for Learning and Teaching
- Rob Aaron, Executive Director of Student Affairs Assessment and Planning, Student Affairs
- Mark Adler, Professor of Pediatrics (Emergency Medicine) and Medical Education, Feinberg School of Medicine
- Lori D. Barcliff Baptista, Associate Dean for Undergraduate Programs and Advising and Senior Lecturer in the Department of Performance Studies, School of Communication
- Megan Blackwelder, Associate Vice President of Program Review, Administration and Planning
- Stephanie Brehm, Assistant Director for Academic and Strategic Initiatives, The Graduate School
- Wes Burghardt, Associate Dean for Undergraduate Engineering and Professor, Chemical and Biological Engineering, McCormick School of Engineering and Applied Science
- Susanna Calkins, Director, Faculty Initiatives, Searle Center for Advancing Learning and Teaching
- Shoshannah Cohen, Manager of Institutional Analysis, Administration, Weinberg College of Arts and Sciences
- Andrea Conklin Bueschel, Associate Provost for Strategy and Policy, Office of the Provost
- Debbie Crimmins, Senior Director of Institutional Research, Office of Administration and Planning
- Mary Finn, Associate Dean for Undergraduate Academic Affairs, Weinberg College of Arts and Sciences
- Desiree Hanford, Lecturer and Director of Academic Integrity and Appeals, Medill School of Journalism, Media, Integrated Marketing Communications
- Larry Hedges, Board of Trustees Professor of Statistics and Education and Social Policy, Weinberg College of Arts and Sciences
- Linda Jacobs, Assistant Dean for Student Affairs, Bienen School of Music
- Peter Kaye, Assistant Dean for Undergraduate and Post-Baccalaureate Programs, School of Professional Studies
- Valerie Lyne, Project Coordinator, Institute for Policy Research
- Christopher Martin, Assistant Dean for Academic Affairs: Curriculum and Clinical Assistant Professor of Law, Pritzker School of Law
- Michael Mazzeo, Senior Associate Dean of Curriculum and Teaching and Associate Professor, Strategy, J. L. Kellogg School of Management
- Peggy McCready, Associate Vice President for Information Technology Services & Support, Information Technology
- Michele M McDonough, Lecturer, Molecular Biosciences, Weinberg College of Arts and Sciences
- Leah C. Neubauer, Assistant Professor, Department of Preventive Medicine; Director, Accreditation and Assessment, Program in Public Health, Feinberg School of MedicineDevelopment and Assessment, Health Sciences, Feinberg School of Medicine
- Susan Olson, Assistant Dean for Student Affairs, School of Education and Social Policy
- Laura Panko, Assistant Dean (Academic), Administration, Weinberg College of Arts and Sciences
- Amit Prachand, Assistant Vice President, Information & Analytics, Administration and Planning
- Jenny Puchtel, Director of Organizational Strategy and Change, Office of Organizational Strategy and Change
- Angela Ray, Associate Dean for Academic Affairs, The Graduate School
- Angela Ripp, Assistant Director, Academic Affairs, The Graduate School
- Babette Seligmann Sanders, Professor, Physical Therapy and Human Movement Sciences, Feinberg School of Medicine
- Roxanne Sellberg, Associate University Librarian for Research and Administrative Strategies, Library Administration
- Lee West, Director of Undergraduate Education, Office of the Provost
- Hariclea Zengos, Director, NU-Q Liberal Arts Program, NU Qatar