The Office of Assessment routinely assists in faculty-led research projects, specifically in terms of data collection and analysis. A good example is our recently published article, “A Survey of Pharmacists in Academia of the Current Practice of Estimation of Kidney Function for Antimicrobial Dosing in Adults”. By assisting with faculty-driven projects, the assessment team continues its own scholarship, while providing essential assistance to stakeholders as they continue important research in their fields. Each publication and research project helps us to fine-tune our own skills, and push the assessment process forward. Our office is becoming more and more necessary in these special projects.
It is important to think of research and assessment as entities that work hand-in-hand. So much of what we do on a daily basis truly falls into the research category. We are always looking at new ways to measure our goals and outcomes – new ways to drive student success. Assessment is an encompassing area that does not stop with simple data collection. Continuous quality improvement is what our assessment goals are geared toward, and research ultimately lends itself to the same goal in many ways. Assessment folks tend to be researchers; it is important to think of us as such.
Higher Education Assessment 