Salem State University Assessment in Action (AiA) Project: Salem State AiA Application

Salem State University

    Nancy Dennis

Librarian Team Leader

    Cathy Fahey

Team Member

    Tara Fitzpatrick

Team Member

    Nancy George

Team Member

    Zachary Newell

Team Member

    Jason Soohoo

Team Member

    Carol Zoppel

Team Member

    Nate Bryant

Team Member

    James Gubbins

Team Member

Please state the name of your institution for labeling purposes:

Salem State University 

What type of organization best describes your work setting?

Comprehensive (undergraduate/graduate)

Regional Accrediting Body

NEASC-CIHE

Your Team's Project Goals

Salem State University’s action learning project will investigate the impact information literacy instruction in the Summer Bridge Academy and First Year Seminar has on first year student learning. 

During July and August, instruction librarians will conduct a six-week, non-credit course in Summer Bridge Academy, an academic program for underprepared first year students. Throughout the academic year, librarians also will teach information literacy modules in the three-credit First Year Seminar and learning communities (FYS). 

While instruction librarians have administered pre/post tests and participant surveys in Summer Bridge and FYS, past emphasis has been on measuring what knowledge students have gained about the library and its resources. 

Participating in an AiA learning project would shift the focus outward – to assessing the impact of library instruction sessions on student learning in academic courses and student engagement within the university. 

The 2013-2014 academic year is a critical time for assessing library instruction at Salem State. The new Library and Learning Commons opens in fall 2013. Data obtained through AiA will establish a baseline for understanding the library’s impact on students. This will complement patron satisfaction data compiled in this semester’s administration of LibQual Lite. 2014 also marks the beginning of the new common core. Throughout this core, information literacy will be scaffolded throughout all four years. Participating in AiA will help us prepare for this transition by showing what works – and what does not – in how we presently conduct information literacy.

Salem State’s AiA team was thoughtfully assembled. The seven instructional librarians, the Assistant Dean for the Center for Academic Excellence, and the Faculty Fellow in Assessment/Teagle Assessment Scholar will play essential and complementary roles. Team members have strong working relationships. Finally, all members share strong commitments to making the library an integral part of student success.

Your Goals as Librarian Team Leader

Participating in AiA would provide Team Leader Nancy Dennis with an exciting opportunity to further her knowledge of outcomes assessment techniques, to gain invaluable experience in project management, and to expand her role as a mentor to colleagues in the library. Additionally, studying the impact of the library on student learning would provide Ms. Dennis with insights that she could apply in her role as liaison to student success initiatives at Salem State, and in her studies for a M.Ed. in Higher Education in Student Affairs. 
Experience gained in AiA would enable Ms. Dennis to assume integral roles in the growing culture of evidence-based outcomes assessment at Salem State. Documenting the impact of information literacy instruction in the Summer Bridge and First Year Seminar will assist decision makers in both academic affairs and student affairs. Outcomes assessment data will be used to make program and curricular improvements by the Library Administration, the Core Curriculum Subcommittee, and the Center for Academic Excellence. Academic Affairs and the Assessment Committee will integrate AiA results into program reviews of academic departments. 

Ms. Dennis served as a research assistant in the Salem State Bureau of Faculty Research 1992-1997 evaluation of the Transition Project in the Worcester, MA Public Schools. She has constructed pre/post tests, developed user surveys, and created assessment rubrics for a 3-credit information retrieval course. A respected senior member of the library, Ms. Dennis has successfully built teams to run computer fairs, library surveys, faculty workshops, and an iPad initiative. 

As project coordinator, Ms. Dennis fosters collegiality and participation by all team members. She respects all members’ points of view, and believes in empowering all team members. 
Ms. Dennis looks forward to learning from AiA leaders and the collaborative learning community, and in sharing what Salem State develops. 

Nancy Dennis, Team Leader

Statement of Support #1: Library Director

The Assessment in Action: Academic Libraries and Student Success initiative comes at an extremely opportune time for Salem State University. Instruction Librarians have for many years responded to faculty requests for library instruction, but they have never had a formal means of reaching all students. In the past few years, they have worked with the Summer Bridge Program students, trying various ways to provide information literacy instruction to approximately 150 under-prepared students. They have tried various ways of assessing the impact of that program, but have not been able to carry it through to student learning and engagement beyond that summer program. We have now successfully lobbied for formalizing information literacy into a new core curriculum currently under final review – seven of the ten core competencies include information literacy. This provides an excellent opportunity to reach all of our students at various points in their academic career. We are also moving into a new Library and Learning Commons this summer – a facility that physically links several academic support units to the library, and includes three hi-tech library instruction classrooms in anticipation of this increased emphasis on information literacy. Participation in this learning community will support the promise of the formal recognition of information literacy, the availability of appropriate teaching space, and the enthusiasm of an excellent team of instruction librarians. I pledge my full support for this initiative, and I hope that you will give us the opportunity to participate.

Susan E. Cirillo, Dean
Library and Academic Support
Salem State University

Statement of Support #2: Chief Academic Officer

Statement of Support from the Provost, Kristin Esterberg

Student success is a major priority of Salem State University. To improve student retention, Salem State is constantly developing programs and services for first year students. Results from the University’s participation in the Foundations of Excellence initiative in 2007-2008 led to the institution of a first year reading program, implementation of service learning, and a complete revision of the core curriculum. The opening of our state-of-the-art Library and Learning Commons in fall 2013 will further demonstrate the institution’s commitment to enhancing student experiences. Salem State’s project will be to measure the impact of information literacy instruction on student learning in two high-impact programs for first year students: Summer Bridge Academy and First Year Seminar. By performing outcomes assessments, the library will become full partners in the larger assessment culture at Salem State. Data gathered through the AiA project will provide invaluable baseline data on how the library impacts student learning. 

By using results of AiA assessments to improve the quality of information literacy instruction, librarians will meet the standards of excellence expected of all academic departments. Perfecting the teaching and evaluation of information literacy is vital, since the new core curriculum scaffolds information literacy vertically, across all disciplines. The interdisciplinary nature of Salem State’s AiA team, a combination of librarians, a faculty member, and an administrator, illustrates the university’s belief that student success is the product of both academic and co-curricular areas. 

Finally, the information literacy focus of Salem State’s AiA project promotes the mission of Salem State, to “provide a high quality, student-centered education” that prepares learners to contribute to society. Teaching students how to critically evaluate and retrieve information is a skill students will use their entire lives. Developing better instructors of information literacy, through outcomes data gathered in AiA, will make future information literacy instruction all the more valuable.