SACSCOC Fifth Year Interim Report
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Assessment : 2011 - 2012 : Educational Programs :
Business Administration MBA
Business Administration MBA
1 Goal 3 Objectives 4 Indicators 4 Criteria 4 Findings 3 Actions
| GOAL: Leadership Development |
| Objective |
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| Graduates of the MBA program should possess excellent critical thinking and problem solving skills. |
| Indicator |
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MBA students will take the online CAP Simulation in the spring semester. They will receive feedback on their individual performance in comparison to other students at SHSU and other universities in the database. |
| Criterion |
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On the decision making component of the CAP simulation, SHSU MBA students should achieve a score ranked in the top quartile among firms in the CAP database. |
| Finding |
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Based upon the assessment center administered by Collegiate Assessment Partners (CAP) during Spring 2012, our MBA students had an average critical thinking score of 118.4 with a standard deviation of 7.1. Our referent group of peers had an average score of 144.4 with a standard deviation of 27.6. These results are not acceptable. One explanation of the difference between our score and the score of our referent group is that our score is based upon a small sample of 16 students. Another explanation is the way the assessment center was administered. The professors administering the assessment center were new to the process and, therefore, were not able to provide as much guidance as those in our referent group who do this routinely. |
Actions for Objective:
| Action |
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Next year we will improve our scores by giving clearer instructions prior to the assessment center activity. We can clarify how the in-basket exercise is organized and how the time clock in the simulation is different from the actual time. |
| GOAL: Leadership Development |
| Objective |
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| Graduates of the MBA program should be capable of effectively communicating with a variety of audiences. |
| Indicator |
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Written assignments done in this class will be assessed using a common rubric. |
| Criterion |
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| At least 80% of all MBA students should achieve a score of 80% or higher on the assessment instrument. |
| Finding |
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| The Goal Assessment Team decided not to assess this semester. They will do so Fall 2012. |
| Indicator |
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| MBA students participate in the CAP Simulation during the spring semester. They will receive a communications score as part of exercise. |
| Criterion |
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We hope to place in the top quartile of MBA programs in the CAP database. |
| Finding |
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The average communication score of our MBA students on the Spring 2012 CAP Assessment Center was 239.6 with a standard deviation of 13.8. The average for the referent group was 214.8 with a standard deviation of 27.1. Although our score is higher than the referent average, we are still not in the top quartile. |
Actions for Objective:
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Communication scores on the CAP Assessment Center can be improved by giving the students better directions at the outset. Because of budget considerations, we limited Assessment Center participation this academic year. Next year we should be able to afford a larger number of students. |
| GOAL: Leadership Development |
| Objective |
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| Graduates of the MBA program should possess the ability to integrate the business functions with a strategic perspective. |
| Indicator |
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The CAP Simulation: The skills assessed by the simulation are among the most common learning objectives identified in a survey of business school deans. The specific skills assessed during the simulation are:
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| Criterion |
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| This will be the first year of using the online assessment tool provided by CAP. Our objective is to place in the top quartile of MBA programs in the CAP database. |
| Finding |
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Because of budget considerations, we limited participation in the assessment center to 16 students. To keep costs down we did everything on-line rather than face-to-face. Because this was the first time doing the assessment totally on-line, direction provided to the students was not complete. Consequently, not all of the intended skills were measured in the assessment. We were ultimately able to measure Work Pace, Attention to Detail, Prioritization, and Writing Quality. The table below provides our average score (standard deviation) compared to our referent group. SHSUReferentWork Pace81.955.2 (19.0)(28.2) Attention to Detail5.23.8 (1.3)(1.5) 57.660.1 (21.4)(27.2) Prioritization78.160.8 (16.6)(29.1) Writing Quality82.050.8 (17.9)(28.8) Although our average score was higher than the average of our referent group on most skills, we were not in the top quartile on any of them. |
Actions for Objective:
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Our scores can be improved by first providing better directions to the students prior to the start of the assessment center. |
| Closing the Loop |
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With the experience we gained in administering the CAP Assessment Center during Spring 2012 we can improve our scores significantly by providing better directions to the students ahead of the simulation exercise. It would be a mistake to draw many conclusions from this year's results. Because of budget limitations we restrained the participation to 16 students. To lower the per student cost, we performed the entire assessment exercise on-line. This required a greater degree of involvement on our part in getting everything set up and providing instructions to the students.
Regardless of our budget limitations, the information provided from the assessment center indicates that we are not in the top quartile in any of the skill areas for our referent group. We come closest in the areas of Writing Quality and Communications. |