Department of Management Systems

Department of Management Systems

Assessment Report

June 30, 1998

1. What are your unitÕs goals for student learning? Indicate how your goals were developed and who was involved. Have they been modified based on last yearÕs report?

The Department of Management Systems contains seven different majors; Business Pre-Law, General Business, Human Resource Management, International Business, Management, Operations, and Small Business Entrepreneurship. Goals and objectives for student learning have been developed within Interest Groups over the past three years; however the following have emerged as departmental themes:

(1) Providing a realistic understanding of the business world to better prepare students for careers in their chosen field(s).

(2) Enhancing learning opportunities by providing exposure to and interaction within the international environment.

(3) Sensitizing students to the myriad aspects of diversity and ethical considerations.

(4) Employing a variety of teaching and learning methods to give students the benefits of a multifaceted approach.

(5) Enhancing the ability of students to network and collaborate effectively.

(6) Enhancing the ability of students to communicate effectively in writing and orally.

(7) Enhancing the ability of students to solve problems.

During the departmental meeting at the beginning of Fall Quarter, a discussion emerged concerning the basic structure of the department. A task force was formed to make suggestions to bring back to the full department. The secondary charge to this task force was to review the departmental goals for student learning and make suggestions concerning how the proposed modification of the departmental might impact these.

There were several meetings throughout the academic year. During a meeting in late Spring Quarter, the essential approach taken by the Task Force was tabled. Work will begin anew on this effort in the Fall. At this time, however, it seemed inappropriate to make changes in departmental goals.

2. How did you assess student learning? What testing instruments, methods and processes did you use to collect assessment data? Have these assessment activities been modified since last year?

The Department of Management Systems essentially used two different methods to assess the attainment of our goals this year. Last year, we had been able to use data from the Office of Institutional Research. A number of assessment reports were provided this year. However, the particular ones did not really help us with the assessment of the attainment of our goals, although they certainly provided helpful information. It was interesting, for example, that among Management graduates between 1992 and 1995, the importance of the faculty role in obtaining the first job seemed to have increased. Only 4% of the respondents in the class of 1992 listed ÒO.U. Faculty/Staff MemberÓ as being the most important source of information during the job search. By the Class of 1996, this figure had almost doubled, moving to 7%. It should be noted that the survey of the classes of 1992 and 1993 will be available for our assessment report next year, as well as perhaps another Long-Term Educational Outcomes Survey. This contains most of the information that is needed by us to help assess our goals.

First of all, we mailed a survey to all majors within the department who had at least 150 hours earned by the Spring Quarter. 164 surveys were mailed, with an explanatory letter and stamped envelop for return. (see Appendix A) To date, 31 surveys have been returned. (19%)

In addition, students were invited to make an appointment with me for an exit interview. (see Appendix B)

3. Detail how you are analyzing the data or other gathered information.

All of the results from the individual surveys and exit interviews will be compiled as a whole and broken down by individual majors. All members of the department will be given the comprehensive compilation, as well as the results which relate to his/her individual area.

Each interest group will meet to discuss the data, and to identify strengths and weaknesses within the individual programs. A report from each interest group will be given to the chair, who will in turn relay the information to the Departmental Advisory Committee. The Departmental Advisory Committee will discuss the reports and make recommendations to the Department as a whole to improve the assessment process and to take action to improve the areas that emerge as weaknesses.

4. What evidence (assessment data) have you gathered indicating that you are accomplishing your goals? What evidence indicates that they are not being fully accomplished?
(1) Providing a realistic understanding of the business world to better prepare students for careers in their chosen field(s).

Survey of Students: The student surveys indicated that 88% of those who responded either strongly agreed (20%) or agreed (68%) with the statement that ÒI have acquired a realistic understanding of the business world that has prepared me well for a career in my chosen field.Ó 8% had no opinion, 4% disagreed with the statement and no one strongly disagreed. This is an improvement from last yearÕs results, where only 76% responded positively.

In a separate section of the survey, 65% of the respondents indicated that students had engaged in consulting activities and 39% had worked with an outside company on a project. Both of these numbers are 3-4% higher than last year, and may at least partially explain the more favorable results above.

Obviously this is a difficult area for current students to assess!

Exit Interviews: As a part of the exit interview, the students were asked two questions relating to this issue; (1) What internships, consulting and work with outside companies have you had the opportunity to do while in this program? and (2) Have these opportunities increased your awareness of the business world?

Half of the students who participated in exit interviews had engaged in one or more of the listed activities. All were enthusiastic about the experience! One student in particular felt that Internships of some sort should be required by all College of Business graduates.

(2) Enhancing learning opportunities by providing exposure to and interaction within the international environment.

Survey of Students: The student surveys indicated that 72% of those who responded either strongly agreed (24%) or agreed (48%) with the statement that ÒI have an enhanced understanding of the international dimensions of business.Ó 21% had no opinion, and 9% disagreed with the statement. The 72% is an increase from the 65% last year, and there is a dramatic increase in those who strongly agreed (up from 9% last year).

Exit Interviews: The question asked in the exit interview was Ò[h]ow has the program increased your understanding of cultural issues and diversity?Ó Even though this relates more to another goal, it still has implications for interaction within the international environment. Students indicated that most classes had some international component. Those who were particularly enthusiastic had actually participated in an international experience, such as the Global Competitiveness Program or the Corporate LeadersÕ trip to London. One student cited a class which had a large number of international students in it and focused on cultural differences as a significant help to her.

(3) Sensitizing students to the myriad aspects of diversity and ethical considerations.

Survey of Students: The student surveys indicated that 79% of those who responded either strongly agreed (14%) or agreed (65%) with the statement that ÒI have been sensitized to the myriad aspects of diversity.Ó 14% had no opinion or did not respond, and 7% disagreed. This is an increase of 9% in those students who responded positively over last yearÕs survey.

There was also a question relating directly to ethics. 93% of those who responded either strongly agreed (10%) or agreed (83%) with the statement that ÒI have an enhanced ability to recognize and resolve ethical dilemmas.Ó 7% had no opinion, and interestingly enough no one disagreed. Only 82% responded positively to this question last year, so this is also a marked increase.

Exit Interviews: As noted above, students in exit interviews were asked Ò[h]ow has the program increased your understanding of cultural issues and diversity?Ó Student response is noted under the prior section.

Students in the exit interviews were also asked Ò[h]ow has the program increased your understanding of ethics in organizations?Ó Students indicated that case studies had been particularly helpful in discussing ethics, as well as one seminar that was devoted to the topic.

(4) Employing a variety of teaching and learning methods to give students the benefits of a multifaceted approach.

Survey of Students: A series of questions were asked on student surveys to try to determine the variety of teaching/learning methods employed and the effectiveness of each from the perspective of the students. The following chart reflects the results.

NOTE: Abbreviations:: ÒSt. Agr.Ó for ÒStrongly Agree;Ó ÒNo Opin.Ó for ÒNo Opinion,Ó ÒDisag.Ó for ÒDisagree,Ó and ÒSt. Dis.Ó for ÒStrongly Disagree.Ó

METHOD Extremely effective?

St. Agr. Agree No Opin. Disag. St. Dis.

Lecture 17% 70% 0% 10% 3%

Case Method 41% 44% 11% 4%

Portfolios 27% 37% 27% 9%

Consulting 45% 50% 5%

Integrative 37% 53% 10%

Teams 41% 21% 17% 14% 7%

Project w/

Company 57% 29% 14%

Problem-based 50% 50%

Number of Students Experiencing Each Method

Method Frequency

Lecture 100%

Case Method 93%

Portfolio 38%

Consulting 69%

Integrative 66%

Teams 97%

Project w.

Company 48%

Problem-based 83%

Exit Interviews: Students within exit interviews were asked Ò[w]hich methods of teaching have you found most helpful?Ó The students who participated in the exit interviews exhibited some very diverse views. Several students were extremely enthusiastic about the integrative experiences that they had in Business 20/20 and felt that it was an invaluable experience. Others, however, seemed to like a lecture format. However, only one of the students who had participated in an integrative learning situation preferred lecture.

(5) Enhancing the ability of students to network and collaborate effectively.

Survey of Students: 100% of the students either strongly agreed (42%) or agreed (58%) with the statement that ÒI have an enhanced ability to network and collaborate effectively.Ó This is a significant increase from 79% in last yearÕs survey.

Exit Interviews: Students in exit interviews were asked whether or not the program has improved their small groups skills such as decision-making and team building. Once again, the opinions were diverse. All of the students interviewed indicated that they had worked with small groups and teams. The students who had been actively involved in programs such as the Business 20/20 seemed to feel that their small group/decision-making skills had been greatly enhanced. Some of the other students, however, felt that the team/small groups projects in which they had been involved had been poorly organized and that the students had not been trained to do this work effectively.

(6) Enhancing the ability of students to communicate effectively in writing and orally.

Survey of Students: 82% of the students either strongly agreed (14%) or agreed (68%) with the statement that ÒI have an enhanced ability to communicate effectively in writing.Ó 14% had no opinion, and 4% disagreed. This is an improvement of 9% from last yearÕs survey.

93% of the students either strongly agreed (37%) or agreed (56%) with the statement that ÒI have an enhanced ability to communicate effectively orally.Ó 3.5% had no opinion, and 3.5% disagreed. This represents a 14% increase in overall improvement from last yearÕs survey.

Exit Interviews: Students within exit interviews were asked whether the program improved their communication skills. Overall the students were quite positive. Several cited the fact that they had done a great deal of writing and that they were impressed by the fact that it was actually carefully graded. All except one of the students raved about their enhanced ability to make oral presentations. They were amazed at their improvement over the past two years.

(7) Enhancing the ability of students to solve problems.

Survey of Students: 96% of the students either strongly agreed (42%) or agreed (54%) with the statement that ÒI have become a more effective problem solver.Ó 4% disagreed. This is a dramatic increase from last yearÕs survey, particularly in the Òstrongly agreeÓ category, where only 19% were so positive.

Exit Interviews: Students within the exit interviews did not directly address this issue.

5. What improvements or enhancements have been implemented based on your assessment activities? How are you using information from your answer to question 3 to improve your program?

During the past year, our Small Business Entrepreneurship major has undergone a significant renovation, based in part on the feed-back from students last year.

The biggest other improvement that our department has made is that we have at least started to talk to each other about what it is weÕre trying to accomplish. The Task Force that I referred to earlier met starting last fall to try to come up with a cohesive curriculum for our students, aimed at better achieving some of our learning goals. Unfortunately, the process broke down in the Spring Quarter, due to a variety of factors. I am hopeful, based on some work that is being done this summer, that it will be revitalized in the Fall with positive results by next year.

6. What changes do you recommend for your unit in the future.

a) in academic program/curriculum?

The Operations and Small Business Entrepreneurship majors have made a good start in trying to make the curriculum more relevant to the needs of the students. However, our other majors (and these as well) need to consider their majors specifically within the context of our new core curriculum. There was a fairly comprehensive proposal from the Task Force which, if implemented, would have made a good start toward doing this.

Hopefully this will be revived in the Fall in some form that will be acceptable to the majority of the department.

b) in your departmentÕs assessment process (goals, objectives, methods)

We made a start in looking at our learning objectives in the context of the Task Force process. This needs to be continued. In addition, we need to find a better mechanism for student input. The surveys are helpful, but too small a percentage of the students actually participate. The exit interviews, like the focus groups utilized last year, have the same difficulty.

I would like to see our Department or College adopt a mandatory process for all students to participate in assessment activities prior to graduation. Perhaps it could be done with a 1 hour course (CR only) during the studentsÕ final quarter. The proposal to revise the Management major had included a significant assessment step where students were required to maintain a portfolio throughout their academic careers and then defend such to a panel composed of business people, and others both inside and outside of the College. Such an approach would be significantly better than what we current rely on.

When we get our majors and goals in shape, we clearly need to have a list of questions that would be distributed by Institutional Research to get input from alumni. This may be one of our most helpful mechanisms.

In addition, we need to continue to pursue methods of benchmarking the learning of our students against some sort of a norm. Without such a process, any assessment that we do will be lacking in a vital component.

Appendix A

May 1, 1998

Dear Almost-Graduated Senior,

Congratulations! Within a short period, your degree will be completed and you will be moving on! We hope that your experience as a major within the Department of Management Systems has been all that you had hoped it would be.

Faculty within the department are very interested in getting feed-back from you, both now and in the future. We would be most appreciative if you could give us a small amount of your time in an effort that we hope will benefit the students who follow you.

First of all, we would like to ask you to complete the survey enclosed and return it to us in the enclosed stamped envelop. We have structured one general sheet, and two that relate to specific majors. If you have two majors within the department, we would appreciate having you fill out one sheet for each major. These will be collected by the department, and shared with the faculty early in the Fall Quarter. This will help us re-examine our goals, and get some feel at least for how you believe we are doing!

The second activity that would be very helpful for us is to have you make an appointment with me, either by yourself or with others, for an exit interview. Your name will be kept confidential and only the information that you impart will be passed along to the faculty who teach in the area of your major. I will do this in a summary report that will be distributed during the early part of the Fall Quarter. I would be most appreciative if you could take the time to help us in this manner. To make an appointment, either call me (593-2069) or my secretary, Sheree Lucas (593-2060). Except for my classes (Tuesday and Friday from 8:10-10:00 and Monday and Wednesday evenings) and various meetings, I am generally free.

Many thanks for your help. PLEASE keep in touch!

Sincerely,

Mary C. Keifer, Chair

Department of Management Systems

1998 Program Assessment--Department of Management Systems

Demographic Information

Check the boxes that best describe you:

25 years old or under 26 or above

Caucasian American Non-Caucasian American International

Male Female

Ohio Resident Non Ohio Resident

_ 3.5-4.0 GPA (overall) _ 3.0-3.49 _ 2.5-2.99 _ 2.0-2.49

How would you describe the academic advising that you received?

_ Extremely Effective _ Very Effective _ Somewhat Effective _ Not Effective

How active were you in seeking academic advising?

Very Active Moderately Active Not Active

Where did you get your best academic advising?

How would you describe the career advising that you received?

_ Extremely Effective _ Very Effective _ Somewhat Effective _ Not Effective

Where did you get your best career advising?

What are your plans after graduation (job, graduate school, etc.)? Give details. (if your plans are not finalized, give information about the direction that you are pursuing)

Major: (Please Circle one) Business Pre-Law General Business HRM

International Business Management Operations Small Bus. Entrep.

NOTE: If you have more than one major within the department, please fill out a separate sheet on each.

_ 3.5-4.0 GPA (within this major) _ 3.0-3.49 _ 2.5-2.99 _ 2.0-2.49

Why did you choose this major?

Describe the most positive aspects of your major program.

Describe the aspects of the program that could be improved. Please include anything that you wish you had experienced that you did not.

Please answer the following questions in the CONTEXT OF THE COURSES TAKEN IN YOUR MAJOR LISTED ABOVE.
I have become a more effective problem solver.