Assessment Grants

The Office of Academic Affairs is offering Assessment Innovation and Effectiveness Grants to programs to enhance their assessment efforts in programs or courses in demonstrable ways.

These grants are intended to help faculty and staff engage in sound program assessment practices that will lead to useful results and to support informed decision-making.

2022-2023 Awardees

1. Project Ideas

Projects might address:

Ways to incorporate past assessment findings into curriculum improvements for increased student learning
Re-assessment of changes made in response to prior assessment findings
Integration of external accrediting body assessment requirements and MSU assessment process
Improvement of current program assessment process
Involvement of students in the program assessment process
Developing an equity lens in assessment practices
Assessment by multiple departments of service courses across programs

Examples of proposals include, but are not limited to the following:

Fund a department faculty workshop for discussion of assessment plans and results;
Implement a plan to take action in response to assessment results, including using new equipment, technology, or other resources;
Develop assessment instruments (such as a capstone course, a rubric, or test items);
Fund faculty time to develop and implement a plan for program assessment or an individual project that will assist in program assessment (no course buyouts)
Pay for or license commercially available measurement instruments.
Costs for travel to another campus or university to consult with colleagues about assessment procedures
Stipend for outside speaker, consultants/trainers or professional development leaders

All disbursements must follow MSU and program/department policies and procedures.

2. Evaluation Criteria

Purpose of the proposed project or activity
Plan for implementation of the proposed project or activity
Impact on the program’s assessment process or outcome
Appropriateness of budget
Alignment to MSU mission and accreditation standards (NWCCU Standards -see especially 1.C.5 and 1.C.6 - or other accrediting body)

Title Page: Include project title, main contact name, title, department, and email address, Team members names, titles, departments, and email addresses, program (i.e. degree program which will be the focus of the assessment project), project date range

Project Abstract: (250 words)

Proposal Narative: In a document not to exceed three pages (double spaced and 11-point font minimum), address each of the following:

Overview of the proposed project or activity,
Rationale for the grant including a description of the need/problem the grant will help address,
Description of what will be done
Description of how you will assess the success of the proposed project or activity and
A timeline for implementation

Budget: Total Grant Amount Requested and detail about how you plan to use it; If applicable, identify the use of any matching funds (not required). Support for this award is funded by general fund dollars. If awarded funding, you will need to provide a general fund index. A budget adjustment will be processed, and funds will be available to spend until June 30^th . All disbursements must follow MSU and program/department policies and procedures.

Submission Guidlines

Proposals must be submitted electronically all in one PDF document with the applicant’s name in the file title.
The PDF of the application should be attached to an email to [email protected] with the subject line: “Assessment Grant Proposal”

4. Award Requirements

Successful applicants will complete the following activities at the conclusion of the project:

Brief Report: A brief final project report will be required for all awards by June 30, 2023.
University Share-out: Grant recipients may be invited to share the results of the project or process with others (e.g. through Office of Academic Affairs website or Center for Faculty Excellence forum or other workshop)