West Virginia University and the Eberly College of Arts and Sciences are committed to responsible assessment at every level. In the effort to establish a nationally recognized and efficient system to assess the teaching effectiveness of its departments and programs, the Eberly College and the Provost’s Office will sponsor a series of assessment workshops conducted by Dr. Barbara Walvoord on Jan. 26 and 27.

At the University of Notre Dame, Dr. Walvoord serves as chair of the Committee on Assessment, is a fellow of the Institute for Educational Initiatives, and is a concurrent professor of English. She is the author ofAssessment Clear and Simple: A Practical Guide for Institutions, Departments, and General Education,and has consulted with more than 250 institutions on assessment practices.

Walvoord will offer three public workshops for faculty in the Mountainlair’s Rhododendron Room.Assessing Departments and Programswill be held from 8:30 to 11:30 a.m. on Thursday, Jan. 26. The goal of this workshop is for participants to leave with a written plan for assessment that is sensible, feasible, useful to the department’s own goals, and is consonant with regional and professional accreditation guidelines.

Assessing and Improving Student Learning in General Educationwill be offered from 1:30 to 3:30 p.m. on Jan. 26. Walvoord hopes that this workshop will help participants make practical and efficient assessment decisions across the diverse range of general education classes offered at a large university.

The final workshop,Making the Grading Process Fair, Time-Efficient, and Effective for Learning,will be held Friday, Jan. 27, from 8:30 to 11:30 a.m. The goal of this workshop is for participants to establish a strong base of grading and assessment in the classroom and to learn how to use graded student work for department assessment.

To register for one or all of the following workshops, please e-mail Brenda Riggle at briggle@wvu.edu to reserve space. Assessment materials will be provided at the workshop. For any other information about the workshops, please contact Kirk Hazen at Kirk.Hazen@mail.wvu.edu .