Core and Multicultural Data Collection

OPA administered the Spring 2023 Core and Multicultural Curriculum (CMC) data collection from April 17th through May 12th. We streamlined the data submission process by including all relevant information for the instructor based on the courses they are teaching, and the corresponding rubrics attached to each course. Our office worked with the telecommunications branch of TTU IT to identify issues with the Qualtrics system and minimize future issues with undelivered surveys. Using the Qualtrics email platform allows us to better track who has submitted data, sparing them from weekly reminders and avoiding confusion on data completion. The Spring 2023 administration was our most successful, providing a 91% completion rate for the CMC survey. Our data collection has continued to improve each semester, with better response rates, fewer issues faced by instructors, and overall better data quality.

El Paso Site Visit

Over the course of the Spring 2023 semester, OPA staff led two important milestone events for Texas Tech University. First, in coordination with TTU IT staff and faculty/staff at the College of Architecture at TTU-El Paso, OPA conducted a mock visit at the El Paso campus on March 24, 2023, which prepared faculty/staff for directed questions and concerns to be addressed at a formal SACSCOC Substantive Change On-Site Visit in mid-April. The mock visit helped to increase awareness about the critical role that our accreditor plays in degree program offerings. After a successful mock visit, the official SACSCOC Visit was conducted on April 19-20.  We are thrilled that TTU did not receive any recommendations or findings from SACSCOC. 

NSSE

The NSSE administration began on March 1st and continued with weekly reminders until March 28th. The survey officially closed on May 14th. We used individualized links for students on their Blackboard page that appeared as reminders each time the student logged on. OPA also selected two additional modules to be used with the NSSE: Inclusiveness & Engagement with Cultural Diversity, and Mental Health & Well-being. Our final response rate was 19%, with 1,476 responses from first-year students, 1,64 responses from seniors, providing 3140 responses in total. NSSE ran into distribution issues that resulted in a 7 day pause of email invites which included TTU students, but we were able to send out three additional reminders in April to increase responses.

Graduate Students in FS

In 2021 and 2022 the Office of Planning and Assessment began meeting with the Graduate School to begin a huge endeavor of bringing graduate students into the software. This exciting venture brought in students from all over TTU campus in order to provide a space for reporting scholarly work and research, course content and records, and we developed a screen for those needing an Independent Development Plan on file.
 
Having graduate students in the software is an excellent space to keep track of student scholarly work, which is a reporting requirement for accreditation and TTU compliance. While it is important for departments and colleges to track this regularly, there are larger required reports necessary to reaffirmation and graduate program reviews. Furthermore, any student who promotes to a Graduate Part-Time Instructor position would find all of their information carrying forward, and should they be hired as full-time faculty, their entire record is already up-to-date.
 
After initial testing and feedback, OPA and TGS held a series of trainings to introduce the software to graduates and advisors. All-told, we have almost doubled the number of active users in FS to account for all individuals taking graduate-level courses. Administrators can find information on our new Administrators Suite at: https://www.depts.ttu.edu/opa/facultysuccess/administration.php. This includes a recording of the training, as well as other resources that are designed for administrative users in FS.

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