National Collegiate Honors Council
Date of this Version
Spring 2006
Abstract
I am currently leading a college where our vision is simply “Expanding Human Potential.” That vision perfectly encapsulates my personal value set for education as well. I believe that expanding human potential is also the business of honors education. And because I believe so firmly in this concept, I shall go on record supporting assessment and evaluation in honors education as well as general education.
As an administrative leader I need to make daily decisions about what will serve my college, my students, and my faculty well. Some of those decisions are internally motivated, internally addressed, and relatively unknown beyond the college. Some of those decisions are externally driven, and the public wants to see the answers. Assessment and evaluation are important to both internal and external audiences, so there are several reasons to engage in them. Among these are:
• Expectations of accountability regarding quality from students, families, and taxpayers;
• Demands for accountability from the college advisory board (consisting primarily of alumni) and donors;
• Concerns about accountability from the central administration (because university funds are invested to support honors); and
• Needs for honors administrators to evaluate and improve the honors experience for honors students.
Comments
Published in Journal of the National Collegiate Honors Council 7: 1, Spring/Summer 2006. Copyright © 2006 by the National Collegiate Honors Council.