AAA Spark Meeting of Regions

Leading in Assessment: Responding to Faculty Resitance and Recognizing Signs of Maturity

• In Event: Leadership in Accounting

Abstract

The purpose of this paper is to identify common phases of faculty resistance to assurance of learning (AoL) and to provide specific recommendations to help faculty and administrators guide their AoL systems toward maturity. We present this information in two sections. In the first section, we provide a three-stage model of AoL system maturity and summarize the general faculty characteristics common at each stage. In the second section, we delve more deeply into the stages of AoL system maturity by subdividing the stages of maturity into seven, more tightly-focused faculty perspective phases; providing specific responses for each phase to help faculty move toward a more mature AoL system; and describing “small wins” that AoL leaders may observe which indicate that faculty and the AoL system are, in fact, moving toward the next level of maturity.

Authors

• Karen A. Tarnoff, East Tennessee State University

• Eric D. Bostwick, University of West Florida

• Kathleen J. Barnes, Salem State University