Measure 1

2016 Status
Achieved
74.3% of our juniors and seniors scored "proficient" or "distinguished" in content knowledge across the disciplines in the 2013-16 GE assessment.

Measure 2

2017 Status
Not Yet Achieved
We assessed 47 students in Honors physical sciences classes in Fall 2017 in three knowledge areas.

Measure 3

2017 Status
Not Yet Achieved
We're close here, just a few percentage points below our target.

Measure 4

2017 Status
Achieved
In Fall 2017, we assessed students in HNR 231 (Holocaust) for their content knowledge in the social and behavioral sciences.

Measure 1

2019 Status
Achieved
Professors Cataldo and McFarland 1) analyzed syllabi from all our first-year sequences, reading them for certain keywords and questions associated with our curriculum revision; 2) analyzed faculty comments on student written work, for same; and surveyed second-year Honors students about whether their first-year Honors sequences emphasized those keywords and questions.

Measure 1

2016 Status
Achieved
Our 2015 round of assessment resulted in gradual increase in writing skills. The senior projects were rated at 94.4%, well above our target.

Measure 2

2016 Status
Achieved
in our 2013-16 GE assessments, 76% of our juniors and seniors rated as "proficient" or "distinguished" in written communication.

Measure 3

2019 Status
Achieved
This assessment was completed in Winter 2019, and the final report was submitted May 1, 2019.

Measure 4

2021 Status
Achieved
We had four expert WRT 150 graders score 177 first-year Honors student papers using standard WRT 150 grading criteria in five evaluation categories: content/research, organization, style, citation/documentation, and mechanics. The overall Honors "GPA" suggested by the scoring is 3.12 (a B+) compared the the actual Fall 2020 WRT 150 GPA of 2.78 (a B-). Thus, as expected, Honors students generally outperform their non-Honors counterparts. More specifically, Honors students performed best in the categories of mechanics (3.52), content/research (3.10), and style (3.09). Their lowest scores were in organization (2.99) and citation/documentation (2.93).

2020 Status
Not Yet Achieved
Our initial plan was to conduct this assessment in May 2020, but the COVID closure prevented that--so we will have to set our sights on May 2021. We'll be using WRT faculty, and we want to do it when they are not teaching.

Measure 1

2016 Status
Not Yet Achieved
Our most recent GE assessment indicates that 62.5% of our juniors and seniors scored "proficient" or "distinguished" in oral communication.

Measure 1

2016 Status
Achieved
The 2015 exist survey administered by the former director resulted in 95% of students reporting that Honors helped them develop intellectual curiosity and good habits of learning.

Measure 2

2018 Status
Achieved
On the self-assessment questionnaire: We found that, ironically, students generally lowered their self-ratings on most of the "habits of mind" items from the time they applied to the Honors College to the time they graduated. They did report higher ratings in terms of setting high expectations for themselves, working independently, scheduling their time, and their interest in meeting interesting people--and we view these as very positive developments. However, they self-rated themselves lower in terms of completing assigned readings, paying attention to the news, being comfortable with vague assignments, enjoying sharing new ideas with others, and enjoying "big issue" classes. The first two of these seem to us an unsurprising reflection of moving from high school to college, and they don't concern us. The other three, however, seem important for us to reflect on--and we are doing so. On the graduating senior reflections: We're delighted by the depth and maturity of the senior reflections (see the attached PDF), which we grouped into four areas: reflections on the living/learning community, reflections on faculty, reflections on the curriculum, and reflections on the skills they've learned. We see these reflections as a strong affirmation of our program's contribution to the growing intellectual independence of Honors students.

Measure 3

2019 Status
Achieved
Advisors Kelly McDonell and Meg Marshall surveyed 421 Honors students in Winter 2019 and then conducted focus groups with a small number of students afterward. The focus of the survey and focus groups was how Honors students currently engaged the program and university--and how they might increase that engagement in the future. We see such engagement as a positive sign of growing intellectual independence.

Measure 4

2020 Status
Achieved
We had 17 productive and insightful conversations with about 350 of our students, and we shared the students' insights and reflections with all 35 current sequence faculty as part of a continuing effort to make the first-year experience as enriching as possible for Honors students.

Measure 1

2016 Status
Not Yet Achieved
In our 2013-16 GE assessments, 69% of our juniors and seniors rated at "proficient" or "distinguished" in critical thinking.

Measure 2

2019 Status
Achieved
Professors Toot and Baum surveyed 7 Honors science faculty, examined syllabi from 8 Honors science courses, and surveyed 47 Honors science students.

Measure 1

2019 Status
Not Yet Achieved
Of Honors students graduating in December 2018 and April 2019, 37.4% reported having studied abroad during their time at GVSU.

2017 Status
Not Yet Achieved
Our percentage of seniors who report studying abroad dropped between 2015 and 2017, from about 40% to about 25%. It's still a high number, and part of the drop can be attributed to some external factors, but we are committed to improving.

Measure 2

2016 Status
Achieved
In our 2015 exit survey, 97% of students reported gaining a deeper understanding of global issues through Honors.