Whether our customers have
been using TracDat for many years, a few quarters, or are just
getting started, the common thread of feedback centers on the
significant gains in availability of key information, improvements
in assessment and measurement abilities of the institution and
the improved communication that results from these benefits.
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“We
wanted to share our good news, we passed the NCA focused
visit on assessment. They indicated one of the indicators
of the college having built a culture of assessment was
our work in using TracDat. We owe you a big thank you
for your assistance through this process. We achieved
100% input from all academic departments of their current
Assessment Plan and observations and transformations documented
for one or more objectives. In 6+ months we are very pleased
with our progress.”
Faculty Development Chair
McHenry County College |
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“TracDat
is a unifying instrument that helps us report outcomes
assessment in a consistent manner.”
Distinguished Professor, Graduate School
&
Executive Advisor to the President
Bay Path College
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“TracDat
presents a systematic approach to the entire assessment
cycle. The software provides the capability to coordinate
objectives among all levels of the institution - from
individual courses to institutional mission. In addition
to allowing the management of a wide variety of assessment
data, it also facilitates the use of assessment data for
program evaluation and improvement. Needed program changes
can be identified, followed-up and succinctly documented.
TracDat provided faculty with a common understanding of
the assessment process. The ease with which assessment
plans can be documented and revised proved significant
in gaining departmental cooperation for program implementation.
TracDat was instrumental in helping us meet accreditation
requirements.”
Associate Professor of Psychology
West Virginia Wesleyan College
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“We
are finding TracDat an excellent tool in keeping assessment
a dynamic process versus documents that sit in file drawers.”
Associate Dean for Faculty Development
& Assessment
School of Pharmacy & Health Professions
Creighton University
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The
most frequent comment from faculty regarding the adoption
of TracDat has been “Why didn’t we have this
sooner?” TracDat provides a shared “assessment
vocabulary” for faculty in multiple departments and
colleges. Department-level committees have found that TracDat
has encouraged discussion about the substantive issues of
assessment by helping to eliminate some of the uncertainty
about the format or structure of an assessment plan. The
organization of data for accreditation has also been well
served by the implementation of TracDat, through the creation
of “virtual departments” that reflect the standards
of various external agencies. The most compelling aspect
of TracDat, from my perspective, has been its focus on the
observations, remedies, and follow-up that result from the
assessment process. TracDat has served as a great reminder
that the major goal of assessment is continuous program
improvement.
Associate Dean
College of Education
Western Michigan University
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“TracDat
provides us with an excellent software package to manage
our strategic planning and assessment processes. TracDat
allows us to manage electronically a large number of planning
and reporting units, is flexible, allows linkages to a
number of external and internal goals such as accrediting
agencies, and enables us to prepare reports easily. Its
format supports the conceptual framework of assessment.”
Associate Vice President for University
Programs
Eastern Kentucky University
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“TracDat
helped us tremendously to organize for our NCA visit.
With its latest update, we have had more faculty interest
in using it and have found it more effective in organizing
our assessment efforts and linking them to various internal
and external standards. We are looking forward to using
features that allows us to create campus-defined units
such as general education, integrative experience, etc.
We passed NCA partially due to the effectiveness of TracDat
reports as a communication tool.”
TracDat Coordinator
Mount Union College
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“For
years, we started and stopped with the assessment of student
learning. We purchased TracDat for the purpose of a standardized,
yet flexible approach to recording goals, objectives, and
results. Faculty and administrators can use the system from
their offices. This makes recording assessment-related data
less arduous. The main benefit is that a big part of the
training we received specifically for the product also helped
to provide information on assessment in general, and has
helped us make a big leap toward continuous improvement.”
Dean of Faculty Development and Assessment
University of Sioux Falls
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“TracDat
has really helped faculty and administrators document
the evidence, analysis, interpretation, and decisions
made about their program outcomes. In addition, it has
helped identify areas where assessment connects with core
values in undergraduate education and how programs tie
into those values.”
Director of Assessment
North Carolina State University
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“TracDat
is a user friendly aid in the difficult task of organizing
and reporting assessment information and results.”
Director of Assessment
Providence College
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“We
chose TracDat after a lengthy and systematic search because
the solution fit the unique assessment needs of our institution
and it was highly recommended by other post-secondary institutions.
In particular, the Dynamic Labeling feature of TracDat facilitated
the transition from the paper process to the electronic
environment. We avoided confusion with our users by continuing
to employ the same terminologies that they have grown accustomed
to in prior years while at the same time adopting a new
electronic process.” “We are proud to have
developed a virtual tour of our assessment process for
our WASC accreditors prior to their arrival on campus.
TracDat played a large part in making this project possible.
We gave our visiting team full access to TracDat because
we are confident that our growing body of assessment evidence
would give our accreditors a chance to explore a wide
array of materials ranging from assessment plans and reports
to student artifacts. TracDat is delivering on the promise
of helping Guam Community College substantially improve
the process for demonstrating continuous improvement”
Asst. Director
Office of Assessment & Institutional Effectiveness
Guam Community College
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"TracDat
is helping us transform the student assessment process from
a cumbersome obligation for faculty
to an easy, accessible and exciting way to continuously
improve teaching and learning." John
Thibodeau
Associate Vice President
Institutional Effectiveness
Gateway Technical College |
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“In
my first review of the application, I immediately recognized
the value of TracDat.” “CCBC found that TracDat’s
reporting capabilities are very valuable, particularly
those that illustrate the alignment between course objectives
and the program and institutional objectives.”
“TracDat prompts the user to consider program goals
and how they relate to institution goals...if the relationship
cannot be determined, the program goal must be reexamined.
This goal and objective alignment is essential at every
level.”
VP for Learning and Assessment
Community College of Beaver County |
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“TracDat
has not only proved to be an effective platform for our
planning, assessment, and reporting needs, but has also
helped energize the planning and evaluation efforts across
the institution. Because the system works well and its value
is evident to the campus users, they are more receptive
to the university’s efforts to improve unit plans
and the evaluation and documentation of results.”
Executive Vice President and Chief
Planning Officer
Our Lady of the Lake University |
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“Nuventive
really listened to the customers when developing TracDat.”
Institutional Advancement Coordinator
Blackhawk Technical College
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“Through the use of TracDat, we’ve made
significant progress at taking different forms and processes,
then implementing a unified system for sharing data collection
and reporting the information. TracDat has demonstrated
to the Higher Learning Commission that Blackhawk is serious
about student outcomes assessment. With the work we’ve
done the past few years, BTC has assumed a leadership
role in the area of student outcomes assessment. We’re
on the forefront of the use of TracDat, and as a small
technical college, we’re excited about what this
can do for us.”
Learning Services Coordinator
Blackhawk Technical College
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“TracDat makes it easier to pinpoint whether students
are meeting standards and to change the curriculum in progress”.
“TracDat is not just for compliance. It does make
the accreditation process much easier, but you have to
think of student outcomes assessment in terms of continuous
improvement. TracDat helps you look at your institution
and your program and your learning. If you’re just
using it for compliance, you’re missing the point.”
VP of Learning Support
Blackhawk Technical College
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“It
(TracDat) provides the best reporting of any solution
we considered—we can get great information from
our database without a whole lot of effort. And the level
of discussion that can now occur is amazing. Instead of
debating definitions and details, we can focus on how
to move forward.”
“We strive for continuous improvement. We wanted
an application that would guide us through ongoing and
systematic improvement, rather than tying our assessment
activities only to accreditation visits every five years.
TracDat automates the assessment process by providing
a best-practice framework for how we approach continuous
quality improvement.”
“A key benefit of TracDat is its participatory approach.
The application guides the contributors through a collaborative
process. It has ‘stopping points’ along the
way for others to read and contribute to content. TracDat
gives faculty and staff the opportunity to actively participate
in the assessment process, to better understand their
role in it, and to understand why the process is so important.
It is much more collaborative and dynamic than passing
around an assessment on a piece of paper.”
“The College has always had a strategic plan in
place, but it was difficult for individuals to understand
how their assessment plans related to it and supported
it. TracDat is configured to enable departments and programs
to easily link their goals and objectives to the internal
goals and objectives we’ve identified in our strategic
plan. Also Delgado has external standards that we must
also comply with, for example, those required by specialized
and regional accreditation associations. With TracDat,
we can align the same goals and objectives that support
our mission to those external requirements. We no longer
need to write or maintain separate plans or reports. It’s
all in one place, and it is easy to see how an objective
supports an internal or external standard. Even more critical,
it’s easy to see if we’re not addressing a
particular goal or requirement so that we can put corrective
action in place.”
“If we can’t identify our faults, we can’t
fit them and become an even greater institution. TracDat
will help show us where we need to spend our time and
money to become even more learner centered.”
“We didn’t have a common understanding of
assessment, nor were we able to have productive assessment
discussions on our campuses, but TracDat is helping us.
The process is straightforward and easy to follow.”
“We can make decisions based on the support of learning
outcomes, not just on budget. Now our responses in terms
of resources and budget can be tied to desired outcomes,
not just a department member telling us he needs more
staff.”
Director of Institutional Effectiveness
Delgado Community College
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“The
response from the division chairs, our first users, has
been very positive. People are eager to use it because they
see it as something that will be productive. The navigation
for the product is excellent. It is intuitive and easy to
use.”
“In the past, faculty have seen planning and assessment
as an added chore, not something that will move the College
forward. TracDat will help us change that mindset. The
linkage will make it easier for individuals to understand
how their assessment and planning efforts support the
goals of the College.”
“TracDat steers everyone to focus on student learning
outcomes, at both the department level and the student
level. In the past everyone’s work was focused on
the process of managing departments. We didn’t measure
student outcomes. TracDat will help us emphasize student
learning, which is ultimately the purpose of the College.
And it will help us fulfill the requirements of our accrediting
agency.”
“Because the solution is readily accessible, we
will do a better job of planning and assessment. It will
also let more people throughout the College understand
better what is taking place.”
“In the past, we were unable to link our various
plans together. We have a marketing plan, distance education
plan, student recruitment and retention plans, technology
plans –12 plans altogether. However, our individual
units haven’t been able to align any of their work
to these plans that are critical for the College; and
not one of the 12 was linked to the College’s strategic
plan. With TracDat, we have a mechanism where the planning
is linked all the way down to the lowest, budgetary level
and all the way up to the strategic plan. It will also
be an excellent tool for tracking major projects.”
VP of Administrative Services
Wharton County Junior College
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“TracDat is a valuable tool for the College’s
strategic and institutional planning. The application guides
contributors to align their program, department, and unit
goals to the internal goals and objectives that support
the College’s strategic plan.” President
Wharton County Junior College
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“Before, we would print three years’ worth
of unit objectives and distribute them every fall. Now people
will be able to view the information whenever they want,
even on a day-to-day basis. This will make it easier for
them to see trends and change direction as needed. Having
the information and tools available to the departments will
also encourage them to take ownership of their goals and
be more accountable.” Institutional
Research Technician
Wharton County Junior College
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“The ability to enter data at any time also will
improve reporting. People can enter information at any time
rather than trying to remember everything that has taken
place and recording it annually.” Institutional
Research Programmer Analyst
Wharton County Junior College
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