Purpose & Goals

This paper engages with the issue of how library assessment practitioners can build community with institutional partners. In the recently revised ACRL Proficiencies for Assessment in Academic Libraries, librarians are encouraged to engage with campus partners in a variety of ways:

• “Collaborate and partner with individuals or groups such as institutional research; teaching, learning or research centers; information technology units; and other assessment offices.”
• “Advocate for resources, support, and inclusion of the library in institutional assessment initiatives.”

This paper will explore the question: what does this work look like in practice? At many institutions, assessment efforts can be dispersed across different units (and even campuses), making it challenging to forge relationships, share expertise, and avoid duplicative efforts. This paper explores lessons learned at one large, highly decentralized research university through efforts to break down organizational silos in university assessment activities. We will discuss the history and impact of these efforts and show how others could implement similar community building initiatives on their campuses. The efforts the presenters and university partners have used in recent years include: 1) creating a Campus Assessment Working group; 2) setting up a formal, centralized review process for surveys; 3) and forging connections with adjacent groups on campus to create connections between those working with student data, data visualization tools, institutional research, and assessment activities. The paper will share successful (and not-so-successful) ways to identify organizational barriers to collaboration and develop strategies to navigate these barriers in order to build relationships. Attendees will come away with potential approaches they could apply in their own contexts. The presentation will also engage participants by posing questions about how they connect with colleagues at their institutions (is there a central assessment committee, for example?), and invite conversations about strategies attendees have used for building partnerships outside the library.

Design & Methodology

The paper takes a case-study approach, drawing on the experiences and reflections of multiple authors from different campus units over the course of a six-year period. The paper will also draw on a literature review focused on cross-unit collaboration in higher education, as well as feedback from partners gathered throughout the activities described above.

Conclusions

The efforts to build connections and break down organizational barriers between those involved in assessment have resulted in multiple benefits. The development of personal and professional relationships across departments has been integral to the success of this work, and the results include a greater understanding of the broader institutional context for individual departmental work, more effective data sharing, and collaborative skills development. Perhaps even more importantly, these efforts have also helped to surface and center equity-informed assessment practices across the campus. We have learned that using multiple strategies to build community can amplify the effects of these efforts and increase connection among the assessment community, but that sustaining this work over time can be challenging. One key question that we will continue to pose as we do this work is: what are the most effective strategies that are also sustainable for participants and leaders over time?

Implications & Value

The paper is co-authored by librarians and assessment/institutional research professionals from two other campus departments, and we believe hearing the perspectives of institutional partners can be beneficial to the library assessment community in exploring strategies for community building. The contributes to the overall body of work by providing concrete strategies for forging strong campus assessment partnerships and addressing important proficiencies for library assessment practitioners.