Volume 91 - Winter 2005	Download

President's Report by Shauna Anderson, PhD, MT(ASCP)C, CLS(NCA) President, Board of Directors

During reorganization, the College of Biology and Agriculture decided to sponsor a Biology major. I had the honor of being appointed as the Director of that major in addition to my Clinical Laboratory Science (CLS) assignment as Program Director.

The University regularly conducts Department reviews every five years. However, during the first semester of the Biology major's existence, the University asked that a review be conducted including producing a Self-Study Report and having a site visit utilizing internal and external visitors. At the time, I'm sure I raised my eyebrows and asked, "How can that be done when the program is only three months old?" I then went about the task of preparing the Self-Study and preparing for the team of visitors.

At the same time, the University informed the employees that a Regional Accreditation visit would take place in 2006, and the Self Study Report would need to be completed by 2005. I was involved in the last University Regional Accreditation as a Department Chair, and I remembered well the process and the general feeling of the faculty of that Department was that it was just a bunch of busy work and served no value. As a matter of fact, it detracted from teaching and research.

My experience with the University review of the Biology Major and the Regional Accreditation of the University during the last two years has been a different experience. It has been a rewarding experience! As I try to analyze why I feel this way, I have seen my attitude change from asking why should I have to do this to asking how can this process help to better our program.

I attribute my change in attitude to my experiences with NAACLS and the preparation of several Self-Study Reports for my own CLS program and the knowledge I have attained through their preparation. Because of those experiences, I was not intimidated by the Biology Major review nor the University's upcoming accreditation.

Through the years, I have seen a change in emphasis in accreditation from prescriptive dictates to creative freedom but especially a heavy emphasis on accountability. Student learning outcomes seems to be the focus of the accreditation process now. The onus of proof that those outcomes have been achieved is upon the program or institution. In addition, the students or public have become astutely aware of what those outcomes should be and if the program or institution have designed tools that could measure them.

It was fortuitous that I was in a position to be instrumental in the creation of a new major and to have the opportunity to develop student learning outcomes. With their development, the most exciting task was to construct assessment tools to measure the successful attainment of the learning outcomes.

My recent experiences are directly applicable to the CLS program. Even though the program has been functioning for some 30 years, I can see new ways to measure student learning outcomes as I now prepare a Self-Study Report for a NAACLS accreditation. The process now becomes a new and exciting challenge instead of a drudgery or painful experience. I see clearly that the accreditation process can allow for the defining of student learning outcomes and the development of assessment tools to measure those outcomes. By doing so, the program is more accountable to the students and public and ultimately truly measures the quality of our program.

The role of NAACLS is to define clear expectations, and the roles of the programs are to establish student learning outcomes and then collect and interpret evidence of achievement. NAACLS continues to streamline the process. Will you take the challenge to use the process to ultimately improve your program?

Top of the News
			CEO's Corner by Olive M. Kimball, PhD, EdD Chief Executive Officer
			PARC Report by Karen Madsen Myers, MA, MT(ASCP)SC, CLS(NCA) Chair, Programs Approval Review Committee (PARC)
			People Helping People by Karen Madsen Myers, MA, MT(ASCP)SC, CLS(NCA) Chair, Programs Approval Review Committee (PARC)
			President's Report by Shauna Anderson, PhD, MT(ASCP)C, CLS(NCA) President, Board of Directors
Features
			Assessing Program Directors' Attitudes Towards Use of Electronic Self-Studies by Maria E. Delost, MS, MT(ASCP), CLS(NCA) Histology Educator on CLSPRC
			Clinical Laboratory Science An Historical Perspective - Part II by Lucy J. Randles, MA, CLS/CLDIR President, Health Care Advantage; Member, NAACLS Graduate Task Force
			Coordinating Council on the Clinical Laboratory Workforce (CCCLW) Working Collaboratively to Address the Workforce Shortage by Paula Garrott, EdM, CLS(NCA) ASCLS Representative to the NAACLS Board of Directors
			Dr. NAACLS Advice for Accredited and Approved Programs
Other News
			An Invitation to Nominate
			Annual Survey Coming Soon by Elizabeth Everson Computer Information Systems and Program Coordinator
			Programs to be Site Visited during Summer 2006 Cycle

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