General Education Assessment

UMaine Alert

Posted: April 19, 2024 - 1:32 PM

At approximately 9:24 a.m. on Friday, April 19, a University of Maine graduate student was struck by a university vehicle on Long Road at the University of Maine campus in Orono. The student reports that they are at a local hospital with minor injuries.

Emergency services, including the Orono Fire Department, University Volunteer Ambulance Corps, University of Maine Police Department, Orono Police Department and Penobscot County Sheriff’s Office responded to the scene.

The university vehicle involved in the incident was a Chevrolet Express van. It was being operated by a university employee.

Counseling services and support are available for students, faculty or staff who may have been affected. The Counseling Center can be reached at 207-581-1392 and the Dean of Students Office can be reached at 207-581-1406.

The scene has been cleared and Long Road is now accessible. An investigation is being conducted by the University of Maine Police Department with assistance from the Penobscot County Sheriff’s Office Crash Reconstruction Unit. Any witnesses to the incident are encouraged to contact Lt. Noel Santiago at noel.santiago@maine.edu.

April 19, 2024 Spring 2024 Newsletter, Updates

There has been a lot of exciting “behind the scenes” work related to General Education this semester. The General Education Stewardship Committee has been working on a number of tasks related to Gen Ed reform, including redefining the Gen Ed mission, considering new ways to market the Gen Ed program to students and re-envisioning the categories and learning outcomes. OIRA has been leading the charge on Gen Ed Assessment.

The first year of our Gen Ed assessment pilot, funded by the Davis Educational Foundation, is wrapping up. We have worked with six faculty fellows who guided approximately 50 Gen Ed faculty in aligning their assessments with the common rubrics used for Gen Ed assessment. The fall faculty used the rubrics to assess student learning in their courses at the end of the semester and the spring faculty will do the same at the end of this semester. This pilot work, as well as feedback from a number of stakeholder groups, helped us craft and refine two faculty senate motions focused on formalizing this improved assessment process. Both motions passed at the April 2024 faculty senate meeting!

We have started the process of seeking new faculty fellows for the second year of the assessment pilot. Next year we will be focusing on the Gen Ed categories Artistic and Creative Expression, Quantitative Literacy and Laboratory Sciences. If you have experience teaching a course in any of these categories, and are interested in applying for a paid fellow position, please see this informational flyer and apply at the link on the bottom of the flyer. Notification emails to faculty teaching in these categories in fall 2024 have been sent out and we had two faculty information sessions on Apr 3 and Apr 17. If you would like to receive a video recording of the session, please register using this form.

UMaine Alert

Office of Institutional Research and Assessment

General Education Assessment

First Destination

IR Data Fellows

Website Updates

Fall/Spring First-Year Student Success Efforts