Mission Theme Assessments

Assessing our University Mission

Fort Hays State University provides accessible quality education to the state of Kansas, the nation, and the world through an innovative community of teacher-scholars and professionals who seek to develop engaged global citizen leaders, which is the heart of the University’s mission. But what does it mean to be a global citizen leader? There are three components to being an engaged global citizen leader: (1) community engagement, (2) global learning, and (3) leadership development. As an institution, we have defined each of these components below.

1. Community Engagement (CE): Community engagement means working to make a difference in the civic life of our communities and developing the combination of knowledge, skills, values and motivation to make that difference. It means promoting the quality of life in a community, through both political and non-political processes (Ehrlich, 2000).
2. Global Learning (GL): Global learning is a critical analysis of and an engagement with complex, interdependent global systems and legacies (such as natural, physical, social, cultural, economic, and political) and their implications for people’s lives and the earth’s sustainability (AACU, 2022, para. 3). Through global learning, students should: 1) become informed, open-minded, and responsible people who are attentive to diversity across the spectrum of differences; 2) seek to understand how their actions affect both local and global communities; and 3) address the world’s most pressing and enduring issues collaboratively and equitably.
3. Leadership Development (LD): Leadership is the process of influencing others to understand and agree about what needs to be done and how to do it, and the process of facilitating individual and collective efforts to accomplish shared objectives (Yukl, 2018, p. 7).

Using the above definitions, we believe students who are engaged global citizen leaders are those who are able to: 

• assess community needs leading to increased social consciousness.  
• reflect on personal values for alignment with a commitment to be an engaged citizen. 
• demonstrate an understanding of global systems and apply that knowledge in contemporary global contexts.
• demonstrate internalized global self-awareness and synthesizes multiple perspectives about global issues through reflection.
• demonstrate various methods by which to collaboratively engage others in work.
• draw connections among ideas to use leadership strategies in a variety of contexts.

Course Tagging and Assessment of FHSU Mission Themes

To measure student learning related to the themes of our university mission and identified student outcomes, we have "tagged" (i.e., identified) academic courses that capture the spirit of community engagement, global learning, and/or leadership development. Faculty will holistically assess student learning under each area for which their course is tagged. 

Is your course tagged? See Tagged Courses

Do you want to tag your course? See Request Course Tagging

Assessment Rubrics

When faculty assess student learning of our mission themes, they will utilize a summative and holistic approach to meausre short-term and intermediate changes that occur throughout the learner's experience. The rubric levels indicate whether the student is proficient in the knowledge and skills identified in one or more of mission of themes. The holistic rubrics used for this process are linked below.

Community Engagement Rubric

Global Learning Rubric

Leadership Development Rubric

Faculty do NOT have to identify a specific assignment used to capture student learning. To assess a student holistically means to assess their learning across a number of different parts of the course, as the learning happens across multiple experiences. 

Process

Each semester, faculty teaching tagged courses will be contacted via email with instructions to set-up the assessment activity in their Blackboard gradebook. It is expected faculty will submit their assessments no later than the Wednesday after final grades are submitted. See also FHSU Mission Themes Assessment Process.

How-to Setup Assessments in Blackboard Classic

How to Setup Asssesments in Blackboard Ultra

Fall 2024 Timeline

Frequently Asked Questions

References

Association of American Colleges and Universities [AACU]. (2022). Definitions of global learning. Association of American Colleges and Universities. https://www.aacu.org/office-of-global-citizenship-for-campus-community-and-careers/definitions-of-global-learning 

Ehrlich, T. (2000). Civic responsibility and higher education. Oryx Press.

Yukl, G. (2013). Leadership in organizations (8th ed.). Pearson.