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  • Editor’s Note
  • George Anthony Peffer

For too long, pro forma attempts to satisfy the proponents of accountability have characterized the assessment of student learning. More recently, however, a more genuine quest to improve the teaching and learning process has started to supplant preoccupation with generating reports. As such efforts grow more nuanced and creative, reliance upon the data gathering of single assessment officers is giving way to increasingly collaborative enterprises. Administrators and faculty members are pursuing assessment initiatives in partnership, and institutions are seeking to learn from each other through shared endeavor. Such shifts in approach are generating richer and more meaningful studies that inform the assessment process far beyond their colleges and universities of origin.

The articles contained in JAIE 4.1 reflect this changing face of the field. Gary Blau, Corrine Snell, Deborah Campbell, Krupa Viswanathan, William Aaronson, and Satyajit Karnik present a promising new measure for considering the impact of extracurricular engagement in their fields on the academic success of students. Ruth Slotnick, Christopher Cratsley, Annamary Consalvo, and Carol Lerch explore the insights gained through an assessment partnership between the writing faculty at community colleges and universities. Christopher McCullough and Elizabeth Jones examine the factors that promote or impede faculty partnership. Mark Engberg, Mark Manderino, [End Page ix] and Katelyn Dollard bring together survey results from multiple campuses to argue for the effectiveness of such surveys as a mechanism for inspiring positive change. As a group, these authors demonstrate the catalytic potential of assessment undertaken for the right reasons. We offer them as harbingers of a productive future. [End Page x]

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