Panel: IS & IT Program Accreditation: Who, What, Why, and How

The Computing Accreditation Commission (CAC) of ABET is committed to providing world leadership in assuring quality and innovation in computing education. To carry out this vision, the CAC has proposed changes in the structure of the criteria used to accredit computing programs – computer science, information systems and information technology. The new structure consolidates general criteria that apply to all computing programs, and cites program-specific criteria that apply to CS, IS or IT programs. This is an important reorganization that allows an emerging computing discipline program (e.g., bio-informatics) to apply for accreditation under the general criteria until the discipline matures to a point where a model curriculum can be developed. This new format also begins to move CAC documents to outcome-based statements leaving the implementation to the individual programs. This session discusses the who, what, why, and how of IS and IT accreditation. ABET and AACSB accreditation are compared, the CAC/ABET accreditation process is reviewed, and proposed revisions to the IS and IT programs accreditation criteria are highlighted

The Influence of Title IX on Personal and Professional Biographies of Early Career Female Club Volleyball Coaches

Seeking to understand the relationship between Title IX and its impact on a select group of its contemporary beneficiaries, the purpose of this study was to determine the influence of Title IX on the personal and professional biographies of 8 early career female club volleyball coaches. This study utilized a modified case study design featuring constant comparison data analysis. Data were collected using a qualitative interview technique with each of the candidate’s interviews subdivided into four distinct sections. Part I of the interview established a basic personal and professional biography of each individual coach. Part II provided data on the subject’s athletic experiences. Part III addressed the life goals of the coaches. Part IV explored each individual participant’s knowledge of Title IX. Findings revealed the existence of major themes common across all 8 coaches including (a) the shared belief that athletics provided opportunities for them to develop valuable lifelong personal and professional skills, (b) that opportunities for the acquisition of such skills were their implicit right (i.e., not directly attributable to Title IX, about which they knew little), and (c) the existence of an enduring commitment to the sport of volleyball as a source of personal identity and fulfillment. Once educated fully about Title IX, however, the coaches were unanimous in their belief that although progress in women’s athletics -- related to the impact of Title IX -- had permitted them to succeed, inequity vis-à-vis opportunities accorded their male counterparts still existed. Correspondingly, the findings of this study suggest a post-gender society has not yet been attained and that efforts to ensure equal opportunity must continue

Completing the Loop: IS Program Improvement through Outcomes Assessment

Why are assessment results often not used to effect IS program improvement? Although both AACSB and ABET place great emphasis on the establishment of a systematic process for the collection and evaluation of academic program assessment data, moving assessment from a data collection activity to a mechanism for program improvement has proven to be a challenge for many programs. The ultimate goal of program assessment is improvement of the academic program. Achieving this goal requires demonstrating how an assessment process affects the quality of the academic program. This workshop will explore the barriers to effective use of assessment results for program improvement and will discuss strategies for addressing these barriers. In addition, different methods and tools that are currently being used to effectively “close the loop” will be presented. Examples specific to the information systems curriculum will be used. Participants will be encouraged to discuss and share the “best assessment practices” developed at their institutions. Practical examples will be presented that help faculty establish effective mechanisms and processes for program improvement at their institutions

AMCIS 2010 Panel Report: External Benchmarks in Information Systems Program Assessment

Accrediting bodies and other external constituencies are placing increased emphasis on the assessment of academic degree programs for continuous improvement. Most assessment plans are focused on determining how well program outcomes or goals are being met. However, benchmarking a degree program across institutions is rarely considered. This article provides general principles for assessing information systems programs and presents quantitative and qualitative methodologies and tools for benchmarking student learning in Information Systems programs

Validation of a new measure of concept of a good death

BACKGROUND: The concept of a good death is central to end-of-life care research. Despite its importance and the high interest in the topic, there are few measures currently available for use in clinical research. PURPOSE: The present work describes the development and testing of a set of items intended to measure the importance of several components posited to be critical to the concept of a good death. It is intended for use with health care providers and lay people in the context of end-of-life care research and education. POPULATION: Four cohorts (n = 596) were recruited to participate, representing two helping profession disciplines, nonhelping professionals, and a range of ages, specifically: (1) undergraduate medical students; (2) master\u27s degree students in nursing; (3) graduate students from the life sciences; and (4) practicing hospice nurses. METHODS: Participants completed self-report questionnaires at baseline and retest. Psychometric analyses included item frequency distributions, factor analysis, alpha reliability, intraclass correlation, and measures of association. RESULTS: The new Concept of a Good Death measure demonstrated good item frequency distributions, acceptable internal consistency reliability, and test-retest stability. Its factor structure revealed that three distinct domains are measured, reflecting the psychosocial/spiritual, physical, and clinical aspects of a good death. An examination of patterns of correlations showed differential associations with death anxiety, spiritual beliefs and practices, anxious mood, and sociodemographic characteristics. CONCLUSIONS: The new Concept of a Good Death instrument appears to measure three distinct factors which people consider important to a Good Death. Ratings of the importance of these factors are reliable and valid. The instrument has the advantage of being a brief, self-report index for use in end-of-life care research

Detecting attitudinal changes about death and dying as a result of end-of-life care curricula for medical undergraduates

BACKGROUND: There is heightened emphasis on teaching end-of-life (EOL) care in the medical school curriculum, but a relative paucity of tools focused on assessing key attitudinal changes due to curricula. OBJECTIVE: We sought to evaluate the responsiveness of two validated measures of relevant attitudes to changes caused by two EOL curricula: a year-long Elective and a day-long Inter-Clerkship for medical undergraduates. DESIGN: A case control design (n = 100) and a one group pretest-posttest design (n = 98) were used to ask: (1) Are these two attitudinal measures responsive to changes induced by two undergraduate EOL curricula? (2) Do these two curricula have an additive effect (i.e., taking both yields a stronger attitudinal change than taking only one)? (3) Are there attitudinal and sociodemographic differences between students who took the year-long elective EOL course and those who did not? SUBJECTS: Undergraduate medical students. MEASUREMENTS: Two self-report measures: Concept of a Good Death and Concerns about Dying. RESULTS: Compared to nonelective participants, Elective participants reported less concern about working with dying patients at the end of the course and increased their valuation of clinical criteria in thinking about a good death. There were trends suggesting decreased general concern about dying and increased valuation of closure, and an interaction suggesting a larger impact on those with higher precourse concern scores. There were no differences between elective and nonelective participants at baseline. The Interclerkship increased students\u27 valuation of personal control aspects of death, and there was a trend in reducing concerns about working with dying patients. We did not find an additive effect of taking both curricula. CONCLUSIONS: We conclude that both measures were responsive to the relatively large effects this study would have been able to detect, and may be useful in future research to substantiate the effectiveness of EOL curricula in influencing attitudes and level of comfort with death and dying