Faculty attitudes toward institutionally mandated (or accountability driven) program
evaluation demands vary along a continuum of proactive to reactive stances.
Such variation is partly related to how individual faculty members perceive the
ultimate users and uses of evaluation, as well as the workload associated with evaluation
activities. Thus, in order to conduct externally mandated program evaluation
successfully, the institution needs to balance the evaluation needs of various
stakeholders—both within and beyond departments and programs—and invest
in evaluation capacity building that supports faculty evaluation efforts. The purpose
of this chapter is to describe the processes and outcomes of a college-level
program evaluation initiative, as well as illuminate key issues and challenges in
postsecondary program evaluation. Specifically, we discuss how the dean’s office of the College of Languages, Linguistics, and Literature (CLLL) at the University
of Hawai‘i at Ma-noa built evaluation capacity to develop and sustain an online
student exit survey system. Despite challenges with survey administration and use
of data, the initiative has had a number of meaningful, productive outcomes for
CLLL faculty. The general impact of the project, we feel, has been an increased
capability on the part of CLLL faculty and staff to make evidence-based decisions
about program development. This chapter discusses the lessons the college has
learned from the exit survey evaluation initiative and makes suggestions for other
institutions planning to undertake similar evaluation projects
