Volunteer Core Assessment

To ensure that The University of Tennessee Volunteer Core program delivers intended outcomes, all courses approved for Volunteer Core must be assessed on a regular basis. This assessment will also be utilized for SACSCOC.

The process for the assessment is described in the following document: ASSESSMENT PROCESS FOR VOLUNTEER CORE COURSES

Each Volunteer Core Course will be evaluated for each category it belongs to (e.g., WC, OC, AOC, QR) once every three (3) years. All learning outcomes for the category must be assessed at this time.

Assessment years are as follows:

Year 1 Year 2 Year 3

2023-2024 2024-2025 2025-2026

2026-2027 2027-2028 2028-2029

2029-2030 2030-2031 2031-2032

You can find the year (i.e., 1, 2, 3) of assessment for each Volunteer Core course at the link below:

Master List of Courses for Assessment

Assessment Training and FAQs

Training on the Vol Core assessment process will take place at least once per semester. Upcoming dates will be posted here when they are scheduled.

Please see the PowerPoint for the Vol Core Assessment Process.

A recording of a training session can be found here.

Frequently Asked Questions About Assessment

Where can I find the year that my course is to be assessed in?

Click on the link for the Master List of Courses for Assessment above. The linked Google sheet shows all Volunteer Core classes and which year they are to be assessed.

Can we request a change in the schedule when the course will be assessed?

Yes. Just email the Vol Core Assessment Subcommittee chair.

If a course has multiple Vol Core designations (e.g., EI and AOC), can the different designations be assessed in the same year?

Yes. We would actually recommend doing all assessments for one course in one year

If a course with different category designations are in the Master List as being assessed in different years and you would like to do all assessments for the course in one year, just let us know.

What if I proposed a class for Vol Core and it is not in the Master List?

A course might not show up in the master list depending on when it was proposed and approved. New courses are constantly being added. We will update the Master List one to two times per year – after we assign your year for assessment and you approve that year.

But please let us know if the class is not there so we can make sure it is on the update list.

Which year is year 1, 2 and 3?

The cycle starts in 2023-2024 (Year 1), with year 2 as 2024-2025, and year 3 as 2025-2026. Then then cycle starts over; Year 1 is 2026-2027 etc. This rotation is found on this page under Volunteer Core Assessment above.

Will you remind us when the assessment is coming up? Will the reminders be sent directly to Vol Core instructors or to departments?

Yes. We plan to send reminders for upcoming assessments in the fall before the next fall’s timetable is due, in late spring, and in early August. The reminders will be sent to the department head and the Volunteer Core Assessment coordinator in each department who may be the department chair or some other designee.

In the assessment document, Course Assessment Process, 2. Preparing for your assessment, A Description of the student work to be collected, bullet 2 states that “More than one learning outcome can be assessed by the same student work.” What if there are multiple assessments in a given Vol Core course designed to address the same learning outcomes? Should we fill out a new evaluation for each assessment?

If you use more than one piece of student work (more than one assignment), combine the results into one rating to be reported. We would recommend that you think about using one assignment for the assessment, however.

Do we need to save records of student work? If yes, would OC or AOC courses need to record student presentations?

The student work will not be submitted with your assessment; only a description of the assignment and the number of students receiving each rating will be reported.

You should save the student work at least until your report has been reviewed by the Assessment Subcommittee (i.e. for about 2 semesters). You may need to keep it longer if you want to make changes to the assessment or if the benchmark is not met; in this case, TLI would need to see the student work to help you come up with an action plan.

As for recordings of OC and AOC presentations (or other presentations or performances done for other categories), if these are to be rated by more than the instructor of the course, then that rater is going to have to either come to your class or watch recordings. In those cases, I would definitely recommend recording the “assignment” and saving those recordings.

The benchmark for Vol Core is 90% at rating 2 or above. Was there a reason for the 90% benchmark of 2 and above?

The ratings for objective questions are as follows:

1 = Ineffective: the individual student scores below 60% on selected questions.

2 = Adequate: the individual student scores between 60-74% on selected questions.

3 = Effective: the individual student scores between 75-89% on selected questions.

4 = Outstanding: the individual student scores 90% or above on selected questions.

The percentages are based on typical percentages for grades (below 0 = F, 60-74 = Ds and low Cs, etc).

For subjective questions, the rating follow rubrics that are found in Appendix B of the Vol Core Assessment document. These rating have the same names as above (i.e., 1=Ineffective, 2=Adequate, 3=Effective, 4=Outstanding).

Therefore, the benchmark is set so that at least 90% of your students would have a rating of Adequate or above; at least 90% of your students would pass the assignment (D or better).

What kind of potential action will be carried if the benchmark is not met?

You would meet with someone from TLI to talk about what might be improved to ensure that the LO is being met– spending more time on the topic, changing the explanation so it is more understandable by the students, giving more assignments for student comprehension, etc. The course will then be assessed again in the next year or two (depending on when the course is offered again).

How do I report the result of the assessments?

Through Qualtrics surveys. There is one survey for each category. The links to these surveys are in Appendix A of the Volunteer Core Assessment Process document.

When are the assessment due?

The reports are due as follows:

Fall assessments are due March 1
Winter mini-term assessments are due September 15
Spring semester assessments are due September 15
May mini-term assessments are due September 15
Summer semester assessments are due September 15

How can I found out who in my college/department will be contacted about Volunteer Core course assessments?

The contacts we have are in the Master List of Courses for Assessment in the tab at the bottom marked VC Contacts. Please let the Assessment subcommittee know if there are changes to the people that should be notified.