Clifton Franklund, an associate professor of Biology, has been appointed University Assessment Coordinator by Roberta Teahen, associate provost for Academic Affairs.
“Effective teaching and learning is impossible without robust, formative and summative assessment,” Franklund said. “Assessment is an essential component of teaching and is fully integrated into everything we do at Ferris.”
As coordinator, Franklund serves as the primary resource on assessment to the university community and chairs Ferris’ Assessment Committee in its effort to improve the quality of courses and programs. He also is coordinating educational activities and a series of forums through the Faculty Center for Teaching and Learning.
“I was selected because I expressed an interest in improving course-level assessment in my courses and my department’s programs,” said Franklund, who has served on department- and college-level planning committees and noted his appreciation for the importance of assessment for curricular improvement.
The university’s assessment efforts are designed to help instructors better reach their classes, students to adjust their learning strategies, programs to alter curricula and the university to allocate resources for future needs, he said.
Franklund also provides educational resources on assessment through his “Assessment in Action” blog and encourages others to use it “as a place to build a university-wide dialog about how assessment is and should be done” at Ferris.
Franklund, who was honored last spring as recipient of the 2011-12 Distinguished Teacher Award, also coordinates Ferris’ Biology program.