CNM graduates from accrediting agency academy

Central New Mexico Community College recently graduated from a four-year program aimed at improving teaching and student learning outcomes.

CNM, which boasts five campuses and four education centers, was one of 19 colleges, universities and community colleges to earn the distinction from the Higher Learning Commission’s Assessment Academy on Oct. 17, according to a news release from the Chicago-based accrediting agency.

“Central New Mexico’s participation in the academy really demonstrates their desire for continuous improvement to want to create a culture of student learning,” Higher Learning Commission spokesperson Heather Berg said in an interview.

CNM receives accreditation from the HLC, which conducts comprehensive evaluations of the institution every 10 years. CNM’s accreditation was reaffirmed in February, according to Berg.

Unlike comprehensive evaluations, the Assessment Academy is voluntary. A news release said the academy consists of “in-person events, on-campus activities, online project updates and virtual consultations.”

“Accreditation is built on the idea of continuous improvement,” Berg said. “You’re constantly trying to evaluate what you’ve been doing and what kind of improvements you can make — and that’s really important if you think about higher education and how ... it’s a changing environment.”

Kristen Ferris, CNM senior director of assessment, said her institution could have chosen to participate in HLC’s Student Success Academy, but it chose the Assessment Academy because it “aligned nicely” with recent reforms to general education core requirements in the state.

According to the New Mexico Higher Education Department, the state updated its general education model to focus on teaching essential skills to college students to pursue further degrees or a career. The change in models applies to bachelor’s degrees and associate’s degrees.

“We were able to go in and make sure we were designing our assessment processes to meet (the state’s) needs as well as the needs of the college,” Ferris said.

The term “assessment” in the context of students refers to gauging how effective certain teaching methods are for students.

“How do we know they’re learning the skills that we think they’re learning when we give them a degree?” Ferris said.

CNM officials participated in the academy, she said, not only to ensure their assessment practices aligned with recent reforms but to leverage CNM’s learning management system. Implemented a few years ago, the system is used by both students and faculty. Students use the system to submit assignments and tests, which the faculty then use not only for grading but data and analysis.

Carly Preston, CNM’s fine arts program chair who graduated from the academy, has spent time collecting and analyzing data on her own students’ learning outcomes.

“Welding isn’t going to be the same as my program, theater and dance, obviously, but each program looks at their data individually,” she said. “Looking at those student outcomes ... to see, ‘Did they meet a benchmark?’ or ‘Can we see where they’re struggling?’ Once we figure that out, we can improve how we are teaching in the classroom.”

Through taking academy courses, Preston learned about her band and theater students’ ability to learn — and it led her to make changes to the curriculum.

One of Preston’s assignments involved students writing a review of a free on-campus theater performance. Once she learned some students faced “impediments” to attending, she changed the grading rubric and the assignment, “so it wasn’t dependent on them attending an event that was outside the classroom.”

Preston said she is glad she attended the Assessment Academy.

“The academy itself was a learning experience. It really kind of opened my eyes to the broad spectrum of different types of students we have here at CNM and how there’s a wide range of needs that need to be met,” Preston said. “We really have to meet them where they’re at instead of expecting them to raise themselves to our expectations.”

Continuing to “meet students where they’re at” will be a continuous process, Preston said.