Running Head: MassArt Action Plan 1

Division of Student Affairs

Departmental Assessment Plan
Dates Plan Covers​: Fall 2018
Date:​ December 14, 2018
Department: ​Career Development
Director:​ Maryellen Schroeder
Assessment Contacts:​ Gabby Colageo, Keyla Eusebio, Jonathan Parcell
Email:​ ​gabrielle.colageo@montserrat.edu​, ​k_eusebio@salemstate.edu​, ​j_parcell@salemstate.edu

Mission

“​Career Development connects, supports and provides MassArt students and Alumni with the
tools and resources to become successful in a competitive economy​.”

Mission Statement of MassArt’s Student Development

“​Focusing on the co-curricular experience, the Division of Student Development advances

learning and success by encouraging intentional change through partnerships with students
that are challenging and supportive” ​(MassArt, n.d.).

MassArt’s Career Development Goals

● Students and alumni will become familiar with the Career Development office’s
career resources and tools.
● Develop an increased understanding of a career in the arts and design.
● To promote professional development through the use of Handshake, resume
and cover letter resources.
● Connect students to opportunities within the MassArt community.

Definition of Program- Financial Literacy and Career (2018)

The purpose of the course is “​committed to the development of creating global artists within
the realms of the students’ academic, personal, and social experiences”.

Learning Outcomes
MassArt Action Plan 2

1. As a result of students completing the one semester financial literacy and career
development course at MassArt, students will be able to utilize at least 2 different
professional digital resources in assisting in their personal career development
experiences.
2. As a result of students completing the Gallup StrengthsFinder Assessment, students will
be able to articulate 3 strengths to assist in narrowing down their personal career goals.
3. After conducting informational interviews, students will able distinguish 3 or more
assumptions they have made of their chosen career path.

Methodology

Learning Outcomes Bloom’s Direct or Summative Qualitative or Measuremen

Taxonomy Indirect or Formative Quantitative t Instrument

Students will be able Applying Direct Summative Quantitative Survey

to utilize at least 2

different

professional digital

resources

Students will be able Analyzing Direct Summative Quantitative Survey

to articulate 3

strengths

Students will able Evaluating Indirect Summative Quantitative Survey

distinguish 3 or more

assumptions

● Survey monkey
○ 30 questions
MassArt Action Plan 3

■ 3 questions on demographics.
■ 5 questions on course satisfaction.
■ 11 questions focused on learning outcome 1.
■ 6 questions focused on learning outcome 2.
■ 5 questions focused on learning outcome 3.
○ 5 Open ended questions
○ 25 close ended questions

Analysis

As a result of students completing the one semester financial literacy and career
development course at MassArt, students will be able to utilize at least 2 different
professional digital resources in assisting in their personal career development experiences.

● “How familiar are you with Handshake?”

○ 16 out of 26 total students in the course answered this question
■ One respondent (6.25% of total respondents) answered that he/she was
“Very Familiar.”
■ Four respondents (25% of total respondents) said that they were “Not
Familiar at All.”
■ Eight respondents (50% of total respondents), which is half of the total
respondents answered “Somewhat Familiar.”
■ Three respondents (18.75% of total respondents) said that they were
“Not so Familiar.”
■ Zero respondents (0% of total respondents) said that they were
“Extremely familiar” with Handshake.

● In regard to learning outcome 1, another survey question asked​ ​“Would you like to
Learn More About Handshake?”
○ 16 out of 26 total students in the course answered this questions
■ One respondent (6.25% of total respondents) answered that he/she
would “Strongly agree.”
■ Six respondents (37.50% of total respondents) answered that they
“Agree.”
■ The highest number of respondents (7/16, 43.75% of respondents) had a
neutral response and answered that they “Neither Agree or Disagree.”
■ Only two students (12.5% of total respondents) answered “Disagree.”
■ Zero (0%) respondents answered “Strongly Disagree” to learning more
about Handshake.

● “How familiar were you with LinkedIn before taking this course?”
○ 16 out of 26 total students in the course answered this question.
MassArt Action Plan 4

■ Zero respondents (0% total of respondents) answered “Extremely

familiar.”
■ Five respondents (31.25% total of respondents) answered “Very
Familiar.”
■ Three respondents (18.75% total of respondents) answered “Somewhat
Familiar.”
■ Seven respondents (43.75% total of respondents) answered “Not so
familiar.”
■ One respondent (6.25% total of respondents) answered “Not at all
familiar.”

● “How much has this class increased familiarity with LinkedIn?”

○ 16 out of 26 total students in the course answered this questions
■ Two respondents (12.5% of total respondents) answered “A great deal.”
■ Four respondents (25% of total respondents) answered “A lot.”
■ Four respondents (25% of total respondents) answered “A moderate
amount.”
■ Three respondents (18.75% of total respondents) answered “A little.”
■ Three respondents (18.75% of total respondents) answered “None at all.”
As a result of students completing the Gallup StrengthsFinder Assessment, students will be
able to articulate 3 strengths to assist in narrowing down their personal career goals.”
● ​Students were asked to recall 3 of their 5 strengthsfinder strengths.

○ 50% (7 students) answered Adaptability

○ 28.6% (4 students) answered Achiever
○ 21.4% (3 students ) answered Relator
○ 14.29% (2students) answered Empathy
● Students were asked to draw connections to how their strengths influenced their
professional behavior:
● 14 students gave responses to this question, and 2 skipped this question entirely. Out of
the 14 responses, only 11 of the responses were actual coherent sentences.
● Adaptability:​ “​I am very flexible and adaptive of certain situations. I can work with
shortened or extended deadlines and overcome obstacles.”
● Communication:​ “​extremely useful especially in the field of animation where I want to
focus on storytelling, and as well would help me in team projects which is what makes
up most jobs in my field.”
● Empathy:​ ​“Empathy means that I can put myself in other people’s shoes and see things
from their perspective and allows me to work well in groups and one-on-one.”
● Achiever​“​I aim to please and go the extra mile to make people happy. I take pride in my
work and dedicate myself to high standards.”
● Students were able to articulate 2 of their strengths and draw connections between
their strengths and how they implement it in their actual work environment.
MassArt Action Plan 5

● Due to an error in the survey, students were only expected to articulate 2 explanations
as to how their strengths were professionally desirable, which means it did not meet the
full learning outcome of articulating 3.

After conducting informational interviews, students will able distinguish 3 or more

assumptions they have made of their chosen career path.

Question 26, “​How many informational interviews did you complete during the course?”​

● 50% (7 students) of the respondents of question 25 completed all three required

informational interviews by the time the survey was released.
● 7.14% (1 student) only completed 2 interviews by the time survey was released.
● 14.29% (2 students) only completed 1 interview.
● 14.29% (2 Students) stated they have done none and 14.29% (2 students) stated they
were in the process of completing them.
Question 27 “​Did you find the informational interviews helpful in exploring meaningful work?​”
used a likert scale consisting of 5 options ranging from strongly disagree to strongly agree.
● 87.5% (14 students) responded to this question.
● 42.8% (6 students) respondents a the very least agreed the course was helpful in
looking at meaningful work.
● 42.8% (6 students) were neutral.
● 14.2% (2 students) at the very least disagreed saying the course did not help them
explore meaningful work. Using this data could conclude that the informational
interviews did not help students explore meaningful work.
Question 28​ “Do you feel that by completing informational interviews it has helped you gain
transferable skills?”
● 87.5% (14 students) responded to the question.
● 42.8% (6 students) at the least agreed it helped them gain transferable skills.
MassArt Action Plan 6

● 50% (7 students) were neutral.

● Definition of transferable skills was not given. Students might have misinterpreted the
question.

Question 29, ​“What are three or more assumptions you have made going into the informational
interviews?”
● 87.5% (14 students) responded to this question.
● 71.43% (10 students) responded to all fill-in-the-blank questions.
● 57.1 (8 students) answered all three fill-in-the-blank questions with answers related to
the question.
● 12.5% (2 students) skipped.
MassArt Action Plan 7

● 87% responded to assumption 1.

● Only 75% gave an answer related to question 29.
● Decrease in response could be due to survey fatigue.

● 78.5% (11 students) entered a response to assumption 2.

● Only 64.2% (9 students) gave an answer related to the question.
MassArt Action Plan 8

● 71.4& (10 students) entered a response to assumption 3.

● Only 57.1% (8 students) gave an answer related to the question.
● Due to over 50% fully meeting question 29, learning outcome three was met.
Common themes of question 29:
● Student’s made assumptions on the idea that art can not be their number one
profession
○ “I’ll never made it as an artist”
○ “Freelancing is a side gig”
○ “People don’t often buy art”
● Fear of interviewer not understanding them as an artist.
● Benefits of interviews in the context of professional development.
● Procedure of how to interact in setting up and going about the interview process.
● Information given might not be ideal.

Question 30 was quantitative and asked if students found these informational interviews
beneficial for personal career development.
● 57.1% (8 students) agreed that the informational interviews were beneficial.
● 42.8% (6 students) were neutral.
● 0% disagreed concluding the interviews are beneficial to the students of the Financial
Literacy and Career Development course.

Implications, Limitations and Recommendations

Implications:
● Utilizing the Clifton Strengths Quiz enables students to assess their skills and recognize
the positive attributes for each of their strengths.
● Students articulating the value they will bring into a professional environment positively
impacts on they view their professional competency.
MassArt Action Plan 9

● Students could make conclusions from their interviews which helped them make
informed decisions on their career outlook.
● There is a positive connection to helping students develop their vocational identity and
professionalism.
● Data compiled from survey suggests that the three learning outcomes are being met in
the course.
● Further assessment on the first two classes to see how this course helped them could be
explored for future assessment.
Limitations:
● Survey response numbers declined by the end of the survey.
● This was only a one semester course and only the fall 2018 class was surveyed.
● Students had just learned what Handshake was the day the survey was distributed.
● As informational interviews might require travel, survey did not ask about identify
components that might impact specific outcomes from being achieved.

Recommendations:
Short Term
● Introduce Handshake earlier on in the semester.
● Continue the use of Clifton Strengths quiz.
● Continue use of informational interviews.
○ Add some form of reflection assignment to each informational interview to allow
residents to reflection on transferable skills and understand what was
meaningful.
● Further discussion regarding learning outcome one, to determine whether the majority
is an acceptable result.
● If assessment survey is done again, shorter survey to prevent survey fatigue decline.

Long Term
● Invite a Linkedin expert come in and share the professional importance of its presence
in a students career.
● Create harder deadlines for the informational interviews.
● Provide additional career resources such another self-assessment, Focus2.
● Allow students to shadow the professionals that they interviewed for a day to gain
hands on learning.
● Have students participate in mock interviews.
● Have students participate in a Career Fair and use the skills and resources they learned
in the course and determine how the course prepared them for the Career Fair.
● Make the class a two day a week class to promote better remembering and
understanding in ordnance to Bloom’s Taxonomy.