Banner

About NWSA

Publications

NWSAction

Twice annual member publication

NWSA Journal

Official journal of NWSA

NWSA Resource publications

Syllabi Collections, Program Admin Handbook and more

Graduate Guide to Women's and Gender Studies

Free resource for students considering graduate work in Women's/Gender Studies

Leadership & Member Directories

Directory

Directory Includes:
Staff
Governing Council
Delegate Assembly

Member Directory

Institutional Directory

Programs & Departments

Click here to visit the PA&D webpages and resources

The Program Administration and Development Committee (PA&D) is a standing committee in NWSA specifically designed to represent the interests and needs of administrators of women's studies programs and departments to the Governing Council of NWSA and to assist NWSA in meeting the needs of women's administrators and their departments and programs.

The PA&D webpages offer a wealth of free downloadable resources for NWSA members.

These include:
Administrators Hand Book
The latest edition of the Administrators handbook

Defining Women's Scholarship
A Statement of the National Women's Studies Association Task Force on Faculty Roles and Rewards.

What Programs Need
Essential Resources for Women's Studies Programs.

Shared Development Documents including course development, climate issues and surveys, service learning guides and evaluations and much more.

Click here to visit the PA&D webpages and resources.

Women's Centers

Click here to visit the Women's Center pages and resources.

Women's Centers have representation on the NWSA Governing Council as a standing committee. This is more than a symbolic recognition of the important role that women's centers play in feminist education.

The Center webpages offer a wealth of free downloadable resources for NWSA members.

Administration Resources
Annual Reports,
Strategic Planning and Surveys
Constitutions and Advisory Boards
Contact Logs and Evaluation Forms
Mission Statements
Position Descriptions
Program Proposals
Student Staff Procedures and Handbooks

And More...

Click here to visit the Women's Center pages and resources.

Current Initiatives

NWSA has many initiatives in development and ongoing.
Click here to see more

Current initiatives include:

NWSA Data Collection Project

NWSA is partnering with the National Organization for Research (NORC) at the University of Chicago to collect data on the field of women’s studies nationally.

Women of Color Leadership

The WoCLP is designed to increase the number of women of color students and faculty within the field of women’s studies and, consequently, to have an impact on the levels of participation and power by women of color in the PA&D, NWSA, and in the field of women’s studies as a whole.

Professional Resources

Awards & Scholarships

Member Areas

Governance

Governance

This section includes reports, recommendations, constitution, bylaws, elections, policies and so forth.

Students

Communities

QUESTIONS FOR A NEW CENTURY:WOMEN’S STUDIES AND INTEGRATIVE LEARNING
bar

 

Table 4. Women’s Studies Assessment Strategies

  • Pre- and post-tests using key concepts and terms (see the University of Nebraska, Kearney, sample. In a similar vein, the Bowling Green State University program administers teaching evaluations in the middle of the semester as well as at the end so that the process of assessing learning also offers instructors feedback; I have tried this strategy as well and find that it has the added benefit of demonstrating to students that their opinions are valued and incorporated into the class)

  • Coding a set of essays using a pre-determined rubric (the Hunter College program has an extremely detailed rubric that focuses primarily on writing skills rather than on specific content)

  • Exit interviews or surveys (good examples appear on the University of Nebraska, Kearney, and Meredith College web sites)

  • Alumnae surveys (an effective example appears on the Wright State University program’s web site)

  • Focus groups with students or alumnae (Ellen Friedman at the College of New Jersey offers a report on the results of one of these groups)

  • Portfolios (paper or electronic. A manageable example may be found on the Winona State University Women’s and Gender Studies Program web site, while a more thorough portfolio example is visible at Kansas State. A listing of institutions using this form of assessment is available on the American Association for Higher Education web site.

  • Student course evaluations (Meacham’s suggestions include asking students to indicate agreement or disagreement with statements such as: “This course helped me to understand myself and others in ways other than stereotyped groups and categories,” “This course has helped me to ask questions, analyze arguments, make connections, and be a better thinker,” and “I have been able to see connections between the material in this course and real-life situations I might face on the job, in my family, and as a citizen.”)

  • Class observations (these may have a different focus than teaching observations, which are designed primarily to determine the quality of instruction rather than the quality of learning).

< PREVIOUS:
Common Assessment Practices

NEXT: >
Common Assessment Practices (part 2)

Index to this Study

QUESTIONS FOR A NEW CENTURY:WOMEN’S STUDIES AND INTEGRATIVE LEARNING - Downloads

AUDIO CONFERENCE

NWSA Audio Conference <- Click to listen.
The audio conference included:

  • Beverly Guy Sheftall, Director of the Women’s Research and Resource Center and Anna Julia Cooper, Professor of Women’s Studies at Spelman College
  • Caryn McTighe Musil, Senior Vice President at the American Association for Colleges and Universities
  • Kristine Blair, Professor and Chair of English at Bowling Green State University
  • Amy Levin moderated.

Related Links & Downloads

 
National Women's Studies Association
7100 Baltimore Avenue, Suite 502, College Park MD 20740
(301) 403-0407 • nwsaoffice@nwsa.org