Meeting March 27, 2009, 3:30PM EST

Before we can serve the vision of the “Student’s Academic GPS” (coined by the Washington HECB), we need to have a plan to develop the transport(s), the interconnection(s) and means to transmit data to new “devices” that can reveal pathways and data mapped by destination or in other words aspirations (and required competencies) linked to careers. Where are learning outcomes, not just courses, programs and requirements? What are the events that occur intersecting learner and institution? How do we support learners through the continuum? What data do we need? Sometimes it is helpful to reference or model innovations in other industries when we explore our challenges.

If we are going to make headway on this, we need to make the investment up front to work thru the details. Our European counterparts and the diploma supplement demonstrate stakeholders are attempting to redefine methods of tracking academic progress, transitions and completion, while respecting the needs of those who assess learning throughout the life cycle of serving students. Should we create a transcript supplement? A document that would attach to a transcript defining the outcomes and value of learning accomplished?

The PESC Academic Progress Workgroup is underway and we hope you can join us. The PESC Workgroup was formed back in October 2008. We are focused on improving degree completion and student success through improved data management. This workgroup will span three levels to help practitioners, policy and governance stakeholders understand the nuances, concerns and challenges facing our industry as we develop requirements for data exchange specifications.

The PESC Academic Progress Workgroup is made up of volunteers - working together. Our goal is to produce a neutral set of data exchange specifications for tracking and assessing a learner's academic progress through institutional programs of study. This is a broad topic. We will promote specifications in stages, once complete. And, we hope the specifications will be adopted and built-in to application tools employed by institutions and stakeholders over time. The impact, we hope will build toward our overall goals of interoperability, improved utilization of resources and services to learners everywhere.

Data, assessment methods and processes are important elements of guidance, planning and response to learners. It requires institutional orchestration and coordination. Guidance requires information to transition on and off bridges - to transverse institutional policies and practices, whether inside one institution or across several. As we build the next generation systems, let’s work together to define the touchpoints.

We hope you can contribute to our initiative. If not, track our progress on our blog and wiki.

Wiki: http://sites.google.com/site/academicprogress/
Blog: http://academicprogress.blogspot.com/

Reminder, Conference Call, Friday 3:30PM, EST
Conference Dial-in Number: (712) 775-7100
Participant Access Code: 726310#

Focus on this call will be on creating an Academic Progress work plan. I have outlined a series of todo’s on the wiki site starting with the Scope. We will review the task list, edit, add more, delete, etc.

Looking forward to our progress together