The main purpose of the Student Learning Committee (SLC) is to ensure that Macalester is providing an education consistent with its college-wide student learning goals and outcomes, as derived from the Mission Statement and Statement of Purpose and Belief. To this end, SLC’s charge is to:
- Engage the Macalester community in identifying college-wide student learning goals and connecting those goals with various domains (i.e. institutional, co-curricular, general education, academic departments) of student learning inquiry at Macalester;
- Evaluate the extent to which college-wide student learning goals, as identified by the Macalester College community, are being met. This is done by synthesizing information gained from multiple domains of student learning inquiry (i.e. institutional, co-curricular, general education, academic departments);
- Collaborate with the Institutional Research Office and Assessment Office on reporting relevant college-wide student learning findings to the Macalester community and general public;
- Advise Macalester officials, committees, and departments on utilizing student learning inquiry findings to facilitate achievement of college-wide student learning goals.
In Spring 2012, Macalester Faculty, the Student Affairs Division, and the Board of Trustees approved the Statement of Student Learning. The Statement describes the college-wide values, learning goals, and student responsibilities promoted by a Macalester education. Please follow the link above for the full document. A brochure connecting the Statement of Student Learning to educational success at Macalester is also available.
On behalf of SLC, the Assessment Office collects and compiles evidence pertaining to each institutional learning outcome on a scheduled, rotated basis.
In 2019, SLC added another charge, emphasizing the use of existing information and ongoing collection of information demonstrating the College’s performance relative to criteria for accreditation:
- Collate and review documents (e.g. Task Force or Committee reports, Annual Assessment reports, minutes of meetings, etc.) that demonstrate ways the College meets the Criteria for Accreditation and Assumed Practices set forth by the Higher Learning Commission (HLC).
SLC comprises members of Macalester faculty and staff with the addition of one current student. For the 2023-2024 academic year, SLC members are:
- Nancy Bostrom, Associate Director of Assessment
- Rola Cao, Student Member
- Elizabeth Ekstrand (Spring 2024), Student Member
- Angi Faiks, Director, Library
- Jennifer Guyer-Wood, Executive Director of Career Exploration
- Cynthia Kauffeld, Professor, Spanish & Portuguese
- Michael McGaghie, Associate Professor, Music
- Sonia Mehta, Visiting Assistant Professor, Educational Studies
- Bethany Miller, Director, Institutional Research & Assessment
- Minerva Muñoz, Dean for Institutional Equity
- Joan Ostrove, Director of Jan Serie Center for Scholarship and Teaching and Professor of Psychology
Please consult the Statement of Student Learning webpage for more detailed information about the outcomes. See the pages devoted to individual learning outcomes, for example Demonstrate Intellectual Depth and Breadth, for recent reports. For additional information about SLC and its activities, please see the meeting minutes.
Minutes from the most recently completed academic year are included here; please see the library archives for earlier academic years.