Engaging Faculty in General Education Assessment
Ania Peczalska, Ph.D., Director of Institutional Effectiveness, University of Kentucky
Felix Wao, Ph.D., Associate Provost for Academic Assessment, University of Oklahoma
April 15, 2026
3:00pm ET / 2:00pm CT / 1:00pm MT / 12:00pm PT
Description: Participants will explore practical strategies for engaging faculty in meaningful general education assessment. Grounded in a principle-led, evidence-informed approach, this session focuses on shifting assessment from a compliance-driven process to one that supports teaching, learning, and curricular improvement.
Through real-world examples, participants will examine how to design streamlined, faculty-centered assessment processes that emphasize relevance, trust, and actionable insights. The session will highlight approaches that reduce burden, align with faculty priorities, and share results with faculty stakeholders to make results more usable and impactful.
Participants will leave with concrete ideas for increasing faculty engagement and improving the quality of assessment evidence.
Speaker Bios: Ania Peczalska is the Director of Institutional Effectiveness at the University of Kentucky. She has fifteen years of work experience at large public research institutions, including over ten years of assessment and leadership experience. Ania also presents and publishes on assessment best practices and assessment leadership. She obtained her Ph.D. in Higher Education, a Master of Library Science, and a Master of Arts in Folklore and Ethnomusicology, all from Indiana University Bloomington. She additionally obtained a Bachelor of Arts in Music and Asian Studies from Saint Olaf College.
Felix Wao serves as Associate Provost for Academic Assessment at the University of Oklahoma and brings more than 22 years of experience overseeing assessment initiatives at research institutions. He has presented at regional, national, and international conferences on assessment and accreditation and has published multiple studies focused on aspects of assessment of student learning. He earned a B.S. in Mathematics from St. Mary’s University of Minnesota and both an M.A. and Ph.D. in Higher Education Administration and Policy Studies from the Catholic University of
America in Washington, D.C. He also contributes to the Higher Learning Commission as a Peer Reviewer and Assessment Academy Mentor.
Non-Member Cost: $40
Patterns, Not Proof: Assessing Learning in Creative Disciplines
Ryan Smith, Director of University Assessment, Illinois State University
April 22, 2026
3:00pm ET / 2:00pm CT / 1:00pm MT / 12:00pm PT
Description: In this session, we’ll examine why traditional assessment approaches often feel misaligned with creative disciplines, and what to do about it. Rather than asking creative programs to fit external frameworks, participants will explore a translation model that starts with disciplinary practice. At the same time, assessment, improvement, and data analytics professionals will consider what their own work can learn from how creative disciplines evaluate learning. Using a concrete example, we’ll walk through how starting with the work first and outcomes second, along with focusing on patterns in student work, can inform meaningful improvement. Participants will leave with a way to translate authentic disciplinary assessment into language that satisfies institutional expectations without distorting the work.
Speaker Bio: Ryan Smith is the director of university assessment at Illinois State University. Ryan has presented and administered many workshops on data storytelling in higher education. Ryan focused on how storytelling can address the problems of data overload, audience engagement, and advocacy. He holds a PhD in Education from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. MSE in Education from Drake University, and BA in Art History from the University of Missouri-Columbia. Ryan has over 25 years of experience in higher education assessment, institutional research, and planning.
Non-Member Cost: $40
