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What Do They Think?: Enhancing Academic Assessment and Faculty Professional Development through a Faculty Survey �

Monday, October 19, 2026

Dr. Ania Peczalska

University of Kentucky

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Introduction

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Introduction

Ania Peczalska, Ph.D.

Director of Institutional Effectiveness

University of Kentucky

Over 15 years of experience in higher education
Over 10 years of experience in higher education assessment at 3 public research institutions
Assessment work focuses on general education and program student learning outcomes

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Session Learning Outcomes

Define needs assessment

Understand the needs assessment process

Understand how to conduct a faculty survey as part of a needs assessment

Obtain a resource to successfully conduct a needs assessment with a faculty survey

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Audience Questions

How many years of assessment experience do you have?

What is your relationship with your faculty or assessment stakeholders?

How do faculty and other assessment stakeholders perceive assessment on your campus?

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Needs Assessment Introduction

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What is a Needs Assessment

A needs assessment is a systematic process to gather data about a problem to learn more about the issues and how to solve it.

(Twombly, 2024)

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Why Are Needs Assessment Important

Allows assessment professionals to examine different areas of concern and gather data to help resolve the problem and enhance assessment services

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Needs Assessment Process

Clarify the reasons for conducting the needs assessment

Identify the individuals who play a significant role before, during, and after conducting the needs assessment

Gather existing information to decide if a needs assessment is warranted

Identify secondary data (what is known) and pinpoint what you still want to know

Determine the data-collection technique to gather the needed data

Analyze the data you collected and prioritize needs

Use the data to set program priorities, create an action plan to address the needs, and share the results

(Creekmore & Osman, 2024)

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University of Kentucky Case Study

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University of Kentucky

R1 Doctoral University-Very High Research Activity

Located in Lexington, KY

Undergraduates = 27,500

Graduate = 9,721

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Issue

New director started in September 2025

Unsure of how faculty perceive assessment office and their assessment professional development preferences

No faculty surveys conducted in recent past

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Solution

Needs assessment exploring the gap between current assessment services and support and faculty’s desired levels of assessment support

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Information Gathering

Met with a variety of assessment liaisons to learn about their assessment experiences and best practices

Talked with co-director to come up with a list of quantitative and qualitative questions

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Creating Survey

Reviewed survey questions with assessment colleagues across the country
IR specialist helped create survey questions

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Office of Strategic Planning and Institutional Effectiveness (OSPIE) Survey Questions

How would you like to receive information about OSPIE services? Select all that apply.
How confident do you feel doing the following assessment-related activities...
If there is anything OSPIE can do to better support assessment, planning, or continuous improvement in your program, please share using the space below.

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Survey Distribution

Distributed from February 5 until February 15, 2026

Asking assessment liaisons and academic leadership to forward to survey to others in their colleges and area who should complete the survey

100 respondents

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Sharing the Results

Presenter shared the raw data with co-director in the office and her supervisor

Shared with office staff to discuss findings and how to change work to better meet faculty needs

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Next Steps

Exploring use of AI tools in the office

Creating handouts and resources for assessment services

Associate Provost then shared these action steps with senior academic leadership

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Faculty Assessment Survey Best Practices

Allow approximately 2-3 months to develop research and survey questions for a faculty survey
Involve others in and outside the assessment office to develop needs assessment purpose and a survey
Include quantitative and qualitative questions
Have an external stakeholder review and provide feedback on the questions
Analyze the results with your assessment team for additional feedback
Share your action steps with stakeholders to show that you are responding to the survey and taking their needs seriously

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Group Activity

Get into groups and discuss the following:

What issues do you have at your institution?
How can a faculty survey assist you in resolving this issue?
What challenges could arise and how could you resolve them?
How do you plan to share the results with faculty and/or other assessment stakeholders?

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Resources

https://tinyurl.com/43tuee2b

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Contact Information

Ania Peczalska ania.peczalska@uky.edu

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References

Creekmore, W., & Osman, N. (2024). Needs assessment: Step-by-step through practical examples. Mississippi State University. https://extension.msstate.edu/sites/default/files/publications/P3983_web.pdf

Twombly, S. (2024). Assessment and evaluation in higher education: A practical guide. KU Libraries. https://opentext.ku.edu/assessmentevaluationhighered/