Issue link: https://www.e-digitaleditions.com/i/139946
French Connections Dana McCann, '14 Capitalizing on her love for international travel and learning languages, Dana chose a double major in French and business administration with a concentration in international business. The two will come together in a new way next year when she studies abroad in France at the Rouen School of Business. But that won't be her first time experiencing the intersection of French culture and international relations. In the summer of 2012, she interned with the Embassy of France's Press and Communications Office. To learn more about students in the Robins School of Business at the University of Richmond, visit ROBINS.RICHMOND.EDU. Something else? Finally, we just said, 'Let's try them all. Let's go for it.' From the beginning, we've kept open minds," Knowles says. The fact that the school's assessment activities are transparent and faculty-driven means that CBA faculty feel free to raise concerns and suggest courses of action. For instance, one of the school's assessment rubrics measures how well students identify and consider information relevant to the task at hand. Recently, a faculty member suggested that it might be just as important to know whether students successfully disregard irrelevant information, by creating a rubric in which faculty have deliberately integrated meaningless data. In response to that proposal, faculty have created courseembedded assessment tasks that integrate irrelevant content. The undergraduate curriculum committee also is considering an addition to the CBA's critical thinking rubric to address this issue. Knowles acknowledges that such a "let's try anything" approach may sound too broad or diffuse for some, but she emphasizes that it's actually quite consistent with the college's central objective: to improve educational outcomes. "As faculty, we see this process as a constant state of learning— we're learners, just as our students are learners. It's gratifying to hear our faculty say, 'I never thought of it that way' or 'I have a new idea to try in class,'" says Knowles. "We've realized that with an ounce of flexibility, we can provide a richer learning environment for our students." Engaged and Excited Knowles notes that the CBA's approach melds well with the intentions of Standard 8 of AACSB International's new set of accreditation standards, which AACSB's members approved at its annual meeting in April. Standard 8 highlights the need to document the level of faculty engagement. In 2011–2012, for instance, 45 of the CBA's 60 faculty attended the faculty retreat, 28 went to teaching workshops, and nine went to AACSB assessment seminars. "We have high participation rates, and some of what faculty have learned has translated into papers and presentations about student learning. That's something we're really excited about," she says. By keeping the school's focus on student learning—and not on faculty performance—the CBA has been able to keep its faculty's enthusiasm and participation rates high. In the end, Knowles offers these words of advice: Take it slow. Do what matters. Let faculty drive the process. After all, most faculty want to improve students' learning. When that's the goal, says Knowles, everything else just makes sense. BizEd July/August 2013 45