Laura Palucki Blake, Harvey Mudd College\u2019s new director of institutional research and effectiveness, works with faculty and administrators to develop assessment strategies to improve the College\u2019s academic and co-curricular programs.<\/p>\n
\u201cMuch of my focus early on will be on making the good work that\u2019s happening more transparent and bringing together different constituencies to have conversations about how the information we have can be used to address the goals, priorities, and interests of Harvey Mudd.\u201d Palucki Blake said.<\/p>\n
She was very impressed with the faculty she met when interviewing for her position.<\/p>\n
\u201cSeveral faculty said \u2018here\u2019s something we\u2019re trying to understand,\u2019 and to me that\u2019s the start of good institutional research and assessment. When someone says he\/she is trying to understand the issue,\u201d Palucki Blake said. \u201cThat tells me people are excited and committed to student learning.\u201d<\/p>\n
Dean of Faculty Jeff Groves said, \u201cLaura has numerous publications and is a nationally known speaker on the use of assessment tools. She will be a great addition to our community.\u201d<\/p>\n
Palucki Blake utilizes data from the Admission and Registrar\u2019s offices as well as national surveys to inform not only classroom-level assessment but also department- and program-level changes. Currently, she is working on a request for a collaborative grant among The Claremont Colleges to look at science majors and women and minorities in STEM (science, technology, engineering and mathematics) fields.<\/p>\n
She also is liaison to the Western Association of Schools and Colleges (WASC) Accrediting Commission, manages the accreditation process and assists departments and programs with implementing changes, modifications and improvements that flow out of that process.<\/p>\n
\u201cAccreditation has shifted from being something we thought about episodically to something we are thinking about continuously,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n
Palucki Blake comes to Harvey Mudd from University of California, Los Angeles, where she had been assistant director of the Cooperative Institutional Research Program since 2009. Before UCLA, Palucki Blake was the director of assessment and assistant professor of psychology at Agnes Scott College in Decatur, Ga. Her research interests include developing assessment strategies that promote institutional improvement, access and equity for women and minorities in higher education, and assessment and accountability in higher education.<\/p>\n
Palucki Blake earned her bachelor\u2019s degree in psychology from Smith College and her master\u2019s and PhD in social psychology from The Claremont Graduate University.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
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