TABLE OF CONTENTS

MISSION OF THE DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH SCIENCE

OVERALL DEPARTMENTAL OUTCOMES ASSESSMENT METHODOLOGY

MEASURES OF PROGRAM EFFECTIVENESS FOR THE UNDERGRADUATE PROGRAM

MEASURES OF UNDERGRADUATE STUDENT LEARNING

MEASURES OF GRADUATE PROGRAM EFFECTIVENESS

MEASURES OF GRADUATE STUDENT LEARNING

DESCRIPTION OF WHAT WAS LEARNED FROM THE ASSESSMENT ACTIVITIES

DESCRIPTION OF ANTICIPATED CHANGES IN OUTCOME ASSESSMENT

DISSEMINATION OF RESULTS

This annual report on the Department of Health Science outcomes assessment of student academic learning (including analysis of the department’s programs) addresses the five questions covered in the Executive Vice President's memorandum dated October 20, 1999. The Department offers one baccalaureate degree program: The Bachelor of Community Health (BCH). The BCH program is one of only nine in the nation to be approved by SABPAC. The 1996-1997 academic year was the first year of operation of the Master of Public Health (MPH) in Community Health Education. The department has also received approval to begin a baccalaureate degree program in Environmental Health beginning July 1, 2000. Recruitment and advising for the program will begin in the Spring of 2000.

The mission of the Department of Health Science is to preserve and enhance the health of the public and prevent illness and injury through education, research and service programs. This mission statement reflects the collaborative thinking and vision of the faculty, students and community leaders and encompasses both the undergraduate and graduate programs offered by the department.

Education - The primary responsibility of the Department of Health Science is to provide quality education in the areas of public health and health education at the undergraduate and graduate levels.

Research - The Department of Health Science supports the advancement of knowledge and enrichment of its academic programs through research and other creative endeavors. Please see Criterion VI for a description of the department's philosophy on research.

Public Service - The Department of Health Science provides public service that advances the profession and meets the education and health needs of people of New Mexico and beyond.

Assessment of program effectiveness and evaluation of students’ learning effectiveness are core functions of the Department of Health Science overall outcomes assessment plan. The departments faculty recognizes that its assessment plan goes beyond measuring student learning and needs to include other measures of overall program effectiveness. Therefore, in order to present as complete an overview as possible of the department’s activities, the entire plan (including Part I Measures of Program Effectiveness as well as Part II Measures of Student Learning, along with results on each) are included. The department’s faculty revised its 1995-1996 assessment plan in February, 1996. This updated plan is included in the appendix of this report.

A description of both the program effectiveness and outcomes assessment plan of student learning for both undergraduate and graduate programs is presented in this report.

This section also includes what we learned from these assessment activities whenever appropriate

The department will be successful in recruiting majors into its Bachelor of Community Health (BCH) degree program.

The requirements for admittance into the BCH degree program have been stream-lined and made more stringent as reported in the 1997 outcomes assessment report. Since 1997, to be admitted into the BCH program a student needs to meet the following requirements.

• A GPA of at least 2.50 after completion of 23 credits of general education course work
• A grade of S in HLS 100 and a C or better grade in HLS 150
• A percentile score of 37% or more on the departmental writing assessment.

The average GPA of students entering the BCH program in 1998-99 was 3.069 as compared to 3.00 in 1997-98 and 2.872 in 1996-1997 and to an average GPA of 2.8 for the years between 1994-1996.

In 1997, the department unanimously decided to phase out the medical technology degree (BS) program by the year 2001, so that all students currently enrolled in the program will be able to graduate. At the present time, there are three students enrolled in the program. Currently 106 students are enrolled as either Community Health or Pre-Community Health majors.

Of the 25 students applying to the BCH program during the assessment period, 20 were admitted into the program. These students were recruited with the potential of completing the BCH degree, had a GPA of 2.5 or greater, had an average percentile score of 51 on the writing assessment, and had met the other admissions criteria (listed previously). Five students could not admitted because they did not met the minimum requirements listed on the previous page.

The department will successfully retain through graduation at least 40% of the students officially admitted to the major(s).

No data was compiled for the MDTC program because it is being phased out. Currently there are only three students enrolled in the program.

1. The Department’s graduating BCH seniors will give the degree program at least a 4.0 rating (on a 5.0 = excellent scale) during the exit interview conducted by the department head.

Nine exit interviews were conducted, providing information about the strengths and weaknesses of the BCH program and ways to improve it to meet the needs of the students better. A copy of the exit interview form used is attached in the Appendix. The results of the exit interviews are summarized below. A majority (89%) of the interviewed students indicated that they would seek employment in a health education/public health agency and/or pursue graduate school. Students who participated in the exit interviews rated the program positively on the following parameters.

2. How well the program prepared students to fulfill their future plans?

Eighty three (83%) of the participating students indicated ‘well’(a rating of 4) and/or ‘very well (a rating of 5)

3. Number who intend to take the national certification exam (CHES)?

Fifty six percent (56%) indicated that they intended to take the exam

4. Rating of the overall instruction in the program?

Eighty six percent (86%) rated the instruction as ‘well’ and/or ‘very well’

5. Rating of preceptor mentoring in the program?

Seventy one percent (71%) rated preceptor mentoring as ‘well’ and/or ‘very well’

6. Rating of the quality of Health Science faculty supervision during courses?

Fifty six percent (56%) indicated the quality to be ‘well’ and/or ‘very well’

Participating students indicated that the academic advising needed improvement and overhauling. Other areas for improvements included better facilities and computer equipment and more availability of core and required classes.

A number of the graduates from the BCH program have been successful in acquiring employment related to their education in Community Health Education. Others have opted to further their education by enrolling in graduate school. BCH graduates are currently employed in the Department of Health, various health education/public health agencies such as Planned Parenthood, FYI, agencies that focus on Native American health issues, schools, and agencies focusing on mental health issues. Students responding to the alumni survey (n=16) indicated that they were employed by Federal, County, and State agencies that included hospitals, schools, and contract work. A majority of the graduates worked full-time performing a variety of tasks/activities as part of their jobs including media production, grant writing, and professional presentations.

These surveys also revealed that graduates indicated that they had either completed formal courses since graduating and/or had attended continuing education opportunities since graduation in the form of in-service training, workshops, conferences, or conventions. Six of the students also indicated that they intended to continue further education in the future.

Based on students’ comments in exit interviews and in follow-up surveys in 1997-1998, the department has continued to make relevant changes in the frequency of courses offered as well as the content covered. These changes are expected to meet the growing demands of the profession and the varied needs of the students and the community at large. As a consequence two courses: HLS 473 and HLS 478 now cover the content of one course on program planning and evaluation. Also, starting in 1997-1998 academic year, the department offers HLS 471 twice each year. The department also requires that students complete HLS 476 (Health Risk Reduction) sooner than HLS 496 and HLS 499 to ensure that they have the theoretical background needed before their field experience and the Capstone course. Discussions among the faculty in 1998-1999 have helped to achieve the following goals:

• Streamlined the sequence of course offerings
• Standardized the content of the courses offered to be comprehensive and avoid duplication
• Better organization of options available in the BCH program
• Improved advising for both pre-BCH and BCH students (See Appendix – BCH Program and advising form)

We intend to interview the limited number of employers in the area periodically, to assess if the department graduates meet employers’ needs. The last survey of employers was done in late 1996 and we hope to conduct the next survey in the year 2000. Changes in personnel including the head of the department account substantially for the delay in conducting these interviews. A new survey to solicit employers’ opinions and suggestions will be developed for this purpose.

The remaining MDTC students continue to complete their internship at NACCLS accredited sites while CHE students are being placed at sites with CHES (Community Health Education Specialist) accredited or eligible supervisors.

To further ensure program recognition and maintain quality, admittance requirements for students entering the BCH degree program have been strengthened as indicated on page 3. The BCH program is currently approved by SABPAC (to be re-approved in 1999-2000). It is one of only nine such programs in the country.

Finally the content of some of the courses has been revamped, expanded, and updated to reflect the changes in the profession and to better prepare our BCH graduates to meet the evolving demands of the profession, employers needs and expectations, and the needs of the communities.

The department approved a number of continuing education events for CHES credits in 1998-99.

 Titles of Events Approved by the Departmental CHES Committee:

• "Tobacco Use Prevention Summer Institute"
• "Understanding and Preventing FAS"
• "Surviving the Safety Net: Preserving Healthcare Access for New Mexicans"
• "Towards Excellence in School Health: Reviewing the Big Picture"
• "Society’s Challenge: Mental Health Care"
• "Community Based Curricular Resources for Health Education and Chronic Illness"
• "Tobacco and Alcohol Connection: Research, Policy, and Public Health Implications"
• "Violence Against Women: Sexual Assault and Domestic Violence"
• "SWRSAC Prevention & Treatment: Turning Obstacles into Opportunities"
• "Southwestern Conference on Rural HIV/AIDS: Issues in Prevention and Treatment ""
• "Fundamentals of Public Health"
• "4^th Annual Minority Health Conference: Rural Minority Health in the 21^st Century-Eliminating Disparities"
• "5^th Annual Breastfeeding & the High Risk Neonate: Clefts, Clips, & Cups"
• "NMPHA Annual Conference - Upstream, Downstream: Collective Action to Improve Public Health"
• "Advocacy in Action: Working Together Towards Solutions"

Health Science faculty have a tradition of being actively involved in serving the community by serving on boards and councils of community based organizations and health agencies and by organizing conferences, through consulting, and through special projects that involve student initiatives and participation.

Faculty serve on the board of Oñate High School Wellness Center, La Casa Inc., - the Domestic Violence Shelter, MCH - Maternal Child Health Council, NMDVC - New Mexico Coalition Against Domestic Violence and on the board of the local Hospice. Faculty has also been involved in border health initiatives such as the Border Vision Fronteriza (BVF) Project (a collaborative outreach demonstration project) and the Kellogg Initiative in New Mexico. The departmental faculty has also been involved in consulting efforts as well as in initiating and organizing efforts to address relevant local health concerns in Las Cruces by active involvement in sponsoring, organizing, and supporting such efforts. Departmental faculty has been included and involved in developing public health and healthcare initiatives and policies to help New Mexicans in the future (e.g. Dr. Mondragon’s participation in the town hall meetings on healthcare held in Las Cruces).

Finally, faculty have incorporated special projects in the class-room as part of their course curriculum in which the students are actively involved in efforts to address community health needs. Examples include the collaborative community effort to educate public about and prevent alcohol use among youth titled "Be smart, stay smart, don’t start drinking" and "Health Science in the Millennium," a health fair organized to help familiarize the campus about the departmental programs and introduce current undergraduate students to representatives of various agencies for their field experience.

Ability of academic majors to obtain satisfactory ratings from public for their academic work

In general, undergraduate courses in the department include writing assignments, hands-on community health related experience, and feedback mechanisms to students that promote and monitor their learning. However the following courses were specifically chosen to assess students’ learning as they progress in the program.

Outcome assessment methods and findings (when available) for five of the undergraduate courses are discussed in more detail below:

HLS 100: The average score % for those students enrolled in HLS 100 and taking the writing assignment was 51 percentile. This was well above the minimum requirement of 37 percentile score, but less than the average score for the 1996-97 academic year (61 percentile). Twenty-seven of the 33 students taking the College Boards Exam "Conventions of Written English" qualified on this measure for admission to the BCH degree program. (82% pass rate).

The Health Science department will need to discuss how to follow up on those students who do not meet the 37 percentile cut off on the writing assessment. In addition to referral to the writing clinic and the Center for Learning Assistance, a careful reconsideration of their writing proficiency in HLS 275 may have to be made prior to an admission decision.

The HLS 100 instructor is undertaking a three-year correlational study between writing assessment scores and subsequent academic performance. This study should be completed by February of 2000. It will help evaluate the value of the writing assessment as a predictor of later success in the BCH program.

Analysis of their second abstract for the HLS 100 course indicated continuing difficulties with demonstrating competency in using the American Psychological Association (APA) style in referencing. More attention will be paid next year to the APA format. Great improvements were noted in the Spring 1999 class in comfort level and skill in using the electronic databases available through the NMSU Library as compared to the Fall 1998 class (the first semester of using the Web-CT component). Students in the Spring class expressed the following regarding this Web-CT facilitated course.

Course comments:

• I could go at my own pace and feel more comfortable with the computer and how to access information (repeated several times by numerous individuals).
• I'd recommend this course to friends. Why? It has to do with the fact that for me it was a learning experience just getting to feel comfortable with a computer, and knowing that all our assignments were through the web site made it for me much easier. For those who hold full time jobs and have families, this class is really good.
• I was able to learn new computer skills, but - overload! Too much information to read for an eight week class. I felt too pressured to do the work.

Overall, it is recommended that in the future there be both a web-based version as well as a traditional version of this course (one which still requires the on-line assignments). This can be done only if the Department of Health Science has adequate personnel resources.

The course is designed to be a "gatekeeper" course, deliberately requiring a lot of work and self-discipline (otherwise one could fall behind quickly). To some extent students may sense that they are taking a one-credit course twice - one version (component) involving live instruction, while the other component included web-based instruction and work. This belief seems to continue even though the web components reinforced and expanded on what was covered in class during lectures.

HLS 275: The class utilized a variety of teaching/learning methods including lectures, group processes, community presenters, peer education, and videos and transparencies. The group process was used to develop a mini-proposal describing the development of a program and to understand the application of a behavioral theory/model in the development of the hypothetical program. In addition term papers and the use of student coalitions based on interest areas were used to help students develop further their understanding of topic areas. Finally activities and games such as ‘jeopardy’ were used to help students become familiar and knowledgeable about definitions and other class content.

HLS 471: This computer lab course emphasizes students’ learning of selected and appropriate software followed by a series of applied projects. These projects include developing Gnatt charts, a 5-year grant application budget (using Lotus 123), newsletters and brochures (using desktop publishing), an internet health directory (using websites), statistical packages such as SPSS, and power point presentations. These hands-on application projects are intended to help students develop an experiential understanding of software helpful in their professions.

HLS 478: This course is designed to introduce students to the process and methods used in program evaluation. The course covers the politics, ethics, and strategic planning aspects of program evaluation, measurement issues, data collection, methods of data analysis, and report preparation. It also covers qualitative approaches to evaluation and an introduction to program evaluation models currently in use. The course uses mock evaluation sessions, content quizzes, and group sessions to help student achieve the learning goals for the course. At the end of the semester, students will be able to:

• Have a basic understanding of the terminology of evaluation
• Have a recognition of the ethical and political aspects of evaluations and evaluation research
• Have knowledge of measurement issues and research design and data collection methods
• Have the ability to write a final evaluation report

HLS 499: This Capstone Seminar course integrates students’ learning through the BCH program through three specific projects that emphasize learning and reiterating through hands-on work throughout the semester. The course involved projects designed at three levels – individual, group, and community level to help students develop skills necessary to function at each of those levels. The class-wide community project included developing and designing a campus based health fair titled "Health Science in the New Millennium," an event that included speakers, community speakers, an introduction to the programs available at the department, and an opportunity for current students to meet prospective field experience preceptors and employers. Students worked throughout the semester individually and in small groups to design, develop, and organize the entire event. Students indicated that this and the other two projects helped them develop and improve a variety of skills and competencies required of health educators such as program planning and evaluation, develop media messages and promotion efforts, and working collaboratively with community members and agencies. The event and its success were evaluated by both the participating agencies and those who came to the event. The evaluations were extremely positive and encouraging.

This has been assessed by preceptor evaluations of students and were completed as part of HLS 480 (re-numbered HLS 496 in 1997-1998 Catalog) Field Experience. Both written evaluations of preceptors at the end of the field experience as well as process evaluation meetings during the course of the field experience were conducted.

Students generally did very well in Field Study if their responsibilities were clear, their preceptors were encouraging, and the professors reinforced the students’ self-confidence. Overall, the BCH program has a very good reputation in the local and El Paso communities. Specific comments to this effect were, NMSU students are much more knowledgeable and can work on their own. (Compared with other Health Education Programs, as quoted by a health educator at Columbia Life Care Center.). Indeed, once our students had formulated clear goals they tended to be focused and efficient.

Sometimes students needed very specific orientation, creativity challenged and referral to the Field Study Manual before formulating goals. They will particularly need this if they are placed under the direction of a Health Educator not formally educated in the CHES competencies, i.e., registered nurses or nurse practitioners. Students were laced in local as well as national and international agencies.