The Improvement Imperative
A Free, Monthly Webinar Series
First Tuesday of each month at 3 p.m. ET
Embry‑Riddle Aeronautical University is delighted to announce the launch of the Improvement Imperative webinar series. Building off the success and themes of our Continuous Improvement Summit, these free monthly webinars will highlight topics of interest in higher education.
Registration
Register for the webinars today! You can scroll to select all 12 dates on one registration if interested!
Full Agenda
| May 6, 2025 | The Improvement Imperative: Foundations of Continuous Improvement in Assessment | Continuous improvement is essential for fostering meaningful change in assessment practices. This session provides a foundational understanding of continuous improvement in academic and administrative assessment, equipping participants with practical strategies to enhance institutional performance. Through interactive discussions and hands-on exercises, attendees will explore key principles, data-driven decision-making approaches and tools to refine assessment processes for sustainable impact. | Recording | Slides |
| June 3, 2025 | Data-Informed Decision-Making | In an era of accountability and continuous improvement, data-informed decision-making is essential for institutional effectiveness. This session explores how faculty, staff and administrators can effectively collect, analyze and apply data to drive meaningful change. Participants will learn best practices for using assessment data to inform strategic planning, improve student outcomes and enhance program effectiveness. Emphasis will be placed on creating a data culture, avoiding common pitfalls in data interpretation and ensuring decisions align with institutional goals. | Recording | Slides |
| July 1, 2025 | Preparing for an Accreditation Site Visit | An accreditation site visit is a critical opportunity to showcase institutional effectiveness and commitment to continuous improvement. This session provides faculty and staff with practical guidance on preparing for a successful visit, from organizing documentation to effectively communicating assessment and improvement efforts. Participants will explore key strategies for engaging stakeholders, anticipating common questions and ensuring alignment with accreditation standards. | Recording | Slides |
| Aug. 5, 2025 | Administrative Support for Assessment Efforts | Faculty and staff play a critical role in assessment, but they need strong administrative support to make their efforts effective and sustainable. This session focuses on strategies for providing the resources, tools and guidance necessary to enhance assessment practices. Participants will explore ways to streamline processes, reduce administrative burdens and foster a culture of collaboration, ensuring that assessment efforts lead to meaningful improvements in student learning and institutional effectiveness. | Recording | Slides |
| Sept. 2, 2025 | Managing Turnover in Assessment | Staff and faculty turnover can disrupt assessment and continuous improvement efforts if knowledge and processes are not effectively transferred. This session explores strategies for maintaining momentum despite personnel changes by establishing sustainable assessment practices, documenting key processes, and providing structured onboarding for new faculty and staff. Participants will learn best practices for knowledge management, mentorship and institutional support to ensure long-term success in assessment and continuous improvement efforts. | Recording | Slides |
| Oct. 7, 2025 | Developing Effective Learning Outcomes and Rubrics | Clear, measurable learning outcomes and well-designed rubrics are essential for meaningful assessment and continuous improvement. This session provides practical guidance on crafting strong learning outcomes that align with institutional goals and designing rubrics that promote consistency in evaluation. Participants will engage in hands-on activities to refine their outcomes, ensure alignment with Bloom’s taxonomy and develop rubrics that provide actionable feedback to enhance student learning. | Recording | Slides |
| Nov. 4, 2025 | Facilitating Faculty and CTLE Partnerships for Meaningful Assessment | Collaboration between faculty and the Centers for Teaching and Learning Excellence (CTLE) is key to fostering a culture of meaningful assessment that enhances student learning. This session explores strategies for building strong partnerships that support faculty in designing effective assessments, using data for continuous improvement and integrating best practices in teaching and learning. Participants will learn how to leverage CTLE resources to create sustainable, faculty-driven assessment initiatives. | Recording | Slides |
| Dec. 2, 2025 | Compliance & Risk Management: Assessing Institutional Readiness | Compliance and risk management are essential for institutional stability, accreditation and student success. This session explores how to assess institutional readiness for regulatory compliance, including state authorizations, accreditation standards and federal requirements. Participants will learn how to identify potential risks, streamline compliance processes and integrate risk management strategies into continuous improvement efforts to ensure institutional resilience and accountability. | Recording | Slides |
| Jan. 6, 2026 | Assessment & Accreditation Trends: What’s Next? | The landscape of assessment and accreditation is constantly evolving, influenced by policy changes, technological advancements and shifting educational priorities. This session explores emerging trends shaping the future of assessment and accreditation, including the increasing emphasis on student success metrics, equity-focused evaluation, alternative credentialing and AI-driven assessment tools. Participants will gain insights into how institutions can proactively adapt to these changes and position themselves for continued success. | Recording | Slides |
| Feb. 3, 2026 | Beyond Incrementalism: Systems Thinking and Organizational Development for Transformative Administrative Assessment | Traditional assessment often focuses on isolated metrics and quick fixes, but true transformation requires a holistic, systems-oriented approach. This session explores how organizational development principles and systems thinking can be applied to administrative assessment, leading to sustainable and meaningful change. Participants will learn strategies to move beyond compliance-driven assessment and fragmented data points toward an integrated approach that enhances institutional effectiveness, fosters innovation and aligns with long-term strategic goals. Special emphasis will be placed on overcoming siloed thinking, fostering cross-departmental collaboration and leveraging data for strategic decision-making. | Recording | Slides |
| March 3, 2026 | Publishing Assessment Work for Scholarship | Assessment work provides valuable insights into student learning, institutional effectiveness and continuous improvement. But how can these efforts be transformed into publishable scholarship? This session explores strategies for turning assessment initiatives into academic contributions by identifying research-worthy assessment topics, structuring findings for publication and selecting appropriate venues for dissemination. Participants will learn how to navigate the publishing process, from developing manuscripts to responding to reviewer feedback, while ensuring their work contributes meaningfully to the broader field of assessment and institutional research. | Recording | Slides |
| April 7, 2026 | Mission-Driven Assessment | Assessment should go beyond compliance — it should be a strategic tool that directly supports an institution’s mission and goals. This session explores how to design and implement assessment practices that align with institutional values, strategic priorities and student success initiatives. Participants will learn how to ensure that assessment efforts are meaningful, actionable and directly contribute to institutional effectiveness, accreditation and continuous improvement. | Recording | Slides |