Provide quality testing services at Sam Houston State University.
Objective
Provide A Variety Of Tests
Provide a variety of tests offered through our office by contacting testing companies and/or other colleges or universities to inquire about what tests are available and which ones would best suit the needs of our audience.
Indicator
Provide A Variety Of Tests
Compare the inventory of tests offered by the Testing Center to those tests required by the students and the general public.
Criterion
Variety of Tests
Provide at least one test for students to demonstrate remedial competence, college readiness, and course placement. Also provide upper classmen with tests required for those applying for professional or graduate schools and provide tests for licensure and/or certification for various professional programs. Increase our test offerings by at least one test per year.
Finding
Variety of Tests
In addition to the tests we have been administering in the past, we have added four new tests to our offerings: the Graduate Management Admissions Test (GMAT)as an additional test administered for some graduate schools, the Nurses Entrance Test (NET) for admissions into nursing school, the National Counselor Exam (NCE) for counselor certification, and the Texas Assessment of Sign Communication/Texas Assessment of Sign Communication-American Sign Language (TASC/TASC-ASL) test for sign language certification. With these additions, the Testing center now offers three tests to demonstrate remedial competence, three tests for college readiness, two tests for course placement, six tests for graduate and/or professional school admissions, six tests for licensure and/or certification, and a variety of other tests as requested.
Action
Variety of Tests
Continue to expand the variety and number of tests offered as demand requires and purchase additional software and equipment as needed to support these additions.
Objective
Provide Quality Staff And Service
Provide qualified staff that will provide outstanding customer service by being friendly, courteous, responsible, informative, accurate, and supportive.
Indicator
Provide Quality Staff And Service
Survey students and visitors about their satisfaction with the staff and services by utilizing the Testing Center Evaluation Form and by using the Human Resources annual merit review process.
Criterion
Quality Staff and Service
Complete 100 percent of annual staff evaluations by June 1 using information gathered from the Annual Merit Review Form and the Testing Center Evaluation Form. Staff should receive Above Average or Excellent ratings from the Testing Center Coordinator and 90% or above on the evaluations being returned from students and visitors with an Agree or Strongly Agree rating in the "personal service received" section of the Testing Center Evaluation Form.
Finding
Quality Staff and Service
The Testing Center Coordinator hires qualified professional staff. The hiring process consists of a review of qualified applications and personal interviews. The employees are also reviewed after a six-month probationary period to examine their work skills, ethics, and conduct. A review of the Testing Center Evaluation Form and the annual merit review form concludes that the staff continue to produce Above Average or Excellent ratings from the Testing Center Coordinator in their performance and service and 95%-100% of the ratings received from the students and visitors are in the Agree or Strongly Agree range from the Testing Center Evaluation Form. The Testing Coordinator shares all results and comments from the two evaluation forms with the staff in order to consider possible ways of improving service even more.
Action
Quality Staff and Service
Hire additional qualified staff, as needed, to accommodate office growth, workload, and demand.
Objective
Provide A Quality Facility
Provide a facility conducive to a quality testing environment which will be clean, comfortable, quiet, aesthetically-pleasing, and user-friendly.
Indicator
Provide A Quality Facility
Survey students and visitors about their satisfaction with the Testing Center facilities by using the Testing Center Evaluation Form.
Criterion
Quality Facility
Provide comfortable seating, quality equipment, and a distraction-free, clean, testing facility. Provide a sufficient amount of testing equipment and testing opportunities to meet the needs of examinees. The Center should receive 90% or above of its evaluation results from students and visitors indicating Agree or Strongly Agree in the "experiences while testing" section of the Testing Center Evaluation Form.
Finding
Quality Facility
According to findings on the Testing Center Evaluation Form, the current testing rooms and equipment are 95%-100% conducive to a quality testing environment. We have expanded our testing times from three times per day (8:00 a.m., 11:00 a.m., and 2:00 p.m.) to also include the availability for walk-in appointments to make our facility more available for testing opportunities. As requests for testing opportunities increase, we find ourselves in need of a workroom to store large office equipment, files, and a separate work area for employees away from the front reception desk.
Action
Quality Facility
Look for additional space and/or a new location that would allow for growth and a more effective work environment.