Assessment in Communication Programs: Issues and Ideas Administrators Must Face

Authors

• John J. Makay, Bowling Green State University

Abstract

This article discusses issues and ideas school administrators and educators must face with regards to assessment in communication programs. The challenge for a considerable number of communication administrators and other faculty was addressed intensively at the 1994 Speech Communication Association Summer Conference on Assessment. Assessment in communication education from the basic courses through most advanced studies is necessary. By working to meet this responsibility, communication educators can provide the quality of education their constituencies expect in order to educate students to become citizens who will find both satisfaction and success on the career paths they choose to follow. There is a wealth of information already accumulating to explain, support and guide assessment. At conferences about assessment, vendors display materials about assessment for purchase by a variety of disciplines, much like textbook publishers do at communication conventions. An assumption one must make is that assessment is not an activity to undertake as a primary defensive strategy. Speech communication or communication studies are titles administrators and educators assign to a discipline that often produces too much anxiety in colleagues who feel a need to justify and defend their existence and missions on campuses.

Recommended Citation

Makay, J. J. (1997). Assessment in communication programs: Issues and ideas administrators must face. Journal of the Association for Communication Administration, 26(1), 62–68.