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The Use of Assessment for Institutional Sensemaking by Top Administrative Officials Johnston Niven Hegeman This study explored the relationship between the degree to which top administrators of four-year colleges and universities that have been effective in implementing and sustaining assessment view the use of assessment and seven components of institutional sensemaking at their institutions. The underlying premise is that outcomes assessment practices represent a transformational change in higher education, and institutional sensemaking has been identified as a central feature of institutional transformation efforts. Understanding how assessment results and institutional sensemaking are intertwined should be useful for professionals charged with designing or implementing assessment plans, because it may lead to new ways to connect assessment with institutional decision-making and planning. Surveys were completed by 311 top academic and student affairs administrators at 66 four-year institutions of higher education in the United States that were identified as having mature cultures of institutional assessment. Strong relationships were found between perceived use of assessment at those institutions and six aspects of sensemaking: Identity type, identity commitment, strategic orientation, present image, information processing structure, and issue interpretation. These findings suggest the importance of intentionally linking assessment planning with sensemaking activities. Institutional Sensemaking and Assessment iii Acknowledgments I would like to thank the following for their unwavering support. First and foremost, my wife and companion Rita Hegeman. The completion of this project would not have been possible without her proofing and questioning countless revisions, compiling mailing addresses for 1077 potential participants, helping prepare the three mailings, and keeping the kids at bay, mostly. She also supplied the moral support and encouragement all these years while I worked on this project. I am particularly thankful for the hot tea she supplied on those wintery nights spent working in front of our woodstove while the snow fell and the wind howled. Next on the ―thank you list‖ is Morris Willey for his spiritual inspiration and deep interest in the subject of this dissertation. We began discussing many of the underlying ideas of this paper in the early 1980’s when we mutually discovered the works of Chris Argyris. I am grateful that I was able to close a chapter of our intellectual pursuit, though with much sadness, since he departed these shores several years ago. I am grateful for all the contributions of my committee members. I cannot thank enough: Dr. Jones for her perseverance and ability to help me focus and think clearly; Dr. Herzog for always being in my corner; Dr. Goeres for introducing me to ―Management Fads in Higher Education,‖ now one of my foundational books; Dr. Walls for the help and pointed questions about the statistics used in the study; and Dr. Richards for hopping on board at the last minute. I would be remiss not to mention former committee member, now retired, Dr. Harnett for inspiring me to think broadly and deeply about higher education. Several others provided me with crucial assistance. Selina Smith transformed my questionnaire into a scannable form and processed the returned surveys that produced my data file; Lois Bennett and Carol Davis helped me systematically manage the returned surveys; Institutional Sensemaking and Assessment iv Phoebe Wiley and Harriet Douglas patiently led me through some finer points of grammar and copy edited the proposal; and Larry Orndorff provided invaluable technical assistance in preparing and mailing the thousands of survey packets. Of course, other family members contributed to the cause. Daughters Quincy, Lucas, and Niven were a great team while assisting in the preparation of the three mailings (a real assembly line) and helping me maintain the focus on the rewards of being finished, in their case, rides in Dad’s sports car. Jon, my son, busy living his own hectic life, provided constant encouragement. And finally, ―thank you‖ to my mother for celebrating all of my accomplishments throughout my life, no matter how large or small, and, I am sure, she still is. Institutional Sensemaking and Assessment v Table of

The use of assessment for institutional sensemaking by top administrative officials