IAN kicks off UMCES Institutional Assessment project

Approximately 19 people stand around a room with large windows. They are all looking toward the windows where different colored post it notes are being placed up in loose columns. Some people are holding post it notes as they wait to put theirs on the winThe University of Maryland Center for Environmental Science is conducting an Institutional Assessment (IA) as part of its accreditation process and IAN, along with College of Exploration, is facilitating that process. Five meetings were conducted at Appalachian Lab, Chesapeake Biological Lab, Horn Point Lab, the Institute of Marine and Environmental Technology and Center Administration as a kickoff to the entire project. Maryland SeaGrant is also included in the project. The objective of the meetings was to find out what all UMCES employees value about working for UMCES as well as potential indicators to measure whether UMCES is successful in attaining its mission. IAN staff facilitated a "Snap!" activity in which participants were asked "What do you value about working at UMCES?" and "What should UMCES aspire to in five years?" This was a great start to a project that will continue through the fall.