Representatives Moody and Bradford requested a review of techniques being used nationally to improve higher education accountability. We found states are increasingly using student assessment data to improve higher education. A separate request from Senator C. E. Peterson asked for an audit of faculty workload and productivity with emphasis on classroom hours and actual research activities. We found little reliable data exists about faculty workload in Utah or other states. Student assessment has been praised nationally as a new higher education accountability tool.
Many states now have student assessment initiatives in place.
In some instances, assessment has been a powerful inducement to insti- tutional change by focusing attention on undergraduate achievement. Faculty workload measurement embodies a more traditional concept of accountability by focusing on resource use rather than student outcomes. Unfortunately, satisfactory methods to measure faculty workloads and communicate them to outsiders have not been developed. While the teaching load may be quantified, the non- teaching workload remains very difficult to measure. Throughout the nation, bringing more public accountability to higher education institutions has been difficult.