Cornerstone Project (QEP) Assessment

Cornerstone Project Assessment – Our Quality Enhancement Plan (QEP)

Academic excellence and spiritual vitality are the foundations upon which Asbury University has been built and continue to grow; they are embedded in our very mission statement and guide every goal and decision that is made at Asbury.

The Cornerstone Project was a natural outgrowth of our commitment to spiritual vitality. Because our Christian faith plays such an essential role in our identity as a liberal arts institution, we take our responsibility to assess student spiritual outcomes seriously. We are exceedingly aware of the extraordinary challenges, and indeed hubris, in attempting to assess such ethereal matters as spirituality; surely only God the Father, Son, and Spirit truly understand the heart and motives of a believer.

However, it is our responsibility as educators and followers of Christ to humbly attempt to assess the spiritual vitality of our students by the best available means possible. We fully realize that in so doing, it is only possible to capture a partial and incomplete understanding at best. Yet, we are, for many reasons, compelled to continue trying to assess the spiritual formation of our students.

Therefore, the Asbury University Cornerstone Project and its four Cornerstones of Holiness, Scripture, Stewardship, and Mission are assessed by a variety of means, both quantitative and qualitative including the following streamlined assessment configuration:

• Capstone assessments in the various major fields of study that assess the integration of the four Cornerstones and learning.
• STI (Spiritual Transformation Inventory) that quantitatively assesses spiritual meaning and vitality, spiritual commitment, spiritual community, and quality of relationship with God.
• Case studies of exemplars get at the deep learning that is at the heart of the Cornerstone Project relating to spiritual vitality and the internalization of the four foundational cornerstones. Students, staff, and faculty annually nominate those graduating seniors they consider unusually spiritually mature. The seniors who receive the most nominations are invited in for interviews. The purpose of the interviews is to determine those experiences, relationships, and practices that have most contributed to their maturing spiritual formation.
• Alumni surveys allow us to assess the institution’s ultimate objective of graduates who engage the world through lives of faith.
• Participation logs of student community service allow us to track rates of participation and service.
• Waste audits allow us to track the results of recycling and “trayless” initiatives across campus for the Stewardship Cornerstone.

The following table identifies Cornerstone Project student learning outcomes and links those outcomes to the Strategic Plan. Assessment measures include the Alumni Survey, Cross-Cultural Assessment, focus groups, GEPA, MyVoice, Pre/Post Exams, SMIP, STI, and waste audits.

Cornerstone Assessment of Desired Outcomes Aligned with Project & Institutional Goals