University of Missouri Kansas City: A Step Toward Data Disaggregation and Gap Analyses for the Assessment of Student Learning Outcomes Faculty Fellows Program

The University of Missouri Kansas City (UMKC) is an urban research university with a special emphasis on fostering diversity. In 2021, the Center for Advancing Faculty Excellence created a Faculty Fellows program to develop comprehensive resources and support in four areas: teaching and learning, service and engagement, research and creativity, and faculty life and leadership. This article examines one of the projects under the service and engagement area was to collaborate with deans, chairs, and faculty members across campus to facilitate a better understanding of student outcomes data. Working in collaboration with the Vice Provosts for Curriculum and Assessment, Institutional Effectiveness, and Faculty Affairs, a gap analysis was conducted using student data to determine if discrepancies among demographic groups existed. For this project, gap analysis is defined as a method to determine if a difference exists between what an academic program expects a student to be able to perform and the reality of the student's actual performance. The disaggregation of data, that is, separating data into smaller units, was the foundation of conducting the gap analysis. This separation can be done by gender, ethnicity, country of origin, financial aid status, geographic location, socioeconomic status, or disability status.