The Internal Consultant Model for Assessment

Many universities rely on a committee approach to assessment in which a group of faculty, staff, and administrators is tapped to provide guidance for assessment projects on behalf of various university programs or departments or the entire university. However, other organizational approaches to achieving strong programs of assessment are available. One such approach, known as the "internal consultant model," distributes the responsibility and execution of educational assessments across various university personnel by placing responsibility for each program's assessment in the hands of (1) a member of the department's or program's staff, known as the "client," and (2) another university employee who specializes in program assessment, known as the "consultant." The chief advantage of the internal consultant model is the division of assessment responsibilities between these two persons: the client defines the need for assessment and serves as the subject-matter expert for the content being assessed, while the consultant provides technical knowledge about assessment, measurement, and analysis, as well as a perspective that is conducive to the creation and execution of a strong program of assessment. Although this model is being used to accomplish the assessment of student learning and development, the model has received little attention in the literature. In fact, despite the benefits of the internal consultant model to the accomplishment of department and program assessment, a full description of the model is, as yet, elusive. To address this gap in the literature, the model was used in the planning and execution of assessment of an undergraduate health studies program at a mid-size, mid-Atlantic university. A description of the internal consultant model in the context of this situation is presented, as well as its advantages and disadvantages.