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We have a standing invitation to our subscribers to submit their reviews of WEAVEonline.
Because we’re committed to “walking the talk” in transparency, we post every one we receive noting the name, title, and institution of the contributor. If you’re a subscriber, we hope you will take the time to submit your review of WEAVEonline.
Subscriber Reviews
Having WEAVEonline is the equivalent of having another staff member. We now have the ability to post assessment plans and reports on the web rather than completing Word templates and emailing them around for review.
Changing to WEAVE also gave us the opportunity to transfer the responsibility for assessment back to the college deans and vice presidents because they now have the access to monitor and review their own assessment plans and reports. They also have the power to keep their plans and reports confidential or share them with others. In addition to meeting accreditation requirements, WEAVE allows us to monitor progress on the strategic plan and to implement performance based budgeting.
Training faculty and staff to use WEAVE gives us the opportunity to (re)train them about the assessment process. Once faculty and staff learn the basics of using WEAVE, they tend to find it very intuitive and easy to use. The primary challenges we have had are completing the data templates to set up WEAVE for our campus and motivating faculty and staff to use it. Those issues existed with our original process and would exist no matter which system we chose.
We have always found the Centrieva staff to be very responsive and collegial. They have helped us when we had problems or questions and listened to us when we asked for modifications and enhancements. We like the idea of WEAVE being a hosted application so we do not have to worry about purchasing servers and integrating WEAVE with our other systems -- that is all done for us. The idea that WEAVE was developed by assessment folks, and for us, the idea that it was developed by a SACS institution made WEAVE an easy sale for our senior administrators.
J. Worth Pickering, Ed. D.
Director of University Assessment
Institutional Research & Assessment
Old Dominion University
We have only had WEAVE up and running since August 2006 here at the Texas Tech University Health Sciences Center, so I can only offer the perspective of a relatively inexperienced user. So far we have found it to be a very useful tool.
We were looking for a reasonably priced, user friendly data management system and WEAVE certainly meets those criteria. We had our IT staff review the system before we subscribed and they said they would not be able to build a comparable system for less than $100,000.
Things we like most about WEAVE:
- Customer service (it's excellent)
- Price
- Ease of use, for the most part
- Key word search (once we have the system well-populated)
- Ability to link to the institutional strategic plan
Challenges:
- Building a culture of assessment (Teaching people how to use WEAVE is the easy part.)
- Having the Target Levels in WEAVE attached to the Measures rather than the Outcomes/Objectives. (It feels awkward to those of us who are used to having measurable objectives, but we are working our way through those issues.)
- Lack of a specific method for linking assessment to allocation of resources
- The email feature is awkward (seems easier to develop distribution lists in Outlook).
- Getting feedback on assessment plans from supervisors (we haven't figured out yet how we will make this work)
- Integrating assessment plans in WEAVE with division Strategic Plans
Looking Foward to:
- Curriculum mapping feature
- More forums in which to share information with other WEAVEonline users
Sharon L. Kohout, Director
Office of Institutional Planning & Effectiveness
Texas Tech University Health Sciences Center
I am the Director of the Texas Christian University Office for Assessment and Quality Enhancement. We have been using WEAVE this year and I have been exceptionally pleased with the system!
As assessment director, I have found that having access to view departmental assessment plans as they are being created gives me the opportunity to give substantive and formative feedback during the process. This has changed the conversations that I have with department chairs in very positive and meaningful ways.
I have also found that training faculty and staff in using the system has been easy. The web interface is very intuitive and I have been told by several faculty that it is “easy to use.” Because of this I have been approached by several of our faculty who are directing grants and are wanting to track their grant assessment through the WEAVE system.
The Centrieva staff has been wonderful before and during the implementation process. Now that we are using the system, the Centrieva staff is wonderful. While I haven’t had many questions for them, when I do have a question I have gotten a response immediately. It is wonderful to work with people who know what I’m trying to do and will help me in any way necessary.
Catherine M. Wehlburg, Ph.D.
Office for Assessment and Quality Enhancement
Texas Christian University
My name is Pat Artz. I am Associate Professor at Bellevue University and I chair the faculty Academic Assessment Committee for the university.
WEAVEonline has answered many of our accreditation worries. We were having huge difficulties organizing our evidence for our accreditors, and faculty members were discouraged by the confusion surrounding assessment. Refreshingly, the WEAVEonline interface is simple, clear, and concise. If people ask for evidence of student learning here at Bellevue University, then I login and provide the evidence in a few clicks. The system doesn't do everything that we would like to do, but it provides the structure for everything we need to do. If I had to do everything over, I would recommend WEAVEonline again.
Pat Artz
Chair of the faculty Academic Assessment Committee
Bellevue University
The system is well thought out and provides a systematic method of documenting assessment of academic programs. The status snapshot provides a relatively simple method of tracking who has completed the required information.
Lawrence J. Kuszynski
Senior Officer for Institutional Effectiveness
Mountain State University
The WEAVEonline system has been very well received by the Arts and Sciences faculty. It is easy to use, and has served to organize our efforts in very effective ways. There is a learning curve, and we are well underway with mastering the software. Scanning and linking in student artifacts is particularly helpful, and allows us to take a mountain of paperwork and organize it in very accessible ways. That is a huge plus for us. We are very pleased with the addition of WEAVEonline in further developing the culture of assessment at Mountain State University.
Vincent W. Beach, Ph. D.
Dean, School of Arts and Sciences
Mountain State University
WEAVE online has been a welcome resource for the Health Science faculty and program directors. It has allowed integration of the specialized accreditation assessment requirements with those of the university, truly contributing a university-wide culture of assessment. It is user-friendly and allows a quick overview of the progress of each academic program. We are delighted that Mountain State University has chosen to use this software.
Patsy Haslam
Dean, School of Health Sciences and Nursing
Mountain State University
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