Assessment Mini-Grants

Assessment Mini-Grant Information

The Office of Assessment has funding available for assessment-related activities in the form of competitive Assessment Mini-Grants. These grants are available to all faculty and staff at SHSU to help fund new or ongoing assessment practices within programs, offices, or departments; or to all faculty and staff to help fund travel to make an assessment-related presentation at a professional conference. Eligible recipients may request up to $1,000.

Application Process

The process for 2025-2026 will be as follows: All applicants must complete the Assessment Mini-Grant Application and submit it to thamrick@shsu.edu. Applications will be accepted beginning February 1, 2025, with a submission deadline of May 23, 2025. Applications will be reviewed by Assessment staff, and decisions regarding grant awards will be made by June 27, 2025. Funds will be available after September 1, 2025. Recipients will be required to submit a final report by August 31, 2026.

For additional information, please review the Assessment Mini-Grant documents below and contact Tama Hamrick at 936-294-4062 or thamrick@shsu.edu with any questions.

Assessment Mini-Grant Documents

Please use the following links to access the application, rubric, and final report template. The rubric can be used as a guide while filling out the application.

Assessment Mini-Grants Awarded for 2024-2025

Andrea Beerwinkle and Mae Lane, School of Teaching and Learning
Validation of a Survey to Assess Secondary Pre-Service Teaching Candidates' Content Literacy Knowledge and Research Self-Efficacy

Mona Cockerham, School of Nursing
Assessment and Implementation of Communication Strategies to Prevent Healthcare Errors Using TeamStepps

Eric Connolly, Department of Criminal Justice and Criminology
Evaluating Student Preparedness for a Career in Criminal Justice

Meredith Conrey, Leadership Initiatives
SHSU's Texas Leadership Scholars Peer Mentorship Assessment

Dixuan Cui, Department of Mass Communication
Enhancing Lighting Training: A System Evaluation for Instructional Modality in VR Application

Austin Dixon, Academic Success Center
Exploring the Impact and Perceptions of Academic Recovery Programming

Steven Koether and Analeesa Santillan, Department of Biological Sciences
Starting from Scratch: Lab Instructor Influence on Undergraduate Grades

Michael Sproat, Sam Houston Memorial Museum
Sam Houston Memorial Museum Visitor Experience Assessment

Tamara Waggener, Department of Political Science
Developing and Assessing Students' Citizenship Skills

Assessment Mini-Grant Showcase

The Office of Assessment has selected the following Mini-Grants to showcase:

Maria Holmes, Honors College - Honors College Admission and Retention Assessment

Jesse Starkey, Global Center for Journalism and Democracy - International Journalism Training Follow-up Assessments

Jaron Rider, Recreational Sports - Student Staff Risk Management Knowledge and Skills Assessment

Michael Sproat, Sam Houston Memorial Museum, Sam Houston Memorial Museum Visitor Experience Assessment

Past Recipients

2023-2024 Assessment Mini-Grant Recipients

Rebecca Andrews-Dickert, Physiology and Pharmacology
Identifying Strategies for Improvement of Peer Evaluation in TeamBased Learning

Vivian Blackwell and William Blackwell, COE Assessment and Accreditation
Design of an Integrated System for Tracking Program Completer Employment Outcomes

Basem Boutros, Human Sciences
Piloting a Cooking Demonstration Project for Food Science and Nutrition Students

Jennifer Bunn, College of Health Sciences
Assessment of the COHS Faculty Mentoring Program

Beth Cory and Taylor Martin, Mathematics and Statistics
Calculus I Concept Assessment Development

Kendall Gragert, Honors College
Community Engagement and Service-Learning in UNIV 1101 Honors

Dustin Gross, Chemistry
Diagnosing Chemistry Graduate Students' Readiness for Advanced Coursework

Geraldine Monjardez and Patrick Buzzini, Forensic Science
Casework Practicum as Advanced Interactive Learning Tool in Graduate . Forensic Course

Jaime Pena Jr., First-Generation Center
First-Gen Center Assessment

Narasimha Shashidhar, Computer Science
Two Conference Presentations: ProctorBox & Peer and Cooperative Learning at the Freshman Level
2022-2023 Assessment Mini-Grant Recipients

Bahia Braktia and Shantal Brissette, First-Year Experience
Assessing FORWARD Students' Use of Academic Success Services to Develop Supportive Practices

Sarah Browning, Office of Research and Sponsored Programs
Faculty Research Developmental Needs Assessment

Emma Bullock, Beth Cory, and Amy Ray, Department of Mathematics and Statistics
Developing a Reliable and Valid Vocabulary Assessment for MATH 1385

Hannah Burkig and Jaron Rider, Recreational Sports
Emergency Action Plan Assessment

Kathleen Gilbert, Food Pantry
Community Perspective Assessment of Improving Culturally Responsive Food Access

Jacqueline Ingram and Jill Pagels, School of Teaching and Learning
Development of a Content-Specific Literacy Assessment Instrument

Minhyun Kim, Department of Kinesiology
Using Technology to Enhance the Motor Skill Assessment in Adapted Physical Activity Course

Anna Lu, Department of Communication Studies
Assessment of Using Virtual Reality in Increasing Intercultural Communication Competence

Taylor Martin and Beth Cory, Department of Mathematics and Statistics
Developing a Calculus I Concept Inventory Assessment - Stage 1

Ling Ren, Department of Criminal Justice and Criminology
CJC MA/Ph.D. Program Self-Study and External Review: Addressing the Depth vs. Breadth Concern Over the Doctoral Research Portfolio Policy and Practices

Tracy Pringer Richardson, The Graduate School
Graduate Program Advisor Training

Valeece Simmons-Davis, School of Teaching and Learning
Professional Learning Communities and Teacher Candidate Efficacy with Cooperative Learning Structures

Candace Walkley, Kevin Kalinowski, and Petra Rocic, College of Osteopathic Medicine
Utilizing Formative Assessments to Provide Differentiated Instruction in an Osteopathic Medical Student Cohort

Megan Woolford, College of Osteopathic Medicine
Clinical Skills Rubric Development and Implementation

2021-2022 Assessment Mini-Grant Recipients

Jonathan Alvarez, Office of Human Resources
Human Resources Employee Retention Analysis

Ulan Dakeev, Department of Engineering Technology
Neo Technologies Assessment Manual

Patricia Durham, School of Teaching and Learning
Increasing Literacy Specialists' Efficacy for Advocacy and Leadership Through Reciprocal Mentoring

Steve Nenninger, Department of General Business and Finance
Assessing EMBA Students Using a Banking Simulation

Deborah Popham, School of Music
Applied Music Performance Skills and Diverse Repertoire Assessments

Amy Ray, Emma Bullock, and Mary Swarthout, Department of Mathematics and Statistics
Developing Reliable and Valid Vocabulary Assessment for Math 1384

Keila Tyner, Department of Family and Consumer Sciences
Enhancing Assessment and Student Learning in the Fully Online Fashion Merchandising Program
2020-2021 Assessment Mini-Grant Recipients

Leslie Anglesey, Department of English
Assessing First-Year Writing Completion Rates Among Student Populations

Siham Bouamer, Department of World Languages and Cultures
Assessing Graduate Students' Oral Proficiency in World Languages and Cultures

Benita Brooks & Helen Berg, School of Teaching and Learning
Culturally Responsive Teaching in Teacher Preparation

Stephen Brown, Department of Population Health
Post-Graduation Employment Survey

Emma Bullock & Amy Ray, Department of Mathematics and Statistics
Developing a Reliable and Valid Vocabulary Assessment for MATH 3381

Sheng-Lun Cheng, Donggil Song, & Marilyn Rice, Department of Library Science and Technology
A Longitudinal Assessment of Students Motivational Processes and Products in an Online Doctoral Program to Increase Student Retention

Ulan Dakeev, Department of Engineering Technology
Assessment With NeoTechnologies - ARCADE

Diane Dowdey & April Shemak, Department of English
Assessing the English Graduate Certificate and the English MA Program

Jason Ingram, Department of Criminal Justice and Criminology
Third-Party Review of the Criminal Justice BA/BS Program

Geraldine Monjardez, David Thompson, & Rajesh Balaraman, Department of Forensic Science, Department of Chemistry, and Department of Biological Sciences
Imaging Technology as an Interactive Learning Tool in Undergraduate STEM Courses

Jannah Nerren, College of Education
Assessing Mental Health Knowledge of Teacher Educators

Jaron Rider, Recreational Sports
Combatting Lack of Exercise, Disconnect from the University and Social Isolations Through Virtual Recreational Programming

Mahdi Safa, Department of Engineering Technology
Creating Predictive Models for Business Solutions Using Geoprocessing

Min Jae Suh, Department of Engineering Technology
Improving the Scholarship Application Assessment Rubric: Identifying Self-Plagiarism on Scholarship Applications

Mingkui Wei & Bing Zhou, Department of Computer Science
Enhancement of ABET CAC Criteria on Program Educational Objectives and Continuous Improvement
2019-2020 Assessment Mini-Grant Recipients

M.C. Breen and Steven D. Koether, Academic Success Center and College of Science and Engineering Technology
GUIA: Graduate/Undergraduate Instructor Academy Assessment

Jin Young Choi and Douglas H. Constance, Department of Sociology
Aligning the "Writing in Sociology" Mid-level Course Assessment Across Instructors and Formats

Ulan Dakeev, Department of Engineering Technology
Spatial Cognition Tools for Future Design Engineering Students

Juan D. Daza, Rajesh Balaraman, and Patricia Ramsey, Department of Art and Department of Biological Sciences
Assessment of a 3-day Workshop on SHSU Community Engagement: SHSU Art and Biology Department

Jennifer J. Didier, Department of Kinesiology
Using Virtual Reality to Increase the Learning and Assessment of our Students

Kathleen Gilbert, COHS-Food Pantry
Food Pantry Awareness Assessment

Forrest Lane, Department of Educational Leadership
Impact of First-Year Seminars on Students Placed into Developmental Education

Benjamin Mitchell-Yellin and Glenn Sanford, Department of Psychology & Philosophy
Developing a Writing Assessment Instrument for PHIL 2306

Carolyn Moore, School of Music
Developing a Comprehensive Plan for Assessing Music Therapy Students' Professional Disposition and Clinical Musicianship SKills

Lori Rose, Ericka Dupclay, Lixin Wang, and Rajesh Balaraman, Department of Biological Sciences
Evaluation of Laboratory Assistants in the Department of Biological Sciences

Temilola Salami, Department of Psychology & Philosophy
Identifying Human Trafficking Victims: Measurement Development and Validation

Danica L. Schieber, Department of General Business and Finance
The Search for Confidence: Analyzing Student Presentation Reflections

Michael Sproat, Sam Houston Memorial Museum
Sam Houston Memorial Museum Strategic Planning

Dana Van De Walker, International Programs
Best Practice Perspectives on International Student Recruitment from Texas Community Colleges

Tamara Waggener, Department of Political Science
Assessing Civic and Political Engagement
2018-2019 Assessment Mini-Grant Recipients

Sinem Akay-Sullivan, Department of Counselor Education
Implementing Heart Rate Variability and Blood Oxygen Saturation Measurements in Assessment and Treatment of Trauma

Min Kyung An and Peter Cooper, Department of Computer Science
Development of Transition Plans to New Mandatory ABET CAC Criteria

Jessica Bedore, Department of Agricultural Sciences
Assessing Knowledge and Skills in Equine Nutrition

Wyatt Brown, Department of Criminal Justice and Criminology
MSCJ Graduate Exit Exam Implementation

Jin Young Choi and Douglas H. Constance, Department of Sociology
Aligning the Sociology Capstone Course Across Teaching Formats and Instructors

Lindsay Clark, Department of General Business and Finance
Scaffolding for Success in Information Literacy

Dana Grant, Residence Life
Residence Life Student Satisfaction Assessment Project

Melinda Holt, Department of Mathematics and Statistics
Assessment of Core Mathematics Interventions

John Jordan, SAM Center
Attending the NACADA Assessment Institute for Training and Workshops

Jannah Nerren, College of Education
CAEP Conference Travel

Megan Richardson, Office of Health Promotion
National College Health Assessment

Jaron Rider, Recreational Sports
Instilling a Growth Mindset in Challenge Course and Climbing Wall Participants

William Shepherd, Department of Physics
Specifications-Based Grading in Upper-Division Physics

Susanna Shupp, Academic Success Center
Assessment of State Mandated Co-Requisite Math Models

Tabitha Tipton, Lowman Student Center
Safety Certifications
2017-2018 Assessment Mini-Grant Recipients

Tatiana Artamonova, Department of World Languages and Cultures
Comparing the Outcomes of Online and Face-to-Face Spanish Courses

William Blackwell, Department of Language, Literacy, and Special Populations
Design and Implementation of a Program Completer Survey to Inform Curriculum Decisions

Simone Camel, Department of Family and Consumer Sciences
New Accreditation Standards Assessment Workshop

Christina Ellis, College of Education
Teacher Preparation Capstone Portfolio

Dana Grant, Residence Life
Residence Life Student Satisfaction Assessment Project

Jannah Nerren, College of Education's Center for Assessment
Artful Assessment: College-Wide Assessment Mini-Conference

Ryan Randa, Department of Criminal Justice and Criminology
College of Criminal Justice Senior Exit Survey

Megan Richardson, Office of Health Promotion
SHSU Fights the Flu: Strategies for Increasing the Vaccination Rate at a Large University

Ashly Smith and Traci Austin, Department of General Business and Finance
Improving Professional Presentation Skills: Skills Assessment and Peer Feedback with Video Recordings

Michael Sproat, Sam Houston Memorial Museum
Sam Houston Memorial Museum Visitor Experience Assessment

Jeffrey Sullivan, Department of Counselor Education
Implementing Personality Assessment Inventory

Candice Wilson, First-Year Experience
Freshman Learning Communities Assessment

David Yebra, High Potential Employee Leadership Academy
Leadership Academy Meta-Assessment
2016-2017 Assessment Mini-Grant Recipients

William Blackwell, Department of Language, Literacy, and Special Populations
Developing Multi-Point Assessment Instruments for Measuring the Knowledge, Ethical and Professional Reasoning, and Growth

Mae Cox, Julie Herron, Jamie Coyne, and Victoria Hollas, Department of Curriculum and Instruction
Assessment of Teaching Post Bacc Students

Sarah Fritsch, Department of Mathematics and Statistics
Calculus Preparation Project

Dana Grant, Residence Life
Annual Residence Life Student Satisfaction Survey

Lisa Muftic, Department of Criminal Justice and Criminology
Assessing Criminal Justice Living Learning Communities

Jaron Rider, Recreational Sports
Student Staff Risk Management Knowledge and Skills Assessment

Michael Sproat, Sam Houston Memorial Museum
Sam Houston Memorial Museum Visitor Experience Assessment

Ann Stiles and Linda James, School of Nursing
Teaching Transcultural Self-Efficacy in Nursing Students

Mary Williams, Department of Kinesiology
Assessing Inter-Professional Education in Healthcare Professions

Kelly Zinn, School of Nursing
A Pilot Study Assessing the Impact of Virtual Simulation on Clinical Judgment and Confidence in Pre-Licensure BSN Students
2015-2016 Assessment Mini-Grant Recipients

Patsy Collins, Student Money Management Center
Classroom Assessment Utilizing Student Response Systems

Karla Eidson, Department of Curriculum and Instruction
First Generation College Students Perceptions of Study Abroad

Jose Santiago, Department of Kinesiology
Development of an Instrument to Assess Pre-Service Physical Education

James Van Roekel, Lowman Student Center
Lowman Student Center Student Participation Tracking
2014-2015 Assessment Mini-Grant Recipients

Julie Albert and Linda Zientek, Department of Mathematics and Statistics
Student Success Rates of Developmental Mathematics Students By Student Profiles

Maria Holmes, Honors College
Honors College Admission and Retention Assessment

John Jordan, SAM Center
Qualitative Program Assessment

Steven Koether, College of Sciences
FoS: Online Peer Evaluation of Effort - Improving the Ease of Use

Valerie Powell, Department of Art
Assessing Risk-Taking in the Classroom

Todd Primm, Department of Biological Sciences
Developing the Microbiology Concept Inventory

Glenn Sanford and David Wright, Department of Psychology and Philosophy
Assessing Student Metacognition as an Indicator of Critical Thinking Skills

Jesse Starkey, Global Center for Journalism and Democracy
International Journalism Training Follow-up Assessments

James Van Roekel, Lowman Student Center
LSC Student Evaluation

Tamara Waggener, Department of Political Science
Assessment and Pedagogy in Required POLS Course