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 32, 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 the final report template. The rubric should be used as a guide while filling out the application.

Assessment Mini-Grants Awarded for 2025-2026

Dallin Adams, Department of Mass Communication
Strategic Assessment for Improved Recruitment, Retention, and Student Experience

Andrea Beerwinkle and Rebecca Wentworth, School of Teaching and Learning
Longitudinal Self-Study of Secondary Literacy Course Evaluations

Ashley Brittain and Saphon Ren-Ven, School of Teaching and Learning and the College of Criminal Justice
Comparing Research Skill Development in 5-Week Online and 15-Week Face-to-Face Criminal Justice Research Methods Courses

Min Kim, Department of Kinesiology
Enhancing Reaction Time Assessment for Children With Disabilities: A Hands-On Approach in an Adapted Physical Activity Course

Kimberly LaPrairie, Department of Library Science and Technology
Doctoral Dossier Validity Study: Elevating Instructional Systems Design and Technology (ISDT) Key Assessment Quality

Tabbetha Lopez, Department of Human Sciences
Enhancing Registered Dietitian (RD) Exam Success Through Targeted Assessment Using Visual Veggies

Ashly Smith and Lindsay Clark, Department of Business Administration and Entrepreneurship
Use of Blackboard AI Tool to Improve Students' Professional Conversation Skills

Kendis Smith, Academic Success Center
Academic Success Center - STEM Manipulatives Corner

Patrick Smith, SHSU Online Operations
Design for Success

Euijin Yang, Department of Engineering Technology
Improving Graduate Survey Tools to Strengthen Program Impact and Outreach

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

Past Recipients

  • 2023-2024 Assessment Mini-Grant Recipients

    Rebecca Andrews-Dickert, Physiology and Pharmacology
    Identifying Strategies for Improvement of Peer Evaluation in Team-Based 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 a 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