The 2006 Workshop for Department Chairs, held at the Annual Meeting in Philadelphia, focused on the theme of “Planning for Assessment and Accountability Issues.” Moderated by Stephen Majeski, chair, department of political science, University of Washington, and of the APSA Departmental Services Committee, the session included presentations by four speakers with notable experience on this topic: Kerstin Hamann, University of Central Florida; Michelle Deardorf, Jackson State University; Ken Campbell, University of Delaware; Linda Suskie, Middle States Commission on Higher Education.

Kerstin Hamann and Michelle Deardorf have been very active on assessment-related issues (in their departments and in the APSA Conference on Teaching & Learning), and Ken Campbell has been the University of Delaware department's point person on a recent planning effort on assessment. All three were able to share their unique perspectives on the theme at the individual and departmental levels, while Linda Suskie was able to provide a broad conceptualization of the issue and share her insights in what accrediting bodies look for and the resources they can provide.

The presentations were followed by a lively Q&A with the 53 department chairs in attendance. To convey the substance of the presentation to the wider audience of APSA members, each workshop speaker has helpfully summarized their presentation in the following set of articles. I encourage you to contact them directly with specific questions on their perspective on assessment, as well as to contact us here at APSA (dsp@apsanet.org) with any comments or suggestions.

The topic for the 2007 Workshop for Department Chairs will be announced via PS and the APSA department chairs' eNewsletter this spring.