Utah State University Army Reserve Officer Training Corps (ROTC) works to recruit, train, educate, develop, and inspire Cadets in order to commission officers of character for the United State Army, National Guard, and Reserves. USU Army ROTC builds leaders of character whom are committed to the Army Values (Loyalty, Duty, Respect, Selfless Service, Honor, Integrity, Personal Courage) and ready for service to the Army and Nation. USU Army ROTC is a people-focused, cadet-centric, values-based organization in which Soldiers, civilians, and Cadets desire to be a part of. It is postured long-term to produce better citizens and highly qualified Second Lieutenants.
Learning Goals and Objectives
As we strive to accomplish our mission, five strategic pillars guide us in our efforts: Innovation & Synergy, Fundamental & Doctrinal Competencies, Tactical Proficiency, Ethical Leaders, and Applied Leadership. These strategic pillars form the foundation of our stated competency goals and associated objectives, which are found below.
L1: Innovation & Synergy
Cadets will acquire skills in working with others as a member of a team.
L1 Plan: Cadets will acquire these skills through leadership labs and physical training (PT) MSL 2400, event coordination, information dissemination, and leadership positions within the Army ROTC.
L1 Assessment: Peer Evaluations, After Action Reports, SOAR Evaluations (Situation, Observation, Associate & Assess, Reinforce & Recommend), and ACER (Advanced Camp Evaluation Report)
L2: Fundamental & Doctrinal Competencies
Cadets will gain an understanding of Military knowledge, doctrine, methods, principles, generalizations, and theories.
L2 Plan: Cadets will learn these competencies through lower division curriculum, and display these competencies at leadership labs, color guard, ranger challenge, and field training exercises. Doctrine and domain knowledge and understanding will be evaluated during in-class quizzes and tests.
L2 Assessment: MSL 1010 (Fall) Leadership Development / MSL 1020 (Spring) Foundations in Leadership and MSL 2010 (Fall) Tactical Leadership / MSL 2020 Leadership Environments (Spring) course grades and ACER (Advanced Camp Evaluation Report)
L3: Tactical Proficiency
Cadets will learn to apply course material by improving their thinking, problem solving, and decision-making skills in a tactical environment.
L3 Plan: Cadets will apply class teachings to tactical environments.
L3 Assessment: MSL 3010 (Fall) Adaptive Team Leadership / MSL 3020 (Spring) Leadership Under Fire course grades, Field Training Exercises (FTX) and SOAR Evaluations.
L4: Ethical Leaders
Cadets will learn to analyze and critically evaluate ideas, arguments, and points of view.
L4 Plan: Cadets will analyze mission, enemy, terrain/weather, troops and support, time available, and civilian considerations into military operations planning.
L4 Assessment: MSL 3010 (Fall) Adaptive Team Leadership / MSL 3020 (Spring) Leadership Under Fire course grades and SOAR Evaluations.
L5: Applied Leadership
Cadets will develop skills in expressing themselves orally an in writing.
L5 Plan: Cadets will brief in tactical and non-tactical environments to clearly convey mission, intent, key tasks, and end state; both formally and informally.
L5 Assessment: MSL 4010 (Fall) Developing Adaptive Leaders / MSL 4020 (Spring) Leadership in a Complex World course grades as well as National Order of Merit List (OML) and Cadet Summer Training (CST) score.
Outcomes Data
We have gathered data for competency objectives utilizing several of our Military Science courses. The Military Science curriculum is made up of courses that cadets are required to take, making these courses ideal for evaluating progress on our strategic pillars and mission. One or two courses are identified to track progress for each objective in the Military Science program. Specifically, instructors gather measurements to compare performance benchmarks. By utilizing a uniform data display, we aim to allow potential outcome data users to easily assimilate our progress.
Continuous Improvement
When assessments of program objectives are submitted, the submission form provides an opportunity for discussion, including changes that could be made. Importantly, we do not consider it a failure when cadets do not perform at benchmark for a particular objective; rather, we believe we can utilize this information to pursue improvements and ultimately help ensure cadet success.
Our continuous improvement efforts can be summarized in two categories: changes to improve cadet performance and changes to improve the gathering of assessment measures.
For cadet performance, instructors have identified a variety of potential changes to spur progress. Examples of these include:
- Re-structuring course delivery
- Spending more time on objective-relevant content
- More use of active learning, application of course material, and practice in low-risk scenarios
- An effort to improve the understanding of who needs course information and why they need it
- Introducing new assignments
- More emphasis on connecting content
In terms of improving the gathering of assessment measures, instructors have identified a variety of potential changes to this process. Examples of these include:
- Consideration of adding measures
- Re-writing assessment measures
- Changing when or where to gather measures
- Standardizing incentives to ensure participation