Who We Are

Laura McCollum, Ed.D.
Vice President for Institutional Effectiveness & Strategic Initiatives

Dr. McCollum earned the Ed.D. in Curriculum & Instruction from Seattle Pacific University, and the M.Ed. from Southern Oregon University. Her B.A. is in History and Political Science from Pepperdine University.

Before coming to Patrick Henry College in fall 2006, Dr. McCollum served as the Director of Assessment and Assistant Professor of Education for Oklahoma Wesleyan University in Bartlesville, Oklahoma. At OWU, she co-authored a successful progress report on strategic planning, assessment and budget for North Central Accreditation.

From 2002-2005 she served as the regional chairman for Teacher Education at National University in Redding, California where she provided administrative oversight for three Master's degree programs, one Undergraduate degree program, seven post-baccalaureate certificate programs, and one state certificate program.

From 1998 through 2000, Dr. McCollum was a Kingswood Scholar at Seattle Pacific University. She has authored thirteen online education courses for multiple universities at both graduate and undergraduate levels and has earned numerous service awards for her work in the field of education.

She teaches Biblical Worldview and Pedagogy courses at Patrick Henry College, and her research interests include the philosophical foundations of education and psychometrics.


	Jackquelyn Veith, M.S. Director, Office of Institutional Effectiveness & Strategic Initiatives
	Jackquelyn Veith is the Director of the Office of Institutional Effectiveness & Strategic Initiatives. She has served in various administrator roles such as principal and director of curriculum and assessment in several Christian private schools in the past twenty-three years. As part of her responsibilities, she coordinated and implemented institutional assessment plans which included analyzing student achievement patterns in standardized tests and grades. Her primary focus at PHC is academic assessment. She earned a B.A. from the University of Oklahoma and an M.S. in Curriculum and Instruction at Concordia University Wisconsin


	Naomi Harralson Associate Director, Office of Institutional Effectiveness & Strategic Initiatives
	Naomi Harralson, Associate Director of the Office of Institutional Effectiveness & Strategic Initiatives, received her B.A. in Government from Patrick Henry College in 2005. Since fall 2006, she has been working with Dr. McCollum to build the College's institutional effectiveness "infrastructure" by expanding and implementing the Comprehensive Assessment Plan, coordinating accreditation and state recertification reports, monitoring adherence to regulations and best practices, and designing customized software solutions. Prior to serving in this capacity, she researched and wrote for various projects on topics such as early American higher education and the historical foundations of the Bill of Rights.


	Anna Hybert Research Assistant
	Anna Hybert began working for the college in summer 2009 as Research Assistant for the Office of Institutional Effectiveness & Strategic Initiatives. From 2005-2009 she was a student at Patrick Henry College, during which she was a Resident Assistant, a Student Ambassador, and a Teen Camp Counselor, and was involved in various campus music programs. She graduated from the college in spring, 2009 with a B.A. in Classical Liberal Arts.

What We Do

The Office of Institutional Effectiveness & Strategic Initiatives serves the campus community by aiming to diligently fulfill the following objectives:

To clearly articulate a set of curricular and developmental objectives to inform a student's
  o       developmentally appropriate knowledge and skills in a given content area
  o       depth and breadth of application of the classical liberal arts
  o       levels of civic engagement, leadership, and service

To develop a well-defined strategy to achieve those objectives, including identifying and monitoring
  o       trends in student profiles
  o       trends in student learning
  o       the instruments and methods used in assessing student learning

To offer verifiable evidence of the achievement of those objectives by
  o       the use of direct methods of assessment
  o       the use of indirect methods of assessment
o       the use of mixed methods of assessment

To provide the College with a means of accountability to ensure ongoing assessment
o       through appropriate organizational accountability processes
o       through meeting the standards and best practices common to higher education
  o       through the development of a campus ethos of authentic assessment

To gather, interpret, and use the evidence of assessment in the institutional decision-making processes of instructional program improvement, strategic planning, and resource allocation
o       by implementing the College’s Comprehensive Assessment Plan
  o       as guided by President, Provost, Faculty Senate and Department Chairmen
  o       used widely across all units of the campus community

To provide yearly and other regular reports to the campus community to
o       direct the work of the Office of Institutional Effectiveness & Strategic Initiatives
  o       provide feedback for formative student development
  o       inform logistic and strategic decision making at all levels of the institution
  o       develop a campus ethos of authentic assessment

Several additional functions of the Office of Institutional Effectiveness & Strategice Initiatives include:

Maintaining a database of institutional memberships with external entities

Representing the College at strategic external venues to advance its interests in the higher education community at large

Monitoring adherence to regulations and best practices in higher education

Tracking relevant trends and developments in higher education policy at both state and federal levels

Coordinating compilation of documentation and reports for accrediting agencies and SCHEV, facilitating site visits when necessary

Providing support for the external reporting needs of other functional areas

Serving as the College's primary "accreditation liaison" to institutional stakeholders, prospective students and their parents, and interested public

Providing the president and executive officers with conceptual and data-driven guidance to prioritize, plan, and implement the College's strategic initiatives

Spearheading specific strategic initiatives on an ad hoc basis, as tasked by the president and defined in the College's Strategic Plan

How to Reach Us

Office of Institutional Effectiveness & Strategic Initiatives
Patrick Henry College
One Patrick Henry College
Purcellville, VA 20132
Phone: 540.441.8061 | Fax: 540.441.8069
Email: Assessment@phc.edu