YAMS: A Collaborative Tool, Bridging Assessment and Technology 

(Connecting for Operational Optimization)

Provided Presentation Description:

This session explores the successful collaboration between the Office of Information Technology and the Office of Institutional Effectiveness and Strategic Planning at York College, which led to the creation of the York Assessment Management System (YAMS). Driven by a recommendation from the Middle States Commission on Higher Education, YAMS was developed to address significant challenges in managing assessment documents across the College’s 37 Administrative, Educational and Student Support (AESS) Units and 57 Academic Programs. Before YAMS, departments relied on various tools such as Excel, Google Docs and Blackboard, resulting in inconsistencies and inefficiencies. YAMS offers a centralized platform for annual document submission, enabling the institution to generate comprehensive reports. It ensures compliance with academic program and AESS unit assessment documentation requirements and promotes sustainability and transparency across the College.

Presenters:

Rafael Nunez, Director of Web and Business Intelligence

Nazia Naeem, Director of Assessment (Project Lead OIESP), Office of Institutional Effectiveness and Strategic Planning

Yanike Williams, IT Associate, (AESSAC Member and End-User), Information Technology

Lori Hoeffner, Vice President Institutional Effectiveness and Strategic Planning (Conceptual Designer), Office of Institutional Effectiveness and Strategic Planning

All of York College

Notes:

The presenters introduced the York Assessment Management System (YAMS), a data collection and reporting platform developed through the collaborative efforts of the Office of Institutional Effectiveness and Strategic Planning and the Office of Information Technology at York College. YAMS has played a pivotal role in helping the college navigate its way out of a warning status with the Middle States Commission and is now widely used to maintain and enhance the Middle States reporting process as well as making the system and campus wide data/reportings conviniently accessible for all stakeholders.

YAMS uses open source PloneCMS, campus active directory user management connector, python3 for backend and ReactJS frontend. YAMS also handles various data collection, notification and communication automation and uses Power BI for reportings.