Assessment Practitioner Leadership of Institutional Assessment Committees: Navigating Common Challenges Across Contexts

Institutional assessment committees play a critical role in supporting student learning assessment, accreditation, and continuous improvement. While scholarship has examined institutional assessment committee structures, faculty participation, and leadership, this paper builds upon insights from a panel discussion at AALHE’s 2026 annual conference to explore the unique perspectives of assessment practitioners. Featured panelists represented diverse institutions, including a public STEM university, a community college, private liberal arts institutions, professional programs, faith-based institutions, and an online university. We propose that a complementary leadership model can support successful assessment. In this model, faculty provide disciplinary and curricular expertise, and assessment practitioners offer infrastructure, continuity, and operational support. Drawing on our collective experiences, we identify five common challenges associated with committee leadership: establishing legitimacy, engaging faculty meaningfully, balancing compliance with improvement, developing sustainable infrastructure, and building assessment expertise. Through the framework of Jankowski and Slotnick’s (2015) five essential roles of assessment practitioners, we highlight how practitioners navigate these responsibilities using relationship-building, mission alignment, and ongoing professional development. We conclude with five practical recommendations for leaders seeking to strengthen their committees and foster sustainable cultures of evidence-informed improvement.