Academic Program Assessment Process

What’s Assessed? 

Every academic program (graduate, undergraduate, and certificate) is required to conduct  program assessment annually, with reports (or plans) due on October 31^st each year.  Each program chooses what to assess, how best to assess it, and how to analyze and use the data collected to effect continuous improvement.  Though degree programs typically identify 5-8 SLOs, they are encouraged to assess just 1-2 SLOs per year over a 4-year cycle.  This allows them to take a deeper look at student learning and to design and implement more strategic and purposeful closing-the-loop actions.

The Assessment Process 

Academic Program Assessment follows these basic steps: 

1. Effective assessment begins with a strong, multi-year assessment plan.
   1. Faculty lay the foundation for this plan by developing clear, measurable, and appropriately rigorous student learning outcomes (SLOs) that identify what students are expected to know, value, and be able to do upon completion of the program.
   2. Next, faculty develop a curriculum map that illustrates how courses in the program build on each other to help students develop the knowledge, skills, and values of the major or certificate.
   3. Using the curriculum map, they select artifacts (assignments, exams, projects) from formative (introductory) and summative (mastery) level courses throughout the curriculum that demonstrate students’ knowledge and abilities in relation to the particular SLO being assessed.
2.  Once the plan is complete, faculty begin the yearly assessment process.
3. 1. This process starts with the collection of the identified artifacts from the appropriate courses
   2. Once these artifacts are in place, faculty evaluate them in relation to the SLO with which they are aligned.
   3. The data from this assessment is then compiled and presented to all faculty involved in the program, department, or school. Together, faculty identify opportunities for improvement and design and implement actions to “close the loop.”
   4. Once the annual assessment is complete, the assessment coordinator for each program records these efforts in the report, which is submitted each fall.
   5. As the cycle continues, each LO is re-assessed to determine the impact of the “closing the loop” actions on student learning and to identify additional opportunities for improvement.

As is evident, faculty collaboration is integral to the assessment process. Discussions about the expectations faculty have for their students and about innovative ways of improving student learning are central to meaningful assessment.

Evaluation and Feedback

Each annual assessment report or plan receives detailed feedback from either the Director of Assessment or, if programs so choose, from the faculty Peer Review Group. In either case, reviewers use evaluation rubrics to rate—and provide feedback on--key aspects of the assessment process detailed in each submission. These evaluations are designed to help programs strengthen their assessment processes and follow-up actions.     

If faculty have questions after reading the feedback, they are invited to meet with the Director and/or the Peer Review Group for further consultation.