This course is designed to incorporate the many threads that add up to institutional effectiveness: assessing student learning outcomes, evaluating academic programs and student support services, and using assessment data for continuous improvement. After learning the essentials of outcomes assessment, you will focus on the assessment practices for general education, education in the major, program reviews, co-curricular activities, and student engagement. You will develop assessment plans, evaluate and apply different assessment tools, analyze data and report results, and make recommendations for improvement in assessment methods and processes. As you progress through the course, you will gain a better understanding of the need for a meaningful and systematic institutional assessment process and the challenges in building and sustaining such a culture.
Upon completion, students will be able to:

1. Describe national, regional, state and professional contexts of assessment and their impacts on institutional processes and policies
2. Create a programmatic assessment plan that includes measurable outcomes, appropriate means of assessment, feasible data collection methods, and plans to distribute results
3. Articulate purposes of program reviews, identify major steps, stakeholders, and areas for data needs and support, and develop program review guidelines for an institution
4. Design and conduct assessment studies using quantitative and qualitative data, and produce effective reports on selected outcomes
5. Identify potential challenges and roadblocks associated with planning and implementing assessment processes in different institutional settings; identifying strategies and resource needs for sustaining a culture of assessment