Assessment Plan

Plan for Assessment of Student Academic Achievement

II. Five Evaluative Questions on Assessment Plans

1. To what extent has the institution demonstrated that the plan is linked to the mission, goals, and objectives of the institution for student learning and academic achievement, including learning in general education and in the major?
• The University of Wisconsin - Eau Claire is a comprehensive university of higher education that offers a variety of undergraduate and graduate programs. The Assessment Plan supports and is compatible with the mission and goals of UW-Eau Claire (Appendix A* provides the UW-Eau Claire Mission and Goals Statement). The Assessment Plan originates with the broad over-arching mission statement and university goals and moves to specific details about types of student performances. These specific performance indicators, referred to as intended student outcomes, provide greater clarity and specificity to the mission and goals statements of the institution. Assessment procedures linked to the outcomes will provide data that will document whether the University has achieved its mission and goals related to student academic achievement both in general education and in the major. (rev. 2/13/97)
2. What is the institution's evidence that faculty have participated in the development of the institution's plan and that the plan is institution-wide in conceptualization and scope?
   • The development of the University Assessment Plan has been coordinated by an Assessment Committee that was formed in December 1992. It is comprised of academic staff, administrators, and faculty. The majority of the members are faculty. The Committee oversees assessment activity and also reviews and recommends changes to departmental assessment plans. The Committee is chaired by the Administrative Officer for Academic Affairs who reports to the Provost/Vice Chancellor.
   • The faculty in the academic departments have developed assessment plans for each major at UW-Eau Claire. Although the departments' plans have been submitted to the Assessment Committee for comment, the faculty have the primary responsibility to develop, implement, and review these plans.
   • Additionally, procedures for assessment have been discussed in various committees. Ideas have been reviewed and discussed with the University Senate, the College of Arts and Sciences Curriculum Committee, the Associate Deans, and the Pedagogy Committee of the Commission on the Redefinition of the Baccalaureate Degree. Assessment workshops and open forums held on campus have provided additional opportunities for faculty input and involvement.
   • Faculty were involved further through a five year project that redefined the Baccalaureate Degree at UW-Eau Claire. See page 6 for additional information about this project.
3. How does the plan demonstrate the likelihood that the assessment program will lead to institutional improvement when it is implemented?
   • Assessment is not an end but a means for improving undergraduate education. UW-Eau Claire's Assessment Plan has been developed in such a way as to become an integral component in the process of institutional improvement. The data gathered will enhance the decision making process and contribute to the development of plans for improvement.
   • The Assessment Plan calls for data generated from assessment of the general education program to be reviewed by many groups in addition to the University Assessment Committee; the faculty groups include the University's Academic Policies Committee as well as the individual College's and departmental curriculum committees and the Interdisciplinary Studies Committee. These faculty groups have direct responsibility for the general education curriculum and may initiate change, both in curriculum and the assessment plan itself, as a result of reviewing assessment data. Through this process, faculty will examine the expectations they have for the teaching/learning process. More broadly, assessment data also will be examined by the Dean of Students' office as well as the University Student Development Council to address areas of learning that occur outside of the classroom.
   • Assessment plans in the major are decentralized. The faculty within each major will review and examine assessment data. Here again, those having primary responsibility for the curriculum and those having the ability to initiate change will maintain responsibility for data. Academic departments will be required through various means to report the impact of assessment. Specifically, areas improved because of assessment will be noted in such reports as the Departmental Annual Report and the Departmental Review Self-Study. (rev. 2/13/97)
4. Is the timeline for the assessment program appropriate? Realistic?
   • The Assessment Plan calls for all goals and student academic outcomes, both in the General Education Curriculum and within the major, to be reviewed within a four-year period. The Plan provides a systematic and coherent process by which assessment activities will be carried out; however, not all departments will progress at the same pace. Assessment activities have been conducted by some for a number of years; others are just getting started and will need time to fully implement and refine their plans. We are encouraged by the number of departments which are already using assessment data to make decisions.
   • Appendix A* identifies the university's goals and associated outcomes, and provides the timeline for assessment activities.
5. What is the evidence that the plan provides for appropriate administration of the assessment program?
   • The University Assessment Committee, chaired by the Administrative Officer for Academic Affairs to the Provost/Vice Chancellor, serves as the institutional coordinating committee for assessment. Administratively, the Provost/Vice Chancellor for Academic Affairs has the responsibility for oversight of assessment of student academic achievement.
   • The Assessment Committee has responsibility to distribute assessment data to such faculty groups as the Academic Policies Committee, the Arts and Sciences Curriculum Committee, the Interdisciplinary Studies Committee, the Schools' curriculum committees, etc. The Provost will take appropriate steps to assure that assessment data relevant to the larger university community are reviewed by the Chancellor's Planning Committee as well as his Executive Staff. These procedures insure the broadest review and use of assessment results.
   • Institutional resources have been committed to assessment activities. Funds may be requested by departments to assist with assessment costs. Also, the University's Institutional Planner has responsibility for analyzing, organizing and refining assessment data into useful assessment information and reports for use by departments and the institution as well as for designing data formats that can be adapted for reporting assessment results. Assessment coordination is carried out under the Provost's Office through activities of the Administrative Officer for Academic Affairs.
   • Finally, the Assessment Committee has the responsibility to review and recommend modifications of the University Assessment Plan, including assessment procedures, for approval by the Academic Policies Committee, to be sure that it reflects the current goals and curriculum of the institution. This issue is addressed more fully on pages 7-10, General Education/Baccalaureate Assessment Plan and Use of Data.
   • Assessment plans in the major have been designed by the faculty in the academic departments with administrative support and some coordination. Responsibility rests with the faculty committees within the departments although reporting mechanisms have been developed to insure a useful assessment program.

* Opens Adobe Acrobat Reader.

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