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Outcomes Assessment at NC State University
Assessment informs planning and decision-making, and provides evidence about the
quality of learning, teaching, research, service, extension, and
engagement. At NC State, assessment responsibilities are distributed
among various programs and units across the university. This page
emphasizes, however, how the processes are all based on the same guiding
principles and premises so that systematic decisions can be made from the evidence gathered.
NC State is committed to assessment that is meaningful, manageable,
efficient, and useful for making decisions at the department or unit level as
well as at the college, division and university levels. The academic
undergraduate and graduate assessments are mainly conducted at the course and
program levels. The assessment and
evaluation of services and processes in Student Affairs and administrative
units are conducted at the event, program, and division levels. Student Affairs has developed division-wide
mission, values and objectives that assist with both planning and assessment
activities. NC State is starting to
consider how best to provide institutional level assessment results for
decision-making and accountability purposes. Learning in a Technology-Rich
Environment (LITRE) is a university-wide initiative and the theme of NC State University's quality
enhancement plan.
NC State is focused on outcomes based assessment.
The academic programs, the LITRE project and other programs that impact student
learning establish measurable and observable learning outcomes. Other units develop outcomes that may relate
to learning or to their unit's activities. Assessment evidence gathered is relevant to the outcomes of programs and
services and to the needs of the owners. Evidence is collected through a
variety of methods and from multiple sources.
NC State has both continuous/ongoing assessment and
periodic review processes.
Calendar related to assessment processes.
Continuous and
ongoing assessment processes:
- Undergraduate Programs participates in continuous and
ongoing assessment. Each summer, the associate dean of each college, along
with their college assessment consultant, co-authors a brief college
summary report that synthesizes the issues and action items that are a
result of the annual assessment activities of the undergraduate programs
in the college, and any best practices identified by departments. See Guidelines effective beginning 2005-2006.
- Assessment of General
Education includes rationale and objectives for each general education
requirement that map to student learning outcomes in general education
courses.
- Graduate Programs’ continuous and ongoing assessment
focuses primarily on student learning. It asks and answers the questions,
“What do we want our students to know and be able to do when they
graduate?” and “How well does our program promote that learning?”
- Student
Affairs units conduct
continuous and ongoing assessment of each unit’s objectives and outcomes,
with reports produced each year.
- Ongoing assessment of Distance Education Processes and On-Line
Courses provide unique opportunities to assess student learning as
well as evaluate the effectiveness of services which provide distance
education.
- Course
evaluations are systematically conducted for all courses each semester. NC
State implemented a new, online system for student evaluation of classes,
starting with the spring semester of 2007. Except for classes taught by the
College of Veterinary Medicine, all classes – on campus, online, and off-campus
– are included in the new process. Beginning in 2007-08, there will be an
opportunity for colleges, departments, and individual faculty members to add
their own, individual questions.
Periodic Review
Processes:
- NC State's undergraduate program review
process was initially developed by a faculty/administration task force and by the faculty Committee
on Undergraduate Program Review (CUPR). The process was restructured in 2004-2005 through study of the Academic Affairs Assessment Planning Team. Their Task Force Report recommendations were accepted by the
Provost during 2005. Guidelines related to undergraduate program review
were effective beginning 2005-2006.
- NC State's Graduate Program Assessment program review process includes
outcomes assessment conducted every 8 years with 2 year update reports.
- NC State’s other administrative units
participate in periodic review process.
Outcomes assessment are used in NC State's
Compact Planning process.
Compacts are planning
agreements between a unit and its supervisor - between an academic department
and the dean of its college, a college and the Provost, an administrative
department and the relevant Vice Chancellor, etc. Compacts focus on specific initiatives the unit plans for the
next few years and include assessment: what outcomes or objectives an
initiative is intended to accomplish, Key findings, and what actions are taken
as a result. Where possible, the same measures are used in the unit's other
assessment processes. In the Division
of Student Affairs planning and assessment have been closely linked so that
planning for activities intentionally make outcomes happen.
Review
and revisions of NC State's assessment processes are conducted periodically.
NC State is committed to assessment that is
meaningful, manageable, efficient, and useful for making decisions. Periodic
assessment of the processes are conducted to determine how well the processes
are working for effective decision-making. Below are examples of how the processes have been assessed:
- Student Affairs Assessment Team uses a rubric
to assess the reports produced each year by the units within the division.
- Assessment professionals within DUAP use a rubric to assess the
undergraduate assessment process each year.
- Review of general education by the GER Task Force
(2004-present), includes a review of the assessment procedures for assessing
general education.
- Faculty Well-Being Survey, conducted fall of 2006, showed the levels of faculty understanding and
satisfaction with assessment. Report about assessment data prepared by Assessment Work Group.
- During fall
2004-spring 2005, an appointed Academic Affairs Assessment Planning Team
was charged to review the assessment processes of undergraduate program
review, graduate program review, and general education program review and
to make recommendations to increase the efficiency and value of these
processes. Their Task Force Report recommendations were accepted by the
Provost during 2005.
- During Spring 2004,
a University-wide
Assessment Task Force was created to suggest ways to improve
efficiency and coordination in the university's various assessment
activities. The review and recommendations of the Task Force can be found
on the Task Force webpages.
- A campus-wide survey of
student outcomes assessment processes was conducted during
1999-2000. Using results from the 55% of academic departments and
degree-granting programs who responded, it was found that the e most
commonly reported assessment methods were surveys of students and alumni,
job and graduate school placement, and student projects, portfolios,
theses, and dissertations.