Administrative Guidelines for Academic Department Chairs

Section Seven - Program Assessment

Program Assessment

In order to promote the academic quality of the department's programs, Chairs should coordinate regular assessment of student learning and organize external reviews

Ongoing Assessment Activities

Each department has developed an Assessment Plan. These plans describe each department's desired learning outcomes, assessment measures to be carried out, and methods of interpretation and reporting of data. Departments should annually review their assessment plan to determine which assessments will be carried out and by whom. If outcomes or assessment methods change, the department's Assessment Plan document should be revised to reflect those changes.

In managing the department's assessment activities, Chairs are encouraged to bear in mind the following:

Stated learning outcomes should reflect the department's mission.
Assessment measures should be directed at discerning whether students are achieving those desired outcomes.
Measurement activities should be practical and achievable and should, wherever possible, take advantage of the work the department already does in the course of examining and refining its programs. They should not significantly add to the department's workload.
The purpose of assessment is to use what is learned to guide decision-making about the department's program.
The format of the department's report is up to the department, but should in some way address the following questions:
- What did we do as a department to assess student learning this year?
- What did we learn?
- What changes, if any, have we made as a result?

Assessment is a shared responsibility, and should be an occasion for departmental conversations about how the department is accomplishing its teaching mission. Funds are available from the Provost's Office for assessment activities, including postage for surveys, departmental assessment retreats, etc. Other resources for assessment include:

Alumni Office: provides addresses of graduates for a survey (majors and/or minors); contact Ron Timmerman (ront@gustavus.edu or x7516)

Career Center: for information on internships; contact Brian Koeneman (koeneman@gustavus.edu or x7532)

Library: maintains a database of student research presentations searchable by department; contact Jeannie Peterson (jpeter13@gustavus.edu or x7556)

Institutional Research: to discuss survey instruments and review instrument design; contact David Menk (dmenk@gustavus.edu or x6539

Program Assessment and Development Committee: for discussing assessment issues, reviewing plans, etc; contact the committee chair, as listed in the "Green Pages" of the Faculty Book online.

Last modified: August 6, 2010, by Shanon Nowell