Tips from the Program Assessment Committee

Academic program assessment must begin with the articulation of explicit and measurable student learning outcomes and the establishment of appropriate assessment tools. These initial steps are very important to the development of a sustainable cycle of annual program assessment for quality improvement. The Program Assessment Committee offers the following suggestions and resources for completing the annual report:

Step 1: Establish measurable and explicit Student Learning Outcomes (SLOs)

• Review the program’s current SLOs as published in the catalog
  Generally, programs should have 3-7 SLOs
• See resources listed below to help develop measurable SLOs
• Make revisions as needed
• Send revisions directly to Dean of the College of Arts, Humanities, and Social Sciences Jonathan Spiro to be updated in the academic catalog
• If you determine that no revisions of your current SLOs are necessary, skip step 1
• If you made changes in your SLOs, discuss these changes within the annual report narrative

Step 2: Complete the PReCIP Program Outcomes Assessment Matrix

• In order to fill out the matrix, you will need to determine the assessment tools you will use to measure the SLOs and develop a plan for your assessment cycle
• Attach the completed Program Outcomes Assessment Matrix to your annual report

Step 3: Measure at least one SLO

• See the VSCS Policy 101: PReCIP Academic Program Annual Report Guidelines and answer questions 1-5 within the annual report narrative

Resources for Writing Measurable Student Learning Outcomes

• Gavilan College: Writing Measurable Learning Outcomes
• The University of Kansas: Writing Student Learning Outcomes
• University of Wisconsin: Writing Student Learning Outcomes
• Examples of Direct and Indirect Assessment Tools