At UW there is considerable variation in how assessment has progressed in the departments/units and colleges. Your department may just be starting to develop program assessments or have a fully-implemented plan. Some departments may need to do all the steps, while some departments may only need to complete the last few steps.

Programs are defined as each individual academic program offered by a department or unit. This includes majors, minors, bachelor's degree programs (including concentrations), master's degree programs, doctoral degree programs and certificate programs. When developing a five-year assessment plan, departments may want to start with the assessment of their most significant undergraduate program(s) first and progress to plans for the remaining undergraduate and graduate programs farther along in the process.

1. Write goals (no more than 3-5) for the program that are consistent with the department, college and university mission statements. 
2. Based on the goals from step one, write measurable objectives (no more than 2-3 per goal) for each program including objectives for student outcomes, faculty, laboratories/studios, and various support facilities under the program's control.
3. List the methods you will use to measure the effectiveness of your program in achieving the program's objectives.
4. State the schedule for completing each assessment activity, including who is responsible for each activity. Complete the assessments.
5. Describe the procedure for using the data collected in the assessments to consider the effectiveness of the program and possible changes to the program or its goals and objectives. Document the discussions and conclusions. 
6. Implement any changes.
7. Return to steps 1,2,3, or 4 as appropriate.

Once department plans have been formulated, assessment of student learning activity will be reported annually in departmental/program annual updates to the college dean and through the dean to Academic Affairs. No additional reports will be necessary on an annual basis. There may be additional summary reporting required for the development of institutional self-studies for regional and national accreditation.