At UW there is considerable variation in how assessment has progressed in the departments/units and colleges. Most departments are beyond the development of student learning outcomes at this point. Many are the process of collecting and analyzing data while others have progressed to the final steps of the assessment process - using data to make decisions that lead to improvements in learning.

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 departmental assessment plans, there is an expectation that each program will be addressed individually. In other words, there can not be a single assessment plan and strategy that applies to all programs within a department. If there is, then the department has failed to differentiate the distinct learning outcomes for each program.

In addition to clearly stated learning outcomes for each program, departments need to identify what evidence/data will be collected to assess each learning outcome. Evidence can be both direct and indirect. Direct evidence includes the examination of student work while indirect evidence includes student opinions or perspective, for example. A good assessment plan will include both types of evidence.

After a department has successfully collected and compiled its data, faculty should discuss and interpret the data. The final step is to make changes that are informed by your assessment process, which hopefully will lead to improvements in student learning. In the end, the department may amend its learning outcomes or change certain aspects of the assessment process itself.

Of course, any good assessment process is well documented. As part of the documentation process, department chairs/heads provide a summary of the department's assessment activities for the year, including progress from the previous year via the departmental annual report. Section 10 of the report specifically addresses assessment. Each year, the College Assessment Coordinators ask that the chairs answer a specific set of assessment questions. The College Assessment Coordinators also review each annual report and provide specific feedback to each department on how assessment can be improved in the upcoming year.

2008 Department Annual Report - Section 10 Assessment

2008 Rubric to Provide Feedback to Departments on Annual Repot

General FAQ for Faculty and Department Chairs on Assessment