Assessment Goals

Background

• Spring 2006 Last accreditation visit by the North Central Association - Higher Learning Commission (HLC)

• HLC pinpoints assessment as an area needing greater attention

• April 18, 2007 University Senate votes to adopt forty-two Core Concepts of Roosevelt University  (derived from work by the AAC&U General Education Task Force members). The Core Concepts (also called the Undergraduate Learning Outcomes Statement) highlight the content, skills, and dispositions RU students should demonstrate by the time they graduate

• Fall 2008 Roosevelt joins the HLC Academy for Assessment of Student Learning to focus on assessment of General Education outcomes

• Curriculum mapping begins in the College of Arts and Sciences, Evelyn T. Stone College of Professional Studies, and University Library

• Fall 2009 General Education Committee forms (is this the Arts and Sciences General Education Committee? This committee was around long before I came to RU in 1996)

• Spring 2010 Faculty members attending the Academy distill Core Concepts document into nineteen university-wide student learning outcomes

• Spring 2010 Academy faculty members select three of the nineteen learning outcomes for university-wide assessment and begin to develop a continuous improvement plan for assessing the outcomes

• Spring 2010 General Education Core Curriculum* proposal approved by Colleges of Arts and Sciences and Business

• Spring 2010 Provost appoints the University Assessment Steering Committee (UASC)

• UASC members provide guidance and communication as well as advise, support and oversee student –centered learning process

• Provost appoints an Assistant Provost for Assessment and Accreditation

• Summer 2010 Arts and Sciences curriculum mapping project is completed

*The updated General Education curriculum now consists of new core learning opportunities that respond more directly to the needs   of college students in transition and reflect more intentionally the university’s commitment to social justice.

Roosevelt University’s Goal for Assessment

In order to achieve the mission of Roosevelt University all academic and student service programs will participate in an ongoing assessment process to address the following core questions:

1. What are students expected to know and be able to do at the end of the program?
2. How do we know that students have attained this?
3. In what ways do we use the assessment results for the enhancement of student learning?

The Roosevelt University Assessment Steering Committee (UASC) believes that the purpose of developing program improvement plans is to help programs clearly articulate outcomes that lead to informed action by the faculty and students.   Each program is being asked to collect solid data to help it decide how to adjust its curriculum to improve students’ mastery of the desired learning outcomes and to meet the requirements of the external stakeholders. 

Strategies for Achieving the Goal

The UASC plans to use several strategies in order to help colleges and departments in their efforts to achieve this goal.  The strategies include:

1. Make it clear – The UASC has provided many examples on how to complete each step of the Program Improvement Plan (PIPs).

2. Make it easy – The LOOP (Learning Outcome Open Platform) assessment software system will be implemented to support assessment planning, implementation, and documentation.

3. Make it systematic – Each year programs will engage in the assessment of student learning outcomes resulting in a model of continuous improvement at the programmatic level.