11. Assessment, Accreditation, and Planning

Contact

Kris Byrd
Director of Assessment, Planning, and Accreditation for CLAS
kbyrd43@uncc.edu

General Assessment Resources

• Assessment Glossary
• Equity-Minded Assessment Practices

Annual Reporting

Annual Reporting has 3 components:

• Reporting on Strategic Planning
• Reporting SLOs for each degree and certificate program
• Reporting scholarly productivity for department and program faculty

Each type of annual reporting happens in a different place within Anthology (formerly Compliance Assist). Deadlines for each fall at the end of the spring semester.

Annual Report Letter 2021-22.pdf
Strategic Plan Close Out Report Template.xlsx

Program Review

The academic program review process is intended to be a systematic self-study designed to foster program improvement. The self-study should be viewed as an opportunity to assess the effectiveness and quality of an individual unit.

The cycle for program review should be once every 7 years. The maximum time period between an extensive review should be 10 years.

Materials here include the UNCC program review guidelines and template for the written self-study and an occasional paper on the process of using program review for continual improvement from the National Institute of Learning Outcomes Assessment (NILOA). Sample self-studies from CLAS programs are available upon request.

Program Review Resources:

• Academic Program Review Template – revised 2019
• Academic Program Review Guidelines – Revised 2020

SLO Assessment Design

SLO Assessment Resources:

• A Brief Guide to Creating Learning Outcomes
• To Imagine a Verb: The Language and Syntax of Learning Outcomes Statement

Program Student Learning Outcomes Assessment Plan

Minimum and Recommended Numbers of Program Student Learning Outcomes

• Undergraduate Programs: A minimum of 4 SLOs to include 1 SLO for written communications, 1 SLO for oral communications, 1 SLO for critical thinking, and 1 discipline-specific SLO are required; 5-6 SLOs are recommended to allow for 2-3 discipline-specific SLOs.  One addition SLO is required for each concentration in a degree program.
• Graduate degree Programs: A minimum of 2 discipline-specific SLOs are required but 3-4 discipline-specific SLOs are recommended.  One additional SLO is necessary for each concentration in the degree program.
• Undergraduate and graduate certificate programs:  A minimum of 1 discipline specific SLO is required; 2-3 discipline-specific SLOs are recommended.  If the certificate is associated with a program, SLOs may be repeated.
• Concentrations:  A minimum of 1 discipline specific SLO is required but 2-3 SLOs are recommended. 

Student Learning Outcome Statement #1

Describe what a student will know and be able to do as a result of the educational program. 

1.1 Plan for Current Year – Effectiveness Measure 

Identify the data collection instrument(s), e.g., exam, project, paper, used to assess acquisition of this SLO and explain how it assesses the desired knowledge, skill or ability. The effectiveness measure should be an authentic and valid measure of the knowledge, skills and abilities listed in the SLO.  Scoring rubrics must detail the criteria on which students are evaluated. 

Scoring rubrics should be uploaded in the Supporting Documentation section below.  

1.2 Plan for Current Academic Year – Methodology 

Describe how the assessment was administered and evaluated. 

1.3 Plan for Current Academic Year – Expected Performance Outcome 

Clearly state the percentage of students you expect to show a specific level of proficiency. For example, “We expect 90% of students in capstone course to achieve “Acceptable” or higher on each Oral Communication Rubric criterion.  

Note: The performance outcome should be aspirational and achievable.