Assessment and Institutional Effectiveness

Assessment Program Progress Report

Before the implementation of the centralized assessment plan using the Nichols model in 2006, the monitoring of assessment, though relatively decentralized, was done largely by the Office of Institutional Research Planning and Outreach. All activities of the unit were designed to determine the extent to which the goals and objectives of the University have been achieved. The Office of Institutional Research, Planning and Outreach generated a number of university documents, and the types of documents and studies. Eight goals governed the activities of the office and complement the institution's mission, goals and objectives. Among these eight goals are five that relate directly to services of the office: (1) coordination of a structural planning and assessment program, (2) maintenance of an updated data base on the university's educational programs, services and activities; (3) coordination of the QEP Plan, (4) preparation of data for inclusion in internal and external self-study reports and (5) coordination of the university's retention and graduation program. In additional, the Office of Institutional Research, Planning and Outreach provided historical, current and projected data on all of the constituents of the University; and it supplies information on the demands, trends and characteristics of society in general and higher education particular, thus enabling the University to review goals, objectives and programs more effectively.

The Office of Institutional Research, Planning and Outreach's method of disseminating information and assessment/study reports was largely through reports, university-updated brochures and an informational website dedicated to producing and making assessable to faculty key data and findings of surveys and other Institutional research data. Examples of reports disseminated by the Office of Institutional Research, Planning and Outreach and utilized for planning and program changes by academic and many non-academic departments include faculty and staff evaluation, preparation of reports, grant writing and improvement of services.

Under the new assessment model that was implemented in 2006, all institutional assessment and institutional effectiveness activities will be coordinated and monitored much more centrally. In particular, the Institutional Effectiveness Committee is responsible for ensuring that all departmental assessment activities, use of results for improvements, and assessment scheduling follow the guidelines set forth by the University's Institutional Effectiveness plan. The day-to-day monitoring of academic and academic support units' assessment activities are performed by the Project Director of ASU's Office of Accreditation. Organizationally, the Institutional Effectiveness Committee is comprised of ---faculty, staff and administrators. The Institutional Effectiveness Committee is co-chaired by two faculty members: one of the co-chairs is the Director of Title III programs, co-chair of the President Strategic Planning Committee, reports directly to the President of ASU and is a member of the President's Cabinet. Other notable permanent members of the Institutional Effectiveness Committee, is the Project Director of Accreditation, the Director of Institutional research and Planning as well as representatives from academic and academic support units .

Each spring semester, academic departments and administrative/student support units must submit an institutional effectiveness (IE) assessment plan. Each assessment plan must be developed in accordance with both departmental/unit and university goals. Academic departmental plans must be approved by a vote of the faculty (and chairs must keep minutes of the meeting) before being submitted to the appropriate dean. All IE plans/reports are then reviewed by the respective college dean or division head to make sure that the goals and objectives are congruent with those of the college/division, and are then sent to the IE Committee. The IE Committee then reviews the yearly IE plans from the institution's units to ensure that each has a well-defined mission statement and clearly articulated goals, measurable objectives (expected outcomes), and strategies and assessment tools for achieving the mission. Academic departments and programs are required to include at least two direct and two indirect measures of student learning outcomes.

The IE Committee also reviews the end-of-year IE reports from all the institution's departments/units to ensure that each is using their assessment outcomes to modify the next year's IE plan and thereby improve future performance. The IE Committee has the authority to return IE plans/reports to the departments/units with requests for modifications. The yearly IE plans and reports are maintained in hardbound form and are available for everyone's inspection on the IE website.

The university's Institutional Effectiveness Committee will be responsible for evaluating effectiveness by monitoring unit's goals and performance objectives twice each year. All units on the ASU campus (academic and support) must submit assessment plans that include means for assessing the effectiveness of programs and services. The results of the assessment are used for program improvements, planning and decision making. These units must participate fully in the university's systematic planning and evaluation process and establish goals and objectives, which are evaluated annually. Since there are disparities across many units in the documenting changes that occur as a result of assessment processes, more attention is given to the documentation of changes resulting from planning and evaluation.

The university's Institutional Effectiveness Committee assists the Office of Accreditation in evaluating their effectiveness by monitoring its goals and performance objectives twice each year. Additionally, the adequacy of the data the office provides to constituents of the university also serves to determine its effectiveness. Further, the level of satisfaction with the research reports conducted by the Office of Accreditation is reflected in the results of the Institutional Effectiveness surveys distributed with each report and data or information requests returned to the office. Deans, department chairs and directors provide assessments of institutional research reports during the Long-Range Planning monitoring sessions, and the director presents an annual evaluation at the President's Management Retreat and mini-retreats.

The four stages of Institutional Effectiveness are:

• Establish a clearly defined purpose that supports ASU/'s mission.
• Formulate goals that support that purpose.
• Develop and implement procedures to evaluate and assess the extent to which these goals are being achieved.
• Use of the results of the evaluations and assessments to improve services and programs.

Additionally, the adequacy of the data provided to constituents of the university also serves to determine its effectiveness. Further, the level of satisfaction with the research reports conducted by the Office of Accreditation is reflected in the results of the Institutional Effectiveness surveys distributed with each report and data or information requests returned to the office. Deans, department chairs and directors provide assessments of institutional research reports during the Long-Range Planning monitoring sessions, and the director presents an annual evaluation at the President's Management Retreat and mini-retreats.

As a result of its integrated assessment and evaluation system, the following results are realized:

•  Academic programs, educational support services and administrative units have revised their planning and evaluation systems to include clear delineation of how results will be used.

•  The University has implemented a systematic plan for evaluation of the effectiveness of the Core (general education) Curriculum.

The Office of Institutional Research Planning has expanded its data collection to include support personnel, facilities, equipment, services, fiscal resources and other non-academic components of the university.