FAQs

Put simply, assessment answers the question, how well is an entity meetings its goals ? For an educational institution, the stated goals often involve student learning. So assessment begins with Goals. According to the Middle States Commission for Higher Education (MSCHE),

Assessment of student learning and achievement demonstrates that the institution’s students have accomplished educational goals consistent with their program of study, degree level, the institution’s mission, and appropriate expectations for institutions of higher education.

Assessment is closely linked to Continuous Improvement because the results of the assessment process are used to effect program changes.

MSCHE Criterion V requires "clearly stated educational goals at the institution and degree/program levels, which are interrelated with one another, with relevant educational experiences, and with the institution’s mission"

In addition learning outcomes should be developed with assessment in mind. In other words vague phrasing that impedes assessment should be avoided. It is also recommended that learning outcomes are kept small in number with minimal or no overlap between outcomes.

Middle states emphasizes the use of direct as well as indirect measures

• Direct measures include examinations, writing assignments, course work portfolios, etc.
• Indirect measures include surveys, interviews, etc.

Interdisciplinary programs pose their own assessment challenges, but the basic assessment process remains the same:

• Identifying student learning outcomes consistent with the program's mission
• Finding ways to measure those outcomes
• Using the results of the assessment process for program improvement

The assessment report is an annual report on student learning. The assessment committee, department chair or program director for each academic department/program is responsible for generating the report, which can be emailed to the Director of Academic Affairs Assessment (acadassess@union.edu) and Samuel Kennedy (kenneds2@union.edu). The reports are due in December annually with a notification email going out at the start of term with an exact deadline. Each report should include a summary of assessments completed during the year, results from the assessment, and changes, implemented or planned, to improve student learning. All of the reports are made available on the College's Assessment Nexus Site.

External reviews occur on approximately a 10 year cycle and represent a lot of work for chairs/directors of departments and programs. They normally take place in the Winter or Spring of the academic year.

An assessment report should still be submitted in the Fall term (e.g., Fall 2026) of an external review year (e.g., 2026-27). The reasoning here is that the assessment is backwards looking and is relatively short and can be completed in the Fall and thus may feed into the external review and be helpful in that process.

There is then no expectation of a report (though programs/departments may decide to submit one) in the year after the external review (e.g., 2027-28) as assessment data may not be collected during the external review year (e.g., 2026-27). Typically, chairs/faculty minds are more focused on the more important external review) and also assessment processes may be changing as a result of the external review.

However, data collection should begin again in the year after the external review (e.g., 2027-28) to provide data for a report the following Fall (e.g., Fall 2028) to cover assessment of the 2027-28 academic year.

There is no assessment report due in Year 5; this is superseded by the mid-external review report.