Assessment Information
The Office of Assessment provides insights about students, outcomes, and effectiveness to the institution.
What is Assessment?
Assessment is an ongoing process aimed at understanding and improving student learning. It involves making our expectations explicit and public; setting appropriate criteria and high standards for learning quality; systematically gathering, analyzing, and interpreting evidence to determine how well performance matches those expectations and standards; and using the resulting information to document, explain, and improve performance. – Tom Angelo, AAHE Assessment Forum
Assessment is the systematic collection, review and use of information about educational programs undertaken for the purpose of improving student learning and development. – Palomaba & Banta, Assessment Essentials
There are five primary activities of assessment:
- Deciding what is important to know about student learning and institutional effectiveness
- Choosing the best ways to measure those objectives
- Gathering and analyzing information and data
- Communicating results to appropriate constituencies
- Using the information to for accountability and improvement.
University of Northwestern is committed to the development and implementation of an assessment plan that focuses on important outcomes, uses multiple measures to gather the best information, uses the information to improve, and distributes this information to interested stakeholders.
Assessment Steering Committee
Purpose: The Assessment Steering Committee provides guidance and support to the institution in developing and implementing institution-wide assessment plans and reports, analyzing and interpreting assessment results, and disseminating assessment results to the university community. Specific focus is given to the assessment of student learning in the academic programs across venues, including curricular as well as co-curricular assessment efforts.
Membership: The committee incorporates both staff and faculty representation. Membership includes 6 faculty (at least 1 from each traditional college), the Director of Assessment & Teaching Excellence, the institutional researcher, and one representative each from CGOAL, Learning Design & Innovation, the Berntsen Library and from Student Life.
Responsibilities:
- Provides leadership in the assessment of department, program, service and learning outcomes
- Consults with and advises the Director of Assessment & Teaching Excellence on matters related to policy and procedure associated with academic assessment
- Designs, develops, approves, or selects instruments that most effectively assess institution-wide outcomes
- Analyzes the results of assessment initiatives and assists departments and offices to periodically publish reports to stakeholders for the purposes of initiating appropriate change
- Reviews departmental assessment plans and annual reports
- Periodically evaluates the campus-wide assessment plan
The Assessment Handbook contains information for faculty, relating assessment fundamentals, and guidelines for academic departments and professors.
Assessment Coordination
Dr. Joel Johnson
Vice Provost for Academic Administration & Assessment
[email protected]
Dr. Nathan Lentfer
Director of Assessment & Teaching Excellence
[email protected]
Christa Rhodes
Assessment & Quality Assurance Specialist
[email protected]
Tom Yenter
Institutional Effectiveness Analyst
[email protected]
