Academic Assessment

Purpose of Program Review:

The primary purpose of program review at WSU is to improve academic programs. An academic program may consist of an entire department which houses several majors, or an academic program may be a component of a department.
Program reviews are not conducted to expressly identify individual programs for discontinuance. Reviews will result in an identification of program strengths, weaknesses, and recommendations for change. The program faculty, responsible academic dean, and provost will respond in writing to these recommendations as part of a program improvement plan.

Structure of Program Review:

Program review is a three-semester process that is completed approximately every five years for each degree-granting department and/or program. When possible these reviews are timed to coincide with outside accreditation processes if applicable. Each program faculty must complete a self-study report, schedule and host an on-site visit, review and respond to site visit recommendations, commendations, and suggestions, and forward their response to the program Dean. Each Dean, in turn, crafts a response to the faculty response for submission to the Provost. The process concludes with a program/department presentation to the Faculty Senate Executive Committee (for undergraduate programs) or the Graduate Council (for graduate programs). Those bodies will review each program review including recommendations and faculty/department responses to those recommendations to make a final recommendation to the Provost. A report summarizing each program review is submitted to both WSU's Board of Trustees and the Utah State Board of Regents.

Important Dates:

Programs participating in the Program Review process should plan to complete the self-study document by November 15. Site visits should be completed sometime between February 1 and March 30, and all reports completed and filed by May 1. See the checklist at left for a detailed breakdown of the process.

Related links:

Evidence of Learning:

Purpose of Biennial Assessment Reporting:

Departments are required to report on student learning on a biennial basis. Each biennial report provides a high-level view of learning, with links to direct evidence, in program courses, general education courses, and other high-impact learning opportunities such as internships or undergraduate research. These biennial reports provide a formative means of assessing learning that culminate in a summative report provided through the 5-7 year program review process.

Structure of Biennial Assessment Reporting:

Each report is a summary of evidence gathered in the previous two academic years, summer through spring semesters. The report also provides a means for department faculty to review and update, as needed, the department mission, program-level student outcomes, curriculum grid, and assessment plan.
Reports are reviewed by the Faculty Senate Assessment Committee and other volunteers. Reviewers provide supportive feedback, augmented with feedback from the Office of Institutional Effectiveness.

Guides

Important Dates:

Gen Ed Assessment:

Assessment of the General Education program is under the direction of the faculty serving on the General Education Improvement and Assessment Committee (GEIAC).
Each spring core and breadth area sub-committees review the data and evidence of learning gathered from the previous academic year's (department or program-level) annual assessment reports. Those findings are included in the yearly report generated by the chair of the GEIAC committee.

Most recent report:

Academic Year	Link to Report	Approved by Faculty Senate
2019/20	Findings	April 08, 2021

Earlier Gen Ed Assessment reports can be accessed from the Gen Ed website.

Academic Assessment Processes