Planning and Assessment
Ramapo College
Establishing Assessment Plans
and Annual Reports
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Why do we Assess?
• Demonstrate fiscal and human resources are
invested in ways that result in quality outcomes
which enable the institution to achieve its
mission, vision, and goals
• Evaluate Institutional Effectiveness
• Evaluate Student Outcomes
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What is Assessment?
• Process for gathering and analyzing information
to gauge your unit’s performance
• Using that information to improve your unit’s
performance
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Steps in Assessment?
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Defining a program or unit’s mission
Identifying unit goals
Developing desired outcomes/objectives
Establishing criteria for success
Monitoring progress towards the outcomes
Communicating results
Using results to make improvements
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Three Year Unit Plans
• Simple
• Workable
• Provide meaningful information to guide
decision making and improve unit
effectiveness
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Assessment Cycle
• Outcome measures (for the prior years
planning objectives) must be entered into
the WEAVE system by end of August
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Assessment Tools
• WEAVE is an online system for annually
tracking and reporting the institution’s
outcomes.
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Language of Assessment & Planning
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Mission/Purpose
Goals
Outcomes/Objectives
Measures and Findings
Action Plan Tracking
Achievement Summary Analysis
Annual Reporting (DAR Report)
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Mission/Purpose
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• The mission statement should be clear
and brief, consist of the purpose of the
unit and a brief list of key responsibilities
or services provided.
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Entering Mission/Purpose in WEAVE
Each unit will enter its mission
statement in the system. Click on
Mission/Purpose in the
Assessment tab. Enter mission
statement, click Save. After
saving, the statement will appear
and can be edited
The mission statement should be
clear and brief, consist of the
purpose of the unit and a brief list
of key responsibilities or services
provided.
Review the Mission statement at
The beginning of each assessment
cycle to be sure it adequately
reflects the purpose of the unit
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Entering Goals in WEAVE
Click on Goals in the
Assessment tab. Enter goal
statement, click Save. After
saving, the statement will appear
and can be edited
Text can be entered directly
from the keyboard or cutand-pasted from another
document
REMEMBER
Goals are warm and fuzzy. They
are non-specific, non-measurable,
and usually cannot be definitively
attained.
VERY IMPORTANT
Be sure to save information
before leaving a screen,
otherwise it will be lost; edits
can be made later.
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Outcomes/Objectives
Outcomes and Objectives are realistic targets for
programs.
High quality outcomes are:
Specific,Measurable, Achievable, Relevant, and
Time-Referenced (S.M.A.R.T.)
Outcomes and objectives are written in an active tense and
use strong verbs like “plan,” “write,” “conduct” and “produce.”
Who is going to do what, when, why (what will be
demonstrated or achieved), and to what standard?
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Entering Outcomes/Objectives in
WEAVE
• Click on Outcomes in
the Assessment tab.
Enter outcomes
statement, click Save.
After saving, the
statement will appear and
can be edited
• Text can be entered
directly from the keyboard
or cut-and-pasted from
another document
REMEMBER
Objectives are specific, measurable,
achievable, relevant and timereferenced. 3 to 5 is ideal. Not all
Outcomes need to be assessed each
year.
VERY IMPORTANT
Be sure to save information before
leaving a screen, otherwise it will be
lost; edits can be made later.
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Measures
• Tools used to determine whether your outcomes
have been achieved.
• Tools that will provide useful and useable
information.
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Entering Measures and Findings in
WEAVE
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Click on Measures and Findings in the
Assessment tab.
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The reason outcomes are tracked is to
discover where modifications can be made
to improve performance.
Click on the gray arrow beside each
outcome/objective and add findings for each
measure created, not by outcome
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Actions refer to the tasks necessary to
effect those modifications.
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Indicate the extent to which the achievement
target was “Met, Partially Met, Not Met”.
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Actions to improve performance are
desirable even when targets are met
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Click Save.
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If targets are partially met or not met further
actions are required.
At this point, you can edit what you have
written, add findings for another measure, or
go to the data entry screen for Action Plans.
All Measures need to have Findings for the
current planning year entered into the
system by September 1st.
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If the Achievement Target was “Not Met” or
only “Partially Met”, develop an “Action Plan”
to improve future results
VERY IMPORTANT
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Be sure to save information before leaving a screen, otherwise it will be lost; edits can be made later.
Achievement Targets
• Each measure should specify, when possible,
the desired level of performance (level of
satisfaction, productivity, efficiency,
performance).
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Entering Achievement Targets in
WEAVE
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The option to establish
Achievement Targets is presented
in the Measures and Findings
area
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Click on the gray arrow beside
each measure and click on add or
edit for each outcome/objective
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Click Save. You will be returned to
the Summary Measures and
Findings screen, and your newly
entered measure should appear,
with options to View, Edit, or
Delete.
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You will see the Add Measure
button at the top center of the
screen. At this point, you can edit
what has been entered, enter a
new measure, go to a different
data entry screen, or logout.
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Very important: Immediately
under the description of each
Measure, you will see a link to
Add Findings. If you have
completed the data collection for
the year, and have results
available, you can click on Add
Findings to enter that data. See
instructions under Findings.)
VERY IMPORTANT
Be sure to save information before leaving a screen, otherwise it will be
lost; edits can be made later.
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Findings=Results
• The reason outcomes are tracked is to discover
where modifications can be made to improve
performance.
• Actions refer to the tasks necessary to effect those
modifications.
• Actions to improve performance are desirable even
when targets are met
• If targets are partially met or not met further
actions are required.
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Findings
The results of assessment measures
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Analysis of Findings
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How do the results meet expected outcomes
Were the targets appropriate
What worked well
What were the most effective assessment tools
What changes or strategies would make the
results more effective
(Note: specific plans for addressing outcomes/objectives that were not
met should be listed in the Action Plan)
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Achievement Summary/Analysis
• Explain what your findings for this year mean
and how you have used or are planning to use
the information to improve your future outcomes
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Action Plan
List actions in the Action Plan which might include:
• Modifying processes, operations, or practices of
the unit
• Modifying intended outcomes or measures
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Action Plan
• Action Plans and Analyses can not be entered into
the system until data collection and analysis have
been completed for the measurement period—
typically the end of August
• If a unit collects, analyzes, and reports results more
frequently (monthly or by semester), those data can
be entered into the system at that time, but what
appears online by the end of September must be a
summary of the entire year
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Entering an Action Plan in WEAVE
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Click on Action Plan Tracking in the Assessment
tab
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Click on Add Action Plan Enhancement Action tab
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The screen shows the status of the Action Plan
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Planned
In Progress
Finished
On Hold
Terminated
Text can be entered directly from the keyboard or
cut-and-pasted from another document
An Action Plan must be completed for all Outcomes
Objectives where SPIF funds are requested. SPIF
funding requests will be collected when the
Assessment Plan is developed and should not
appear in the request for budget funds during the
annual budget submission process.
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Measure-Outcome/Objective Relationships –
click on the boxes that correspond to the correct
Outcomes which will automatically appear in the
box.
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The Condensed Description (50 characters or
less) of the Action Plan.
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Full Description of the actions your unit will be
taking
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Projected Completion Date
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Implementation Description
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Priority Level assigned (High, Medium, Low)
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Person/Group Responsible for the action
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Additional Resources Needed to carry out the
action—human, technical, or other
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Budget Amount Requested —Request SPIF
funds
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Click Save
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Achievement Summary/Analysis
• The Analysis section of the system enables the
integration and interpretation of outcome data.
It is the most important piece of the
outcomes reporting function.
• In the Analysis section, explain what all the
findings for this year mean and how they have
been used or will be used to improve future
outcomes
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Analysis Questions
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What specifically did your assessments show regarding proven
strengths or progress made on outcomes?
In this section discuss:
– how the results of this assessment demonstrate the progress made in improving
actual outcomes, or in measuring them effectively, noting the improvements
demonstrated were due to the modifications in operations or programs made
based on either this year’s or last year’s results; and
– strategies to further improve the unit’s performance based on assessment results
(including descriptions of
• Changes or modifications planned for the upcoming year's to implement those
improvement strategies; and
• (2) changes or modifications recently made based on this year’s assessment results.
(Note: your specific plans for implementing modifications should be included in the
“Action Plan” section above.)
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Analysis Questions
What specifically did your assessments show regarding
proven strengths or progress made on outcomes?
– how the results of this assessment demonstrate the progress made in
improving actual outcomes, or in measuring them effectively, noting the
improvements demonstrated were due to the modifications in
operations or programs made based on either this year’s or last year’s
results; and
– strategies for further improving the unit’s performance based on these
assessment results including:
• Changes or modifications planned for the upcoming years to implement
those improvement strategies; and
• changes or modifications recently made based on this year’s assessment
results.
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What specifically did your assessments show regarding any
outcomes that will require continued attention?
This section should include discussion of:
• any outcomes that were not met (i.e, targets “not met” or only
“partially met”)
• why that occurred, and
• strategies to improve those outcomes.
Needs identified to modify or add outcomes, measures, or targets
should be included. (Note: specific plans for addressing these
shortcomings should be listed in the “Action Plan” section)
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WEAVE Document Repository
Upload and store information about your plan
Click on Document Repository in the Assessment tab.
Click on the Upload Document tab
Click on the Browse button to locate the file you want to upload
Enter the name of the file in Document Name text box
Description – Purpose and description of the file
Expand All—contains the assessment elements with which you wish to
associate the file (the file may be associated with more than one
element.
Click Save.
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WEAVE Printing Reports
Select cycle
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FY 2016
FY 2015
FY 2014 (Current)
2008-2009 (Previous)
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