Institutional Effectiveness Component Goal 2009-2012
9/1/2010
By May 13, 2012, all academic programs (list attached) will have implemented an assessment
plan that has been approved by the Learning Assessment Committee (LAC). Approval of each
assessment plan will be based on principles of good assessment practice determined by the Assessment
Plan Template developed by the LAC and approved by the College Learning Council.
In order for the faculty, collectively, to be eligible to receive the Institutional Effectiveness (IE)
component that is in addition to their normal salaries in Fall 2012, 90% of all of the academic programs
(listed below) must have developed faculty approved improvement plans. These improvement plans will
be based on the learning assessment data compiled from each academic program’s assessment plan.
The College Learning Council will monitor the progress of this criterion that 90% of all of the
academic programs (listed below) have successfully implemented their assessment plans, and report their
findings to the Board of Trustees.
It is the intention that in future 2-year cycles of Institutional Effectiveness, further steps will be
taken in outcomes-based practice development, including:
·
ensuring that all disciplines have up-to-date course outlines for all courses
·
ensuring that all disciplines have faculty-approved improvement plans developed from program
outcomes assessment
·
ensuring that all disciplines have implemented improvement plans and documented results
·
completing second, third, etc. cycles of assessment and improvement
Glossary of Terms:

Program Learning Outcomes
o

The measurable behaviors or performances that students will be able to demonstrate at
the completion of an academic program of study. (Program Learning Outcomes are often
confused with Program Outcomes – Program Outcomes maybe indirect measures of
student learning but they are primarily measures of program effectiveness such as
completion or graduation rates, academic performance at transfer institutions, job
placement rates, etc.)
Curriculum Mapping for Program Learning Outcomes
o

Program Learning Outcome Assessment Plan
o

A process that identifies where Program Learning Outcomes are introduced, reinforced
and summatively assessed within a program of study. Academic programs of study have
both curricular and co-curricular components that contribute to this process.
Plan to assess measurable behaviors or performances demonstrated by students at key
thresholds of progression through an academic program of study.
Improvement Plan
o
Plan to improve student learning and / or the assessment process based on results from
the implementation of the prior year’s Program Learning Outcomes Assessment Plan.
How Can Faculty Meet the Goal?
Many disciplines have already met parts of the goal. To confirm the progress of your program or
discipline, please contact the Director of Learning Outcomes Assessment, or Kurt Ewen, Assistant Vice
President for Academic Learning Support (kewen@valenciacc.edu).
In general, the path to completion is:
1. Contact the Director of Learning Outcomes Assessment to obtain a copy of the Assessment Plan
Template and to confirm the Program Outcomes with which you are working.
2. Coordinate with the Director of Learning Outcomes Assessment and the Faculty Director of Faculty
Development to ensure that discipline faculty receive any necessary training relating to course
outcomes, program outcomes, and assessment plans.
3. Following the Program Outcome Assessment Plan Approval and Improvement Process flow chart,
meet with all faculty in your discipline to create an Assessment Plan proposal relating to a Program
Outcome.
4. Submit the proposed Assessment Plan to the Director of Learning Outcomes Assessment for review
and approval by the Learning Assessment Committee (LAC).
5. Once the Assessment Plan is approved, coordinate with discipline faculty to make arrangements for
assessment of the program outcome according to the approved Assessment Plan. (Tip: Consider using
Assessment Day as a venue to review student artifacts, if that type of review is part of your
Assessment Plan.)
6. During the assessment, collect information about improvements that can be made to the assessment
plan, program outcomes, or course outcomes in order to improve student learning.
7. Following the assessment, meet with discipline faculty to formalize the improvement plan.
8. Once the improvement plan has been formulated and circulated among all discipline faculty for
feedback, conduct a formal vote of discipline faculty to approve the improvement plan.
9. Once the improvement plan has been approved, submit the plan to the Learning Council by emailing
the Director of Learning Outcomes Assessment, or Kurt Ewen, Assistant Vice President for Academic
Learning Support (kewen@valenciacc.edu).
Tips for Meeting the Goal
Even though the list presented above serves as a guide for faculty who are not sure where to start in
pursuit of the Institutional Effectiveness goal, it is important to note that different groups may approach
the process in different ways. That is fine as long as in the end, your discipline has:
a. Created an Assessment Plan for a program outcome that has been approved by the LAC.
b. Created an Improvement Plan and submitted it to the Learning Council.
Some ideas for doing the work include
1. Set up the meetings before you begin the work and give faculty advance notice of the dates and times.
Consider using appointments in Outlook Express to set up and inform faculty about meetings in
advance.
2. Consider using GoToMeeting for your meetings if it is difficult to get all the faculty together from
different campuses. Contact your dean for assistance with this.
3. If you have a large number of faculty in your discipline, consider setting up workgroups to draft the
Assessment and Improvement plans, rather than sitting down as a large group to formulate the plans.
This may speed the process along. However, be sure to leave time for feedback from the faculty not in
the workgroups.
4. Please contact Faculty Development (Wendi Dew) at any time for assistance on gaining the knowledge
needed to complete this work.
Faculty Not Teaching Courses Directly Related to This Work
Even if you are not teaching a course directly related to the assessment of program outcomes, your course
does contribute to the A.A. program outcomes, due to elective credits, foreign language proficiency, and
any preparatory work that prepares students for their college level communications and computation
coursework. These important components create an opportunity for you to participate in the IE process in
a variety of ways:
1. You can still participate in the development of the Assessment Plan. Contact the faculty leadership for
the discipline area and be sure that you are included in the development process.
2. You can aid faculty in the assessment of program outcomes using student artifacts. Come to the
assessment meetings; the more eyes looking at the artifacts, the better!
3. You can offer feedback on the improvement plan. Students learn along the way in ALL the courses
they take. Even if the program outcome is only being assessed in one course you don’t teach, the
material they learn in YOUR course will support their learning in the program.
Counselors and Librarians
Faculty who do not teach credit courses – counselors and librarians – also participate in the IE process.
Both counselors and librarians are already involved in creating assessment plans using the same steps and
processes outlined in this document.