Developing An Academic Assessment Plan
For The NSHE Academic Program Proposal Form
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A comprehensive and effective academic assessment plan is required for submission of a new
academic program proposal. This document will guide you through the process of designing the
plan. The instructions state where on the NSHE Academic Program Proposal Form each
component of the assessment plan is to be inserted.
After each numbered heading below, there is a text box in which you can enter the specifics for
the academic assessment plan and, at the end, transfer the text to the NSHE Academic
Program Proposal Form.
Introduction
An academic assessment plan describes how student learning is assessed in the major/minor
programs of study, courses, and assignments. For any of these levels, you are documenting the
three-step cycle of academic assessment:
 Articulating learning objectives
 Measuring student learning outcomes
 Making pedagogical and/or curricular changes (if needed) in response to students’
collectively demonstrated levels of attainment of the learning outcomes.
There is distinction between program learning objectives and student learning outcomes.
Program learning objectives are the intended knowledge and skills students should attain by the
end of their degree program. Student learning outcomes are the actual results – the actual
knowledge and skills that students attain and collectively demonstrate upon completion of the
program.
I. Program Learning Objectives
A bulleted list of the program objectives is required for Section B of the NSHE Academic
Program Proposal Form.
As you write the program learning objectives for your academic assessment plan, consider the
following:
 What should the students know and be able to do when they complete the degree
program?
 How will they be able to achieve the program’s learning objectives?
 Write the program objectives based on the two questions above. Remember to write
program objectives that are manageable and measurable.
As you write the objectives, think of the following criteria for evaluating them:
 Are they logical, reasonable, and attainable?
 Is there a structured sequence to them?
 Are they clearly stated?
 Do they point the way to measurable results?
The following is a good example of clear, well-articulated, and measureable program objectives
from UNLV’s College of Engineering:
Our core strategy for undergraduate learning in engineering, computer science,
informatics, and construction management embraces four distinctive objectives:
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Office of the Vice Provost for Academic Affairs
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Developing An Academic Assessment Plan
For The NSHE Academic Program Proposal Form
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Graduates will be technically competent in core areas within their discipline
and related mathematics and sciences.
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Graduates will be able to work within a team and communicate effectively
through oral, graphical, and written modalities.
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Graduates will be able to synthesize diverse information to develop creative
design solutions.
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Graduates will be able to function effectively in an evolving profession.
Program learning objectives for the proposed program:
(box will expand as it fills)
II. Measuring Student Learning Outcomes
The plan for assessing the degree or program objectives is required in section C of the NSHE
Academic Program Proposal Form.
Consider the evidence of student learning where students have developed skills and knowledge
derived from the program objectives; what is it?
In preparing a plan for assessing learning objectives, consider the following:
 What methods will be used to collect information about student attainment of program
learning objectives?
 Who will collect the information?
 What instruments will be used to evaluate the collected data?
 What are the benchmarks or thresholds and how will the data be measured in relation to
the benchmarks?
Examples of good data collection methods to assess student learning at the program-level are:
 Capstone projects
 Senior Theses
 Scores on licensure, subject area, or certification exams
 Employer and internship supervisor ratings of students’ performance
 Examples of good instruments to assess student learning are:
 Rubrics
 Portfolios of student work
 Exit Surveys
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Office of the Vice Provost for Academic Affairs
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Developing An Academic Assessment Plan
For The NSHE Academic Program Proposal Form
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Measuring student learning outcomes:
(box will expand as it fills)
III. Closing the Loop
The plan for use of collected data for program improvement is required in Section D and E of
the NSHE Academic Program Proposal Form.
The next step in the assessment cycle is taking action in response to the student learning
outcomes results, also referred to as “closing the loop.” After the student learning outcomes are
assessed, it is important to determine:
 Do any pedagogical and/or curricular changes need to be made to improve
demonstrated learning?
 If so, what improvements should be made?
 When will they be made?
 How will they align with the program objectives?
 How and with whom will the information be shared?
Closing the loop:
(box will expand as it fills)
Program improvement must also be articulated. Consider:
 What is the department’s plan for acting on its findings?
 Will any curricular and/or pedagogical changes be made to help students improve in
areas where they are deficient?
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Developing An Academic Assessment Plan
For The NSHE Academic Program Proposal Form
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Process for program improvement:
(box will expand as it fills)
A good example of “closing the loop” is from the department of Journalism in the Greenspun
College of Urban Affairs:
Based on student learning outcomes results, the department made a number
of changes to the BA degree in Journalism and Media Studies program, among
which included:
The school has, essentially, abandoned the “track” system in which students
have found themselves for decades. We went from a five-track program (print
journalism, broadcast journalism, broadcast production, advertising, and public
relations), to a three-track program a few years ago (journalism, integrated
marketing, and media studies), to our new program that is trackless. As a
committee and faculty, we made note of the level of integration that media
of all forms has in our society, and how people—particularly students—are
using those media. The focus groups we held with students confirmed what
we were seeing, so we went to work to get rid of the barriers to understanding
the interrelated nature of mediated messages; both how to understand those
messages, and how to produce effective messages for a more fluid media
audience.
To ensure that our graduates – who could now chart their own path through
our major—came away with knowledge we consider to be important for all
our students, we extended the core of courses that all our majors must take
to graduate. Courses in media and First Amendment law, media history,
media ethics, media research, visual literacy, and global media now form
the core of our curriculum. Some of these courses had been required in
the past, but in our new curriculum they all are required.
Conclusion
Additional resources, such as the Assessment Toolbox and Academic Assessment Handbook,
can assist in developing a new program’s academic assessment plan and are found here:
http://provost.unlv.edu/Assessment/.
Good examples of quantitative and qualitative assessment plans such as the B.S. in Nuclear
Medicine (Department of Health Physics and Diagnostic Sciences)
http://provost.unlv.edu/Assessment/annualreports_healthscience.html and the B.A. in
Journalism and Media Studies (Hank Greenspun School of Journalism and Media Studies)
http://provost.unlv.edu/Assessment/annualreports_urban.html are available at the Outcomes,
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Developing An Academic Assessment Plan
For The NSHE Academic Program Proposal Form
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Plans and Reports section of the UNLV Academic Assessment website,
http://provost.unlv.edu/Assessment/plans.html.
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