Annual Program Assessment Worksheet
for Academic Units
Name of Program: _________________________
Academic Year: _______________
The following pieces of annual program assessment information are things that you must be
prepared to submit in Taskstream (http://www.taskstream.com). Please reference this
information and, if desired, prepare your annual program assessment information in advance
either using the space provided or on a separate page.
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1) Mission Statement—What do you do? What results do you expect?
State the core mission and purpose of the department. Keep it brief; usually no more than 1012 words. Example: The History Department cultivates critical understanding of the past and
critical thinking for the future.
If desired, please prepare your Mission Statement in the provided space below or on a separate
page:
2) Program Objectives reflect future expected results of the department, separate from student
learning outcomes. They may describe what your department will do to prepare students for
work and graduate school, or may describe the expected accomplishments of graduates
during the first few years after graduation. What are we doing as a department to achieve our
mission? What do we expect graduates to accomplish after they leave our program?
Examples: Graduates will be prepared for careers in the workplace or for admission to
graduate and professional programs; Graduates will be life-long learners and stay informed
about their professional fields. This is an optional task.
If desired, please prepare your Program Objectives in the provided space below or on a separate
page:
3) Student Learning Outcomes are statements of what we want graduates to be able to think,
know, and do at the time of graduation. They should be specific, student-oriented, include
active verbs (see Bloom’s taxonomy), and be measurable by multiple measures. Focus on
knowledge, skills, attitudes and behaviors that are observable and measurable. At the
completion of their degree, what do you want students to know, think, and do? Examples:
Design a research project using the scientific method; Explain the major concepts and
theories of a field; Demonstrate ethical and professional responsibility.
Student learning outcomes should be nested within broader departmental goals or objectives.
Ideally, each broad departmental goal or objective should be substantiated with multiple
student learning outcomes. Example of objective: Students will demonstrate written and oral
communication competencies: Examples of nested student learning outcomes: Students will
prepare written reports of research projects; Students will give presentations of research
projects at a regional or national conference.
If desired, please prepare your Student Learning Outcomes (and the broader departmental
goals/objectives that they are nested within) in the space provided below or on a separate page:
4) Student Learning Outcome Mapping—How do your objectives align with other
objectives?
After your department’s student learning outcomes have been finalized, you should map
them to other sets of student learning outcomes. These outcome sets include the: (1) Texas
Core Curriculum Outcomes; (2) Texas A&M System Outcomes; (3) TAMUT Graduate
Outcomes; (4) TAMUT Research Outcomes; and (5) TAMUT Service Outcomes.
To complete this section, please reference the “Program SLO Mapping Worksheet” on the
University Assessment Procedures webpage (http://tinyurl.com/UAprocedures).
5) Curriculum Maps provide departments with the opportunity to visualize how their course
offerings align with their student learning outcomes. You can specify whether a specific
student learning outcome has been: (a) introduced (taught); (b) practiced (exercised through
ungraded student activities); and/or (c) reinforced (exercised through graded student
activities or assignments). Each student learning outcome will be “mapped” to each relevant
course offered in which skills, abilities, and/or knowledge pertaining to that student learning
outcome were introduced, practiced, or reinforced. Example: SLO 1 was reinforced in PSYC
102, while SLO 2 was taught in PSYC 102 and reinforced in PSYC 375. This is an optional
task.
If desired, please create a table and plan your curriculum map in the space provided below or on
a separate page:
6) Assessment Plan—How do you know what your students have learned?
Specify what measures you will use to demonstrate students’ achievement of each student
learning outcome. Provide information on: (a) the type of measures you will use; (b)
descriptions and details of these measures; (c) what the acceptable student performance target
and ideal student performance target is; (d) the implementation plan (timeline in which the
measure will be administered, and how often the measure will be administered); and (e) who
is responsible for the management of the measure (personnel/department).
One decision that will frequently need to be made surrounds the use of direct assessments,
indirect assessments, or both:
 Direct assessments analyze student behaviors or student products to demonstrate the
extent to which students have mastered learning outcomes. Examples include research
projects, oral presentations, portfolios, exams or part of exams, comprehensive exams,
recitals, thesis projects, essays, etc.
 Indirect assessments analyze perceptions of the extent to which students have mastered
learning outcomes. Examples include surveys, focus groups, exit interviews, etc. with
students to determine their perceptions of their learning.
If desired, please prepare all the details of your assessment plan in the space provided below or
on a separate page:
7) Assessment Findings—What have your students learned?
Once your measures have been administered and you have received this data, you will need
to provide a summary of your findings. This summary will often include information on the
performance levels your students obtained and how many of them performed at each level.
You will also be asked to indicate: (a) whether students met/exceed the acceptable standard
and the ideal standard; (b) what actions your department will take to either maintain or
improve student performance; and (c) any comments or notes that may be helpful to include.
Example: 70% of students’ scores met or exceeded the passing score on a certification test.
The acceptable standard (70%) was met, but the ideal standard (85%) was not met. The
department will examine students’ subscores to identify students’ strengths and weaknesses,
and will use this information to make instructional and curriculum design changes. Note that
the national norm for passing scores on this test is that 70% if test-takers pass the
certification test.
If desired, please prepare all the details of your assessment findings in the space provided below
or on a separate page:
8) Dissemination of Findings—Who will see your assessment findings, and why?
In this section, please identify the individuals, departments, and/or colleges who will have
access to your assessment findings or who your department will actively share assessment
findings with. Please also describe why the findings are being shared. This information can
be conveyed in 1-2 sentences. Example: Assessment results will be shared with psychology
department faculty during faculty meetings for decision-making purposes.
If desired, please prepare all the details of how to plan to disseminate your findings in the space
provided below or on a separate page:
9) Program Improvements—What are your specific plans for maintaining or
improving student performance?
Provide detailed information on your department’s plans for maintaining or improving
student performance. In addition to providing details on your implementation plan
(timeline/frequency) and on who is responsible for carrying out each improvement plan, you
must also provide information on what measures you will use to determine whether your
plans are working. Finally, you must also indicate whether your plans requires a budget and
what priority level (high, medium, or low) you are assigning to each plan. Example: Recruit
the Success Center to visit the class and discuss the resources they have to help students
learn effective studying skills and opportunities they have for students to participate in
Supplemental Instruction (SI) sessions. Faculty in the biology department will keep track of
how many students utilized these services throughout each academic year. No budget amount
is requested; this is a medium-level priority for the department at this time.
If desired, please prepare all the details of how to plan to disseminate your findings in the space
provided below or on a separate page:
10) Status of Program Improvements—Is your improvement plan effective?
Provide information on your department’s current status in implementing your improvement
plan, in addition to your budget status. Provide additional information elaborating on both
statuses, and describe next steps for your department. Example: All faculty have scheduled
dates for the Success Center to visit their classes. Dr. Who will keep track of students’
Success Center participation rates. Next steps involve finalizing the survey that Dr. Who will
use to track students’ participation rates.
If desired, please prepare all the details of how to plan to disseminate your findings in the space
provided below or on a separate page: