East Carolina University
Office of Institutional Planning, Assessment, and Research
Overview of Assessment Planning and Reporting for 2009-2010:
Non-Academic Units
East Carolina University - Office of Accreditations and Assessment
Revised 24 September 2008
Revised 6 October 2008
Revised 3 September 2009
Revised February 2010
In assuring a high quality and continuous quality improvement, ECU is looking purposefully toward developing a
culture of evidence. Such a culture provides an evidence-based framework for improving, revising, and introducing
comprehensive systems for the collection, dissemination, and utilization of information on meaningful outcomes.
Such information can be used to develop new administrative processes to improve effectiveness across the
University.
The Office of Institutional Planning, Assessment, and Research (IPAR) is dedicated to a concept of quality
enhancement. The office will move the university in achieving continuous improvement by re-vitalizing engagement
of academic and non-academic units in a sound and meaningful process of outcome assessment. Although
evaluation of an institution’s educational quality and its effectiveness in achieving its mission is a difficult task
requiring careful analysis and professional judgment, an institution is expected to document the quality and
effectiveness of all its programs and services. Non-academic units will implement the procedures detailed below in
accord with the stated timeline.
The Office of Institutional Planning, Assessment, and Research plans to work with administrators to provide feedback
to each non-academic unit on its outcomes assessment activities. The major objective continues to be to provide
meaningful, consistent, and objective information to non-academic programs in order to grow a culture of
assessment and foster institution-wide improvement in institutional effectiveness.
Unit of Analysis
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East Carolina University
Office of Institutional Planning, Assessment, and Research
All non-academic units should develop an outcomes assessment plan for each distinct office or center.
Required Components
Each program should provide thorough information in these five areas:
1. Unit Description
2. Non-academic Outcomes
3. Assessment Methods
4. Specific and Measurable Criterion
5. Assessment Results
6. Improvement Actions
1. Unit Description
The program description should continue to include at minimum:

Full title of program or unit, e.g., University Advancement Division.

Location in the organizational structure, e.g.,……..

Official program or unit mission.

Listing of faculty and staff members.

National accreditations, if any.

Optional details such as unique program features.

Elements of unit’s strategic plan that apply to the program.

ECU Non-Academic Program Review Cycle
2. Outcomes
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East Carolina University
Office of Institutional Planning, Assessment, and Research
Outcomes assessment is completed in three domains consisting of five measurable outcomes: Student Learning,
Strategic Planning, and in units where applicable Foundations Curriculum.
Student Learning
Each unit should be continuing to measure at least three distinct outcomes
Strategic Learning
A fourth outcome should be a strategic planning outcome such as enrollment growth, increase in student retention,
faculty research productivity; partnership growth, etc. Assessment data will be included in the unit annual report.
3. Assessment
To meet minimum requirements for 2009-2010:

All outcomes should have at least one assessment method.

At least one of the three outcomes should have at least two assessment measures.

All administrative outcomes should be assessed using a measure directly related to the outcome.
For example, if the outcome is an increase in student persistence until graduation, the assessment
should be in the form of actual statistics, e.g., five year graduation rate of students starting in
program was 67% for students starting in fall 2002 as compared with only 62% for students starting
in 2000 and 2001. If the outcome is an increase in faculty research productivity and measures it by
criteria such as the average number of publications in refereed journals, the percentage of faculty
publishing at least one article annually, the percentage of faculty who apply for/and or receive
research grant of at least $5,000 annually, etc.
4. Assessment Results
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East Carolina University
Office of Institutional Planning, Assessment, and Research
Assessment results should be reported clearly and completely. For learning outcomes assessment instruments
should be diagnostic enough and analysis sufficiently thorough that both strengths and weaknesses can be identified.
5. Improvement Actions
Actions to be taken should directly relate to assessment results and appear to be clear, logical, and feasible. A plan
for evaluating results of improvement actions should be part of the assessment report and incorporated into planning
for the 2009-10 institutional effectiveness report.
Format
Reports should be prepared in Word format. The first page should be a description of the program including all the
items delineated under the section on program description. Each subsequent page should be devoted to a distinct
outcome, Included on each outcome page should be
1. The outcome name,
2. A description of the outcome,
3. The assessment used to measure attainment of the outcome including the conditions
surrounding the assessment (time of year, students assessed, evaluators, control on
assessment, etc.),
4. The measureable criterion,
5. The results of the assessment,
6. Identification of strengths and weaknesses, and
7. Description of improvement actions to be taken and plans to evaluate their effectiveness.
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East Carolina University
Office of Institutional Planning, Assessment, and Research
Schedule for 2009-2010 Academic Year
Completed on or before:
Non-Academic unit appoints assessment contact person and
February 26, 2010
Forwards name to Office of Institutional Planning, Assessment,
and Research.
Non-Academic unit submit 2009-2010 assessment plans to
June 1, 2010
Office of Institutional Planning, Assessment, and Research.
Non-Academic units will submit final outcome results from
October 15, 2010
2009-2010 academic year in an assessment report to the
appropriate Vice-Chancellor for review and approval.
Non-academic units will submit final approved assessment
November 15, 2010
reports to the Office of Institutional Planning, Assessment,
and Research.
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East Carolina University
Office of Institutional Planning, Assessment, and Research
Non-Academic unit implements approved plans.
November 15, 2009 – May 2010
Non-Academic unit finalizes interim assessment report including
April 1, 2010
assessment results for Fall 2009 and planned improvement
actions to be taken in Fall 2010 (based on results for Fall 2009)
and forward to respective deans. This report should be included
in the unit’s 2009-2010 annual report.
Deans approve and forward Fall 2009 interim reports
June 1, 2010
to Office of Institutional Planning, Assessment, and Research
Academic unit completes final report including
October 1, 2010
assessment results and improvement actions based on results
for 2009-2010 (Fall and Spring) and revised program descriptions,
outcomes, and assessment plans for 2010-2011 to respective
deans.
Deans approve and forward 2009-2010 reports and 2010-2011
November 1, 2010
plans to Office of Institutional Planning, Assessment, and Research
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