MISSION
CMU MISSION STATEMENT as of 12-02-10
At Central Michigan University, we are a community committed to the pursuit of knowledge, wisdom,
Discovery and creativity. We provide student-centered education and foster personal and intellectual
growth to prepare students for productive careers, meaningful lives, and responsible citizenship in a
Global society.
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Mission must describe aspirations of the program.
Mission statement is clear.
Mission statement informs public of its purpose.
Mission statement articulates what it should be remembered for.
Mission statement is broad.
Mission statement supports university’s overall mission.
Examples of Mission Statements Approved By Assessment Council
The purpose of the Apparel and Merchandising and Design program is to prepare students in the
design, production, presentation and distribution of apparel and textile products and services using state of
the art resources and technology. The program prepares students for a variety of professional careers in
the apparel and textile industry.
The mission of the meteorology program is to provide a rigorous education that synthesizes theory and
application, enabling its students to think critically, develop the ability to become life-long learners, and
make productive contributions to society. The program values maintaining a competitive approach to
meteorological education that includes an evolving, contemporary curriculum coupled with facultyguided undergraduate research.
The Adult Education Conc, MA program is designed to provide knowledge and skills for individuals to
function effectively in positions of leadership or teaching in the adult education environment. This is not a
certification program for teachers or administrators, but may be utilized for professional advancement.
The Master of Science in Administration (MSA) program is an interdisciplinary graduate program with an
applied focus. Its central purpose is to prepare managers, administrators, and supervisors in both private and public
sector environments to function effectively within all types of organizations and at all levels of administration. The
MSA degree's main thrust is action-oriented, forward-looking management within a broad organizational
perspective. This degree is highly sensitive to the constituencies and the demographic and cultural environments it
serves. The uniqueness of this degree program is its ability to adapt the necessary academic processes and course
work to an organization's rapidly changing informational and technological needs.
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GOALS
Assessment Council Requirements
 Clearly Stated
 Bridges the outcomes with the mission
Guiding Questions: (at least one goal and less than 8)
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What are the most important knowledge and skills students gain by studying in your field?
What does your program contribute to that knowledge and skill base?
What do you want students to know or be able to do at the end of your program?
What do students think are the most valuable skills or abilities they have developed from taking this program?
What do students think is the most important knowledge they have gained from taking this program?
What do existing program descriptions state about the program?
What distinguishes this program from other programs in the department or program?
How do your program goals and objectives contribute to general education, program, and major goals?
Descriptor of Goal
Examples of Goals
• Acquire knowledge of human cultures and the physical world through study in the arts,
humanities, languages, mathematics, natural sciences, and social sciences
• Understand social and cultural diversity in national and global contexts
• Demonstrate advanced learning and synthesis in both general and specialized studies
• Think critically, creatively, and independently
Intellectual Skills and
• Gather, analyze, integrate, and apply varied forms of information; understand and used evidence
Practice
• Communicate Effectively
• Interact effectively and collaboratively with individuals and across social identities.
• Engage in and take responsibility for learning; strive for excellence
• Examine one’s own values and their use as ethical criteria in thought and action
Personal and Social
• Interrogate one’s own values in relation to those of others, across social and cultural differences
Values
• Develop practical competencies for managing a personal, professional, and community life
• Apply learning to find solutions for social, civic, and scientific problems
• Integrate and apply knowledge and creative thought from multiple disciplines in new contexts
Transformation
• Embrace intellectual integrity, humility, and courage
• Foster habits of mind and body that enable a person to live deliberately and well
• Develop an enduring passion for learning
Example of goals approved by the Assessment Council
Knowledge
Knowledge
Provide students with a body of knowledge and a system of inquiry and scholarship that inform and enrich their professional
preparation.
Job Skills
Prepare students with job skills necessary to establish accountability to employers.
Professionalism
Prepare students for a profession in which they are accountable to clients and the public for their ethics, service and professional
competence.
Communication
Students will be able to effectively convey meteorological information to a diverse audience including the general public,
professional meteorologists, and policy makers.
Critical Thinking
Students will observe, analyze, and logically integrate atmospheric processes to solve and/or recommend solutions to problems.
Skills
Students will integrate diverse qualitative and quantitative abilities towards formulating and solving meteorological problems,
using field and computing instrumentation.
Knowledgeable Professionals
Graduates of the MSND program will be knowledgeable nutrition professionals
Competent Researchers
Graduates of the MSND program will be able to conduct and/or utilize research to ensure evidence based practice.
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Outcomes
Assessment Council Requirements
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Distinctive student-centered tasks consistently stated in measurable terms.
 Show progress culminating in higher level cognitive functions.
Guiding Questions:
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Learning outcomes are stated operationally, and describe the observable evidence of a student's
knowledge, skill, ability, attitude or disposition.
What must students do to achieve the goals?
Are the outcomes actionable? Meaning, is there a specific function students must perform?
State clearly each outcome you are seeking: How would you recognize it? What does it look like? What
will the student be able to do?
Descriptor of Goal
Knowledge
Comprehension
Application
Analyze
Analyze Example
Synthesis
Synthesis Example
Evaluation
WORDS TO AVOID
hard to measure!
Words to use when writing outcomes
Defines, describes, identifies, labels, lists, matches, names, outlines, reproduces, selects,
states
Converts, defends, distinguishes, estimates, explains, extends, generalizes, gives
examples, infers, paraphrases, predicts, rewrites, summarizes.
Changes, computes, demonstrates, discovers, manipulates, modifies, operates, predicts,
prepares, produces, relates, shows, solves, uses
Breaks down, diagrams, differentiates, discriminates, distinguishes, identifies,
illustrates, infers outlines, points out, relates, selects, separates, and subdivides.
Students will distinguish among carbohydrates, lipids, proteins, and nucleic acids with
respect to chemical structure.
Categorizes. combines, compiles, composes, creates, devises, designs, explains,
generates, modifies, organizes, plans, rearranges, reconstructs, relates, reorganizes,
revises, rewrites, summarizes, tells, writes
Students will devise an experiment using the scientific method.
Appraises, compares, concludes, contrasts, criticizes, describes, discriminates, explains,
justifies, interprets, relates, summarizes, supports
Know, learn, increase, really know, expand horizons, understand, approach, appreciate,
improve, become, grow.
Approved Student Learning Outcomes
Students will demonstrate and apply basic skills in textiles, design, and
Basic Skills
merchandising.
Students will demonstrate knowledge of the cultural and ethnic diversities that
Diversities
exist among individuals and groups locally and globally.
Students will have presented or exhibited their work in a scholarly or
Research or Design
professional venue during their academic program.
Identify and explain the basic concepts of journalism and mass communication
Basic Concepts
(in a mediated society) necessary to be a professional practitioner.
Conduct independent investigation to gather, analyze, organize, and synthesize
Independent investigation
information (words, images, and numbers) on a contemporary topic.
Communicate information (words, images, and numbers) effectively to
Communicate through
particular audiences and through specific delivery systems.
Media
Students will use current information technologies to locate and apply evidenceUse of Information
based guidelines and protocols, such as the ADA Evidence Analysis Library,
Technologies
Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews, the U.S. Department of Health and
Human Services, and Agency for Health Care Research and Quality, and
National Guideline Clearinghouse Web sites.
Students will demonstrate effective and professional oral and written
Professional
communication and documentation and use of current information technologies
Communication
when communicating with individuals, groups and the public.
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Measures
Assessment Council Requirements
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Measures clearly described and appear appropriate.
Consistently linked to outcomes.
Multiple strategies using a combination of both direct and indirect measures.
Guiding Questions:
Are the measures worded in a way that is quantifiable?
Complete the Measurement Description by answering these six questions.
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2.
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6.
What is the measure? At a glance, can one gain an idea of the measurement instrument and its purpose?
For instance, is it a test, portfolio, journal, or project?
Why is the measure important? Out of all the measures available to assess students in your program, why
is this one of the best measures?
When is the measure used to assess student learning (per semester, every other semester, yearly, every
other year, at the end of senior year)?
Where does the measure fit in the program? Answer this question by identifying where the measure fits in
the curriculum sequence or is it at the beginning, end, or conducted after graduation?
Who will administer measure and then evaluate the results (multiple faculty members, department
assessment committee, or third party)?
How is the measure administered (through blackboard, paper documents, oral communication, survey
monkey)?
Examples of Direct Measures
Essay test question
Term paper
Oral presentation
Multiple-choice test question
Performance piece (e.g., musical recital)
Case analysis
Standardized test
Class project (individual or group)
Poster presentation
Examples of Indirect Measures
Focus Groups
Surveys
Attitudes
Values
Beliefs
Journals
Interviews
Portfolios
Examples of measures approved by the Assessment Council
Comprehensive
Exam
Case Studies
Group Project
A comprehensive exam will be taken annually at the end of the final core course in our
sequence (MET 480). This exam will assess the knowledge base acquired in the majority
of our learning outcomes. The purpose of the exam is to evaluate the extent of
comprehension and long-term retention of chosen learning outcomes. MET 480 is
typically taken in the second semester of the senior year. All faculty will contribute to
designing, scoring, and revising the exam. The exam will be multiple-choice, in order to
eliminate subjectivity in evaluation and ensure year-to-year comparison.
Students will complete meteorological case studies of a historical weather event, and will
present them in both oral and written form. Students will present weekly weather
discussions and analyse cases within groups in MET 345, taken during the second
semester of the junior year. At the end of MET 450, typically taken first semester of the
senior year, students will conduct more detailed oral presentation and written reports as
individuals. This will be the assessed activity. Evaluation of oral case studies in MET 450
will be conducted by all three tenure-track faculty. Performance will be assessed
according to a rubric that will assess the quality of student’s ability to integrate concepts
learned in a variety of courses into an analysis of a significant weather event.
Students will complete a group project in which all students will run a numerical weather
forecast model and evaluate sensitivity to specific parameters. Students will summarize
their findings in a written report. Students will do this in MET 480, the final course in our
sequence. MET 480 synthesizes information that has been learned throughout the
curriculum, hence this course serves as a capstone experience, with this project as a focal
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point. Successful completion of the project will be evaluated by a rubric. The rubric
addresses the student’s ability to: configure and execute the numerical model, display
results graphically, and perform a comparative analysis to other student's results.
Targets
Assessment Council Requirements
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Level of expected performance clearly identified.
If possible, rubrics should be included.
Guiding Questions:
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Are the targets quantifiable in nature using %, #, $?
Is the target population clearly defined? For instance, is the measure targeting 60%, 70% or 80% of the students or is
the target population the majors?
Is the target reasonable?
If benchmarks are used such as national means, are they accessible?
Measure
Examples of Targets
Senior synthesis or
culminating project
Student interviews
90% of students will meet or exceed expectation (see rubric)
Final Leadership Exam
75% of students will pass the final exam with 80% or better.
80% of students will have satisfactory rating of the program.
Examples of approved targets by Assessment Council
Measure
Comprehensive
Exam
Case Studies
Target
75% of students will answer 70% of the questions on this outcome correctly.
Group Project
80% of students will meet or exceed expectations as defined by attached rubric.
Independent Study
10% of students graduating from the Meteorology Program will conduct independent
research and present the research at SRCEE and/or Posters at the Capitol.
85% of students will meet or exceed rubric criteria focused on this outcome. These rubric
criteria evaluate three different aspects of the written report and oral presentation.
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