Revised April 10, 2012
College of Humanities
Annual Program Assessment Cycle Guidelines
Program assessment now proceeds on an annual cycle marked by formal reports due at the
end of Winter Semester.

The University requires faculty to post annual reports for each academic program
on that program’s alignment table at learningoutcomes.byu.edu. In this College, this
requirement applies to all graduate programs, undergraduate majors, and
independent minors.

The College requires faculty to submit a brief narrative report of the assessment
cycle completed that year in each program. This report may be embedded in a
summary report for each department.
Annual Assessment Cycle
Program assessment in the College of Humanities is organized as an annual cycle that ends
with Winter Semester. During one cycle faculty assess student achievement of particular
learning outcomes in each program. These annual assessment cycles should be planned to
ensure that each learning outcome in a program is assessed carefully once every three or
four years.
Annual Retreat and Fall & Winter Assessment Days
The College begins its assessment cycles with the annual assessment retreat in which every
department is expected to participate. Faculty use that retreat to plan and initiate
assessment activities for the new cycle. To facilitate the work that follows from the retreat
the College designates one class day each semester for assessment work. On the day faculty
engage in that work students are given alternative learning activities. College designated
assessment days and retreats are to be used solely for analyzing and evaluating evidence of
student achievement of stated program learning outcomes, or for designing program
changes that such evidence demands.
Annual Reports
Two types of annual reports are required.
The University report is made by completing the alignment table for each program posted on
the editor view of learningoutcomes.byu.edu. This report is designed to record the
assessment work accomplished during the year for each program-level learning outcome. If
a particular program learning outcome is not scheduled to be assessed in a particular year a
statement should be posted on the table noting that and stating when it will be assessed.
The College report is a brief narrative document submitted by the department chair or
coordinator of a free-standing degree program recounting for each program assessment
activities during the year. That document describes how activities, including those at the
assessment retreat and the Fall and Winter Semesters assessment days, advanced the
project of a full study of student achievement of selected learning outcomes within each
program. This narrative report may be posted in the Program Assessment Repository
humassessment.byu.edu/repository/where faculty can access examples of effective
program assessment practices in the College.