Assessment Leadership: Roles and Responsibilities
To facilitate the effectiveness and efficiency of PennWest California’s Comprehensive Assessment Plan for student learning and institutional effectiveness, the University implemented an administrative structure charged with coordinating the process. Leadership of assessment on campus rests with the Office of the Associate Provost for Assessment and Accreditation, the Director of Institutional Assessment, and the University Strategic Assessment Committee (USAC), a University-wide advisory group that provides guidance in the direction and scope of assessment across campus as well as feedback on the annual assessment reports that all units must submit.
Roles and Responsibilities
The University President communicates a commitment to University-wide assessment of academic programs, administrative functions, and student services to improve overall institutional effectiveness and student success.
The President’s Cabinet Officers are responsible for ensuring college compliance with accreditation standards and other best practices and with ensuring progress toward proficiency and sustainability in the assessment of student learning outcomes. Responsibilities regarding assessment include:
- Support and facilitate assessment at all levels
- Demonstrate institutional commitment to assessment of student learning and use of its results at all levels across the University to improve student success
- Facilitate professional development activities that support student learning and the assessment process
- Ensure timely completion of annual accreditation status reports on assessment of unit outcomes (including customer services)
- Coordinate responses to accreditation standards and recommendations as they relate to assessment of student learning outcomes and customer services
- Identify and manage budgets to support assessment
The Provost has overall responsibility and oversight of outcomes assessment processes for academic program and non-instructional customer service units.
Deans, vice-presidents, and associate provosts are responsible for ensuring that all academic programs and non-instructional service units within their respective units or departments have assessment plans, carry out assessments that meet prescribed standards, and submit annual reports that document improvements made based on assessment results. Each dean and vice president will appoint Assessment Coordinators to manage internal assessment processes and to serve as liaisons to the Office of Institutional Effectiveness.
Division heads and unit directors assign specific personnel for initiating, coordinating, and reporting assessment activities. They are responsible for the successful operation of assessment systems within their divisions and offices to achieve increased institutional effectiveness.
Faculty and staff collectively and within their respective departments, define measurable outcomes to assess, select methods and measures, and use findings to improve student learning outcomes.
The Assessment Coordinators work with department chairs, unit heads, and any other individuals designated to create the Annual Assessment Plan and Assessment Report of each unit. Coordinators are responsible for assisting units with the development of and reviewing assessment plans and reports, providing feedback to faculty and staff to improve the quality of their assessments, facilitating “Assessment Updates” for department meetings and data-based decision meetings, and assisting professional development workshops as needed with the Institution Effectiveness Director and Institution Effectiveness Liaison.
The Office of Institutional Effectiveness will offer training and consultation to Assessment Coordinators, program faculty, and staff about effective assessment practices. They will publish the annual calendar of due dates for plans and reports and provide templates and other assessment resources through their website. In addition to maintaining a central repository for assessment plans and reports, they will also review these documents for compliance with standards, provide feedback to Assessment Coordinators on necessary changes, and report to the Associate Provost for Assessment and Accreditation concerning policy compliance and opportunities for process improvement.
The Office of Associate Provost for Assessment and Accreditation (APAA) support the strategic initiatives of PennWest California by directing the implementation of the Comprehensive Assessment Plan, and overseeing the operations of both the Office of Institutional Effectiveness and the University Strategic Assessment Committee. The Office of the APAA collaborates with all divisions at PennWest California to collect, analyze, report on, and use data related to institutional effectiveness, accreditation, student success, customer satisfaction, and retention against key benchmark indicators.