McNeese State University

Chapter Two: Beginning The Assessment Process

Assessment is an ongoing process that is performed for purposes of improvement. Assessment is not a new concept, particularly for business and industry. Non-profit organizations and educational institutions are more recently embracing the process as well. Institutions conduct assessment for purposes of accountability. A public university is accountable to provide evidence of its effectiveness to the state governing board, the federal government, and to stakeholders. A university may perform assessment in response to a mandate from an accrediting agency or the university system or for self-evaluative purposes. Whatever the reason, assessment in higher education should demonstrate that the institution is reflecting on the quality and efficiency of its programs and services and using the assessment results to improve decision-making processes and, if necessary, to change the means/methodologies utilized to deliver programs/services.

An assessment of programs/units should set outcomes/objectives to support the mission or purpose, to identify assessment methods to measure performance, to establish benchmarks for expected performance, to measure actual performance, and to use the data collected through this measurement in a cycle of planning and evaluation.

Institutional effectiveness in an academic program is an assessment of the outcome of student learning. The assessment cycle should reveal program successes to serve as a model for best practices as well as divulge problem areas that need to be addressed to improve student learning. Institutional effectiveness in an administrative unit is an assessment of the performance of a stated objective. The assessment cycle should reveal unit successes to serve as a model for best practices as well as divulge problem areas that need to be addressed to improve services and unit efficiency. Institutional effectiveness at a university is an assessment conducted for purposes of improvement.

Keys to Effective Assessment

The reasons to assess and the process of assessment must be understood before it can be adopted. It takes leadership at the administrative level and commitment at the program/unit level to effectively assess performance and to make plans for continued improvement. The assessment plan must be continually reviewed, evaluated, and revised for improvement. The program coordinator should conduct the assessment of student learning outcomes while the unit supervisor should conduct the assessment of performance objectives.

Levels of Assessment

At McNeese State University, assessment is conducted at the program level and at the unit level.

Program-level assessment is one that involves the assessment of student learning within a specific program and at the completion of the program. For example, the NCLEX is used in the College of Nursing to determine the student’s readiness to be certified as a Registered Nurse.
Unit-level assessment is one that involves the assessment of services or efficiencies within the administrative or academic unit. For example, a service survey can be employed to ascertain the customer’s satisfaction with the unit’s performance.

Assessment Process

Step 1: Define the mission or purpose of the program/unit.
Step 2: Establish the program/unit outcomes/objectives that support the University’s mission.
Step 3: Determine the assessment methods (tools) you should use to measure each outcome/objective. Make sure that you use more than one assessment method.
Step 4: Define program/unit outcomes/objectives in measurable terms by setting performance indicators (benchmarks) as a standard of success.
Step 5: Measure outcomes/objectives to see how well the program/unit performed as compared to the performance indicator.
Step 6: Use the results of the assessment process in planning for improvement.