Institutional Planning and Assessment Policy

Purpose

McNeese State University engages in comprehensive, data-driven, ongoing, and systematic planning and assessment for the purpose of continuous improvement. The comprehensive planning and assessment process allows the institution to communicate a clear focus on mission accomplishment, to anticipate challenges, build resilience, improve decision making, and develop clear strategic objectives for the institutional mission.

Institutional Mission Planning and Assessment

Broad based institutional planning and assessment that drives the university mission is overseen by the Executive Leadership Team (ELT) comprised of the President, the Senior Vice President, the Provost and Vice President for Academic Affairs, the Vice President for Business Affairs, and the Director of Athletics. Each ELT member is responsible for and supervises personnel for programs and day-to-day operations vital to the overall institutional mission.

Operating, auxiliary, and athletics budgets that support the mission are generated during the spring and summer and then monitored throughout the year by the ELT, with budget status reports submitted to the University of Louisiana System (ULS) for review.  Ongoing planning and assessment of budget status is used to ensure fiscal stability of the institution. The assessment process is the foundation for continuous improvement and planning. 

Institutional and Unit Assessment Procedures

The Office of Institutional Research and Effectiveness (IRE) coordinates the outcomes assessment process.  Each academic program, as well as each administrative unit, is responsible for assessment and continuous improvement for its academic program(s) and primary work. The IRE office distributes information regarding the planning and assessment schedule.

The following definitions pertain to the planning and assessment process:

Academic Program: A formal course of study that leads to a degree or certificate authorized by the Board of Regents.

Administrative Unit: An organizational unit with a mission or purpose that does not include offering credit-bearing courses that lead to a degree but instead provides services and operational support to fulfill the university’s mission.

Assessment Plan: A document in a format specified by IRE that articulates the program or unit’s mission, the intended outcomes of its work, methods used to measure the intended outcomes, and targets for determining success.  The assessment plan articulates how analysis of outcomes is used to make plans for improvement or set new targets.

Co-Curricular Unit: An organizational unit with a mission that does not include offering credit-bearing courses that lead to a degree but does address student learning activities in addition to providing services and operation support in fulfillment of the University’s mission.

Program’s Outcomes: The program’s outcomes describe the unit’s fundamental purpose(s) and how the unit contributes to the university’s mission. The program’s objectives should be focused on the quality and impact of the unit’s work rather than on specific completion of tasks.

Student Learning Outcomes: Statements that describe what students should know related to discipline content and/or skills the students should have upon completing a course project, exam, assignment activity, or academic program. Student learning outcomes must measure student learning that occurs in the course or program.

Roles and Responsibilities

The President, provost, vice presidents, executive directors, deans, and supervisors have overall responsibility and oversight for outcomes assessment processes for academic programs, administrative, and co-curricular units within their area.

Academic program coordinators and general education coordinators are responsible for ensuring that all academic programs and the general education program courses within their respective departments have assessment plans that are submitted timely with outcomes data collected, analyzed, and used for improvement planning.  Administrative unit supervisors ensure responsibilities for assessment and planning are assigned to appropriate personnel within their unit.

General Education Assessment

The General Education Council (GEC) is responsible for ongoing review of the General Education Curriculum and related outcomes assessment. All courses in the General Education Curriculum must assess student achievement for one of the university’s areas of general education student learning outcomes.

Academic Program Assessment

Academic programs identify two or three broad based outcomes that students achieve because of completing the program. Two to four key student learning outcomes should be identified for assessment purposes. Student learning outcomes must be measured by appropriate assessment tools and demonstrated in courses by exams, essays, projects, skills demonstration, or other measures. A small number of student artifacts to support demonstration of student learning should accompany the academic program assessment report. Analysis of SLOs should drive plans for improvement which are included in the Academic Program Assessment as the plan for improvement to be measured in the next assessment cycle.

Administrative Unit and Co-Curriculuar Unit Assessment

Unit assessment requires academic department heads and academic support or administrative unit heads to determine appropriate performance objectives that support the institutional mission as well as the mission of the respective unit. Objectives are evaluated and used for continuous improvement and support of the institutional mission.

Related Policies

Responsibilities of Academic Staff
Exams or Student Learning Assessment Policy

Communication

This policy is distributed via the University Policies webpage.