Directors of Undergraduate Studies

Working with Office of Undergraduate Education

  • Collaboration on curriculum updates- work more closely to ensure alignment with university's strategic goals and academic standards
  • partnering more intentionally to identify strategies in addressing student retention and success (I am not sure how often this kind of messages trickle down to the faculty in different colleges)
  • increase communication on data collected at the local program level that may be useful for the university?
  • serves as program liaison in the assessment and curriculum space

Communication

  • local level data- what has been going well/not going well (early warning)
  • To me is what information they need from us- what else can we provide directly that can help their work? For instance, in the curricular hub, assessment page, etc.
  • coordinate and bring messages back to the faculty
  • be a champion to focus on students for any program level discussion and decision making (how the decisions impact students)

Assessment

  • Annual Assessment Report
    • Purpose
      • The purpose of the annual assessment report is to provide a continuous improvement process through meaningful assessment of student learning. Findings and discussions should guide collective actions for curricular change, better learning opportunities for students, improvement of teaching, and more effective academic support services.
    • Expectations
      • Each undergraduate academic baccalaureate program, free-standing minor and certificate program will complete an annual assessment report each academic year.
        • A minor or certificate that corresponds to a major may be embedded within that baccalaureate program's assessment report.
      • Each undergraduate degree program should assess a minimum of 3 SLOs and 3 courses each year.  Free-standing minors and certificates should assess a minimum of 1 SLO and 1 course each year.
        • Your program’s required courses should be assessed regularly, and all required courses should be assessed at least once within a 5-year cycle
        • It is also recommended that your department’s elective courses that enroll high numbers of your majors should also be assessed within the same cycle.
      • Each student learning outcome should be assessed by at least one direct assessment measure (e.g. case study, assignment, exam, presentation, etc.) identified by the faculty member.  The use of an indirect assessment measure (e.g. survey, ungraded reflection, etc.) can be used to supplement a direct assessment measure.  Also refer to the FAQ page for additional details.
      • The annual report will follow a common template, and is due no later than October 1st each year (i.e. AY 2025-26 report is due October 1, 2026).
    • Process
      • A student learning outcomes curriculum map can be beneficial to the program to visualize where students are exposed to your student learning outcomes throughout your curriculum.
      • A curriculum map can also be used to easily identify courses and faculty to participate in the assessment process in any given year based on a program’s assessment plan.
      • A program should develop an assessment plan to ensure that all of its identified student learning outcomes and required courses are assessed at least once within a 5-year cycle.
    • Report
      • A program’s annual assessment report will consist of the following information:
  1. What student learning outcomes will be assessed for the academic year along with what course each student learning outcome will be assessed in (minimum of 3 SLOs and 3 courses for majors and 1 SLO and course for minors/certificates)
  2. A description of the assessment measure(s) for each student learning outcome
    1. The measures used (at least one direct measure must be used for each student learning outcome);
    2. How many students were assessed;
    3. Establish and describe the proficiency levels (below, at, and above) for expected student achievement for each SLO within your program;
  3. Provide results for each student learning outcome assessed
    1. How many students or what percentage of your students were assessed below, at, or above proficiency?
  4. Describe how the results were shared and discussed with all program faculty and staff, and what was learned from those discussions
    1. Include meeting agendas and/or meeting minutes for documentation.
  5. What actions and/or revisions, if any, will be implemented based on your findings (i.e. curricular changes, change in courses used to assess, new or different assessment measure, implementation of a rubric, etc.)?
    1. What assessment findings will lead to future course and/or program curricular changes impacting current and future students?
  • Timeline

By mid-September (for previous academic year's assessment report)...

  • The program has shared and discussed the results with all program faculty and staff; developed any action plans for the following academic year, and submitted their completed report to their dean's office and/or the Office of Undergraduate Education by the October 1st deadline.

By late-November (for current academic year's future assessment report)...

  • program faculty have met to discuss their SLOs and identified which outcomes will be reported on in the APR (minimum of three).  Core/required courses that assess each SLO also should be identified (for both fall and spring terms), as well as the measure (exam, assignment, oral presentation, paper, etc.), to be used in the APR.  Multiple measures are highly encouraged, both direct and indirect, as well as qualitative or quantitative for each SLO.

By end of fall term...

  • program faculty from designated courses that have completed the assessments should report their results to their designated assessment point-person.  Also during this time, program faculty should discuss to determine “proficiency” levels for their students (below proficient, proficient, above proficient).

By mid-March...

  • spring courses are administering and collecting data on their assessment measures.  Faculty have begun to discuss and reflect upon results from the fall data.

By end of spring term...

  • program faculty from designated courses that have completed the assessments should report their results to their designated assessment point-person.

Over the summer or beginning of following fall...

  • Program faculty have discussed their findings from the collected assessment data, and identified ways, if any, on how to enhance the student learning experience for the following academic year.  Assessment report should be completed and submitted for the previous academic year, as well as planning for the current academic year.

By end of fall semester...

  • feedback will be provided back to programs and colleges, which may include: strengths and/or challenges, ways to strengthen your assessment plans, examples of best practice, etc.

Navigating conflicts

  • Resources

Engagement in University survey efforts

The University participates in a number of critical University-wide surveys of faculty, staff and students each year, and your support of these efforts are crucial in collecting meaningful data that can be used for continuous improvement across the University.  Additionally, the greater the participation on these surveys potentially allows for generating program-level results (e.g. SERU).  

We strongly encourage you to have conversations with your faculty, staff and students about the value of these surveys, how the results can be used, as well as how the results have been used in the past for benchmarking and continuous improvement to promote participation.  This ensures that their voice is heard as part of our continuous improvement efforts.  

A few examples of these University-wide surveys include, the University Campus Climate Survey, the Student Experience in the Research University (SERU) Survey, the College Student Health Survey (CSHS), and more.  Feel free to reach out to the contacts within those links for resources, examples or to ask any questions.  

Every voice matters.