"Program Review and Assessment for Continuous Improvement: Asking the Right Questions. Occasional Paper No. 48" summarizes essential questions and discussions campuses should have regarding academic program reviews and the integration of assessment into such reviews. This document contains the following Appendices related to that paper:…

Assessment drives significant change in higher education. Colleges and universities are being asked to (a) publish expected learning outcomes for each of their programs; (b) provide evidence that the expected learning outcomes are realized by students; and (c) demonstrate how such data collection and analyses lead to continuous improvement of…

Twenty years ago, the federal government in the US first required institutional accrediting organisations, America's principal mechanism for quality assurance in higher education, to review institutional practices with respect to the assessment of student learning outcomes. Much that affects quality assurance has changed in the ensuing two decades…

Integrating institutional research, outcomes assessment, program review, strategic planning, and accreditation can be a powerful means of creating a culture of evidence-based decision making and continuous improvement. This study examined how this "integrated" model is organized in practice, how such offices began, why this approach was chosen,…

Instructors at community colleges around Virginia have been assessing student learning informally and formally since their opening, but recently, with renewed emphasis on accountability and documentation, a group of faculty and administrators were brought together to study the assessment process and develop procedures to ensure that…

Oregon State University (OSU) is located in Corvallis, a community of 53,000 people situated in the heart of the Willamette Valley between Portland and Eugene. Approximately 15,700 undergraduate and 3,400 graduate students, including 2,600 U.S. students of color and 950 international students, are currently enrolled at OSU across 11 academic…

Paradise Valley Community College (PVCC), located in Phoenix, Arizona, is part of the Maricopa County Community College District (MCCCD). PVCC was founded in 1987 and in the fall of 2007 served 8,739 students in credit courses. Since 1997, PVCC has been on a quest to become a "more learning centered" college. As a result of placing…

California State University, Sacramento, commonly referred to as "Sacramento State," is a booming metropolitan university located on 300 acres in the state capital of California. The university, the seventh largest in the California State University system, enrolls a multicultural student body of approximately 29,000 students. At…

Frederick Community College (FCC) is a comprehensive open-door community college that serves the citizens of Frederick County, Maryland, the state's largest county by size and seventh in population (230,000). It is located in central Maryland, equidistant from Baltimore and Washington, D.C. The college's character as a learning college is…

Texas A&M University is a research extensive institution located in College Station. More than 45,000 students attend the university (about 20% are graduate or professional students). Academically, the university is known for its engineering, business, and agricultural and veterinary medicine programs, although there are more than 150 programs…

This article identifies concrete steps used at Argosy University/Orange County (Argosy or AUOC) to integrate assessment in daily institutional operations and utilize assessment data for educational and organizational improvements. Additionally, the article addresses the role of an institutional effectiveness committee in facilitating the…

John Carroll University (JCU) is a Jesuit Catholic institution located in University Heights, approximately 10 miles east of Cleveland, Ohio. Founded in 1888, the university has a population of 3,400 undergraduates and 800 graduate students. The Division of Student Affairs at JCU comprises 11 units. The mission of the division is the same as that…

Founded in 1821, Widener University is a two-state (Pennsylvania and Delaware), four-campus, eight-college private institution serving approximately 6,700 students. Following arrival of the new senior vice president and provost in 2004 and subsequent reorganization of vice presidential responsibilities, Student Affairs is now led by a dean of…

Northern Arizona University (NAU) is a public university nestled below the San Francisco Peaks in Flagstaff, Arizona. It enrolls more than 21,000 undergraduate and graduate students at its main campus in Flagstaff, through its 35 statewide sites, and via online program offerings. Within the university organizational system, Student Affairs has a…

Founded in 1855 as the Farmer's High School, the Pennsylvania State University (Penn State) began as a small college in Centre County providing agricultural education to young men from regional farm families. Penn State became a land-grant university in 1863 following passage of the Morrill Act. Today, Penn State enrolls more than 83,000 students…