Structuring Program Assessment To Yield Useful Information For Che Faculty

Since ABET accreditation requires comprehensive program evaluation with outcomes assessment, many faculty view assessment as solely for accreditation. Common problems such as poor faculty participation, non-sustainable efforts, and overly cumbersome processes have been reported even for “ abet successes”. Assessment can yield substantial benefits but only if the process is specifically structured to minimize problems and maximize benefits. The overriding goal, namely improvements in student learning as defined by program outcomes, is well known. However there are two critical faculty needs that are often overlooked. Faculty need to have the time to implement the assessment activities and they must believe the results. We feel this places conditions on the process such that the assessment activities must be the same as those used to determine course grades and the faculty must define both what and how to measure.