TOOLKIT FOR PROGRAM EFFECTIVENESS

In response to recent trends in higher education, necessity of accountability for student learning, and in accordance with new requirements stated by our National Accrediting body SACS, we have developed the following resources based on best practices across the nation.

DEFINE A MISSION STATEMENT

Consider the mission statement as a declaration of purpose or affirmation of what is being achieved. Mission statements should provide clarity as to what is Though SACS does not require individual courses to define a mission statement, every College, Department, and Academic Program on campus needs to define a mission statement.

If your department or program has not defined a mission statement, it is important to consider the purpose of the department or program as it relates to the University mission. Sample mission statements at NKU include:

College of Education and Human Services Mission
Department of Mathematics Mission
Respiratory Care Program Mission

DEFINE STUDENT LEARNING OUTCOMES (SLOs)

SLOs are an explicit way to define educational experiences for students, so that they know what skills and experiences they can expect to acquire through their experience in the major or program. Currently, SACS requires that:

"The institution identifies expected outcomes for its educational programs and its administrative and educational support services; assesses whether it achieves these outcomes; and provides evidence of improvement based on analysis of those results." - Comprehensive Standard 3.3.1, SACS Principles of Accreditation.

In order to comply with this standard, NKU is asking all Academic Programs and Departments, as well as Administrative and Educational Support units to define outcomes that relate to the program mission, are learner-centered, and focus on benefits to students.

One of the most popular resources for writing SLOs is Bloom's Taxonomy. For examples and further explanation of SLOs visit our SLO website.

In order to embed those SLOs for the program throughout the curriculum, facutly are encouraged to define course-specific SLOs that define what students will achieve during the course of the semester. These SLOs can then be tied to the program SLOs aimed at learning across the course of a major. To find out more about syllabi, link to our Syllabi FAQ page, or to our list of model syllabi on campus.

SLOs FOR GENERAL EDUCATION COURSES

• SLOs approved during the recertification of general education courses in 2002 must be utilized (click here for a copy of the Gen Ed SLOs)
• All general education courses must include each of the approved SLOs in syllabi for each course section
• Faculty are encouraged to develop additional SLOs for their General Education courses beyond those defined in the recertification, yet additional SLOs are not required. For those courses which develop SLOs specific to the program major that enhance the general education SLOs, please use a statement referring students to the list of General Education Program Areas of Emphasis listed in the catalog

ESTABLISH GOALS

It is important to define how student learning outcomes aligned with the mission statement are set forth and achieved; most commonly this is achieved by establishing goals or objectives that specify measurable criteria. Once the goals are implemented with effort to address the defined SLOs, progress in achieiving the goals can be tracked through an assessment plan.

Goals should be forward-thinking, and for the purposes of SACS reaffirmation, we ask that the goals you define are based on a two-year timeframe. Goals should be clearly defined in terms of not only the program mission, but also the college or school mission, and align with the university mission.

DEVELOP ASSESSMENT OF STUDENT LEARNING

The office of Curriculum, Accreditation and Assessment will be introducing WEAVE online software in Fall 2007 to facilitate administration of student learning outcome assessment and strategic planning on campus.

Until the software is fully operational, you may continue to consult the following resources for more information while developing your draft plans:

Assessment Guidelines
Assessment Plan Frequently Asked Questions
Assessment Plan Template