The Planning & Assessment Committee is one of seven committees that will assist NKU in conducting the self-studies necessary to prepare its Compliance Certification as part of the SACS reaffirmation process. Each of these committees has been assigned a different set of Core Requirements, Comprehensive Standards, and Federal Requirements on which to focus its attention.

 
All seven compliance committees will do most of their work during the 2007-08 academic year and have their analyses finished by the end of spring semester. Final editing of the Compliance Certification will occur during summer 2008, and the finished document will be submitted to SACS in early September.

 
Sue Hodges Moore, vice president for planning, policy and budget, is chairing the Planning & Assessment Committee. She can be contacted by phone at extension 5508 or by email at hodgesmoore@nku.edu. Additional members of this committee will be posted here after they are confirmed.

 
Gauging and reporting NKU's on-going assessment activities is this committee's most critical challenge.

Achieving this goal will ultimately require the committee to obtain input from every unit on campus and explore all spects of the university's assessment efforts from planning through implementation to evaluation and then back to the beginning and "closing the loop," which is a favorite SACS's phrase for establishing new and/or revised goals for the next planning cycle that are based on the accomplishments achieved during the just-completed cyle.

This committee will need to provide SACS with clear evidence that NKU is committed to continuous improvement and is actively engaged in assessment efforts at all levels of operation, across all divisions of the university, all the way down to the level of individual course offerings and specific service deliveries. For the academic side of the university, the committee will need to show that NKU's assessment efforts are focused on the student learning outcomes established for each academic program. For the administrative side of the university where the operational linkage to student learning outcomes is much less direct, it will be necessary to show how assessment efforts focus on each operating unit's contributions to achieving the overall mission and goals of the university.

Since the university is now in the process of refining and integrating some elements of its strategic planning process, is introducing new software (WEAVEonline) to more effectively track and report on planning and assessment, and is encouraging further expansion of program-level assessment efforts within academic departments, this committee will have an opportunity to assume a key leadership and educational role in extending these processes rather than being limited to reporting on what is already being done.

 
The following are the SACS and federal requirements and standards this committee will address:

SACS Core Requirements

2.5

The institution engages in ongoing, integrated, and institution-wide research-based planning and evaluation processes that (1) incorporate a systematic review of institutional mission, goals, and outcomes; (2) result in continuing improvement in institutional quality; and (3) demonstrate the institution is effectively accomplishing its mission. (2007 revision)

SACS Comprehensive Standards

3.3.1	The institution identifies expected outcomes for its educational programs (including student learning outcomes for educational program) and its administrative and educational support services; assesses whether it achieves these outcomes; and provides evidence of improvement based on analysis of those results. (2007 revision)
3.5.1	The institution identifies college-level competencies within the general education core and provides evidence that graduates have attained those competencies.

Federal Requirements

4.1	The institution evaluates success with respect to student achievement, including as appropriate, consideration of course completion, state licensing examinations, and job placement rates.