Academic unit, curricular and co-curricular assessment: The systematic collection and analysis of data to ensure that academic units’ learning outcomes align with the University mission, vision, and core values as expressed by the Institutional Learning Outcomes. Academic unit, curricular and co-curricular assessment aids to demonstrate effectiveness at achieving learning outcomes and provides a foundation for continuous improvement.
Action Plan: The Action Plan (historically referred to as the Program Review MOU) is a strategic and forward focused plan that responds to and reflects upon the knowledge gained through the self-study and external review. It considers both the strengths of the unit, as well as opportunities for improvement, transforming the recommendations from the self-study and external review into achievable goals for the unit.
Assessment plan: A plan that illustrates a unit’s alignment of learning outcomes as well as a schedule for assessing outcomes over an accreditation or review cycle.
Co-curricular activities: Defined by the WSCUC (Western States College and University Commission) as “learning experiences that supplement the formal curriculum, providing opportunities for student engagement and development outside of traditional classroom instruction. These activities are designed to enhance student learning and engagement, aligning with curricular and career goals.” Examples at CSUCI include the Writing and Multiliteracy Center, Learning Resource Center, and Learning Communities.
Continuous Improvement – an ongoing, evidence-based, and participatory process through which an institution systematically reflects on its effectiveness in fulfilling its mission, achieving educational and student success objectives, and advancing its commitment to diversity, equity, and inclusion. By critically assessing its progress and envisioning its future within the evolving landscape of higher education, the institution ensures that these insights inform both strategic planning and systematic evaluations of educational effectiveness, fostering sustained growth and excellence.
Program Assessment: The assessment of student achievement of program learning outcomes (PLOs) through a variety of direct and indirect measures of student learning.
Program Learning Outcomes (PLOs) contain the specific discipline’s knowledge, skills, and dispositions students are expected to know as program graduates. A program’s PLOs are consistent with the mission of the university, the program’s goals and values, and the standards of the discipline/area.
Program Review: Western Association of Schools and Colleges Senior College and University Commission (WSCUC) defines periodic program review as, “a systematic process of examining the capacity, processes, and outcomes of a degree program or department in order to judge its quality or effectiveness and to support improvement.”
Program Review Cycle: Program review will be conducted on a five-year cycle that is between Action Plans, per guidelines set by the CSU CO.
Self-study report: A report that articulates the nature of assessment conducted, the analysis of that data collected for the assessment, and the strategies for improvement (closing-the-loop). Self-study reports typically follow the campus self-study template. Specific exceptions for programs that undergo program specific accreditation have access to an exemption, as those accreditation reports can be submitted for program review in lieu of utilizing the template. The goal of a self-study is for faculty in the program to engage in self-reflective analysis of a number of national metrics of student success, faculty and student demographics, changes in the discipline, and student learning outcomes achievement.