Implement co‐curricular assessments to gauge, boost student success

Abstract

Everyone in academe understands the importance of assessment for continuous improvement. Faculty are especially well versed in developing and implementing formative and summative assessments for their individual courses and collaboratively for an entire degree program. The data from these assessments can then be utilized for improvement of courses, programs, colleges, and the entire institution. However, offices outside of academic programs, such as Career Services or the Registrar's Office, for example, have not typically had the same focus nor accreditation requirements. While staff in these offices may collect data, it usually is not as structured as the assessment for academic programs, nor do they typically consider the same connection to student learning or outcomes. But with a recent push from regional accrediting bodies, this is changing.