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• University Committee on Assessment of Student Learning
• Members of the University Committee on Assessment of Student Learning

Forces at the state and national levels are driving us towards outcomes assessment of student learning. State legislatures nationwide are expecting greater accountability from academic institutions and recently the Secretary of Education’s Commission on the Future of Higher Education strongly endorsed the use of student learning outcome assessment as an accountability measure of institutional effectiveness. According to the Commission “student achievement is inextricably connected to institutional success, must be measured by institutions on a “value-added” basis that takes into account students’ academic baseline when assessing their results. This information should be made available to students, and reported publicly in aggregate form to provide consumers and policymakers an accessible, understandable way to measure the relative effectiveness of different colleges and universities.”

Accrediting agencies, including the Middle States Commission on Higher are requiring outcomes assessment as a part of the accrediting process. It is clear that if we do not seize the initiative, assessment processes will be imposed upon us by these entities or by the legislature.

Taking the view that if we demonstrate commitment to assessment we will be allowed to develop and maintain a program which best reflects our values and discipline uniqueness, we should take as our guiding objective the improvement of student learning through the enhancement of curricula and instruction. For this reason, outcomes assessment of student learning should take place primarily at the academic department and program level, where the information gathered can be used to improve curricula, teaching, and alignment with NJCU’s university wide learning goals.