PSU's Assessment Initiative

PSU's Assessment Initiative (AI)

Assessment emerged as one of the primary institutional needs identified by faculty, staff and students in the 1999 Commission on Campus Climate and Life Report. From this report, the president identified “Assessment” as one of three campus wide initiatives that was to begin in 2000. The assessment initiative focuses on improving the quality of student learning by assisting departments to identify student learning outcomes for their majors, addressing where these student learning outcomes occur within their curricula, assessing student work samples and using the information gained to enhance their course offerings.

During 2003-2004, the Presidential Assessment Initiative (AI) will focus on implementation of all PSU departmental assessment plans. Every unit on campus will have collected, analyzed and utilized data collected about student learning in keeping with their student learning objectives and their unit's assessment plan. In efforts to design a holistic approach to assessment and student learning outcomes, this initiative is linked to program review and accreditation. The center of this year's Assessment Initiative are the Assessment Implementation Teams which comprise the Dean, Associate Dean, an Implementation Team Faculty Leader, and ImplementationTeam Faculty Members from every unit across campus along with an Assessment Initiative Graduate Assistant.

Martha Balshem, Interim Director of the Center for Academic Excellence oversees the Assessment Initiative. The CAE Faculty-in-Residence for Assessment is the faculty of record for the AI’s graduate course, ASC 510 Academic Assessment, and facilitates the course with the CAE Assessment Associate. The CAE Assessment Associate is the primary contact person for the AI Graduate Assistants and faculty members new to the AI, and also provides day-to-day management of the AI activities.