Academic Assessment

  • Oviatt Library

AALC Charge

Academic Assessment Liaison Committee

Goals

Assessment Conference

University Assessment has two major goals that support the university assessment policy. To ensure that faculty are engaged in the continuous assessment of student learning, build a culture of evidence, and utilize evidence to build high quality programs for student learning.

This is accomplished by the following tasks:

  • Disseminate information and assistance to departments/programs.
  • Mentor assessment leaders by working with members of the University Assessment Liaison Committee.
  • Identify and share best assessment practices.
  • Maintain annual college assessment reports.

To facilitate the program review process:

  • Disseminate information and assistance to departments/programs.
  • Coordinate the external program reviews and MOU meetings.
  • Maintain program review reports.

Responsibilities of AALC Committee Members

The University Assessment Liaison Committee (ALC) members are responsible for serving as the channel of information between their department/program and the larger university. Each department determines its own liaison selection process as well as the departmental expectations. Overall, the assessment liaisons provide leadership to their department for selecting and implementing departmental assessment activities.

The assessment liaison objectives can be broadly defined as:

  • To provide departmental/program leadership to achieve the university assessment policy and goal.
  • To disseminate information to and from the department, college, and university.
  • To collaborate and network with faculty to implement strategies for building a culture of evidence of student learning and development throughout the university.

Liaison Activities: specific activities may (or may not) include examples such as:

  • Attend university assessment monthly meetings, workshops, or related campus events.
  • Assist the department chair and faculty in the writing of departmental assessment reports.
  • Disseminate assessment related information at regular departmental faculty meetings.
  • Organize and consistently document departmental assessment activities.
  • Suggest possible infrastructures that would more effectively accomplish assessment activities to the department.
  • Assist with the organization of department assessment subcommittees, meetings, retreats, etc.
  • Collaborate with the departmental chair and curriculum chair regarding curricular decisions.
  • Request faculty participation on related assessment activities.
  • Encourage faculty to examine the mission, goals, and student learning outcomes of the department.
  • Encourage departmental faculty to discuss how/if SLOs are aligned with courses
  • Encourage departmental faculty to create, implement, and execute an ongoing departmental assessment plan.
  • Assist with the organization of data collection efforts with the assistance of other department faculty (e.g., develop rubrics, meet with individual instructors, collect data in courses, build databases, norm data collected, analyze data, etc.)
  • Introduce and formally orient subsequent departmental assessment liaisons to the roles and responsibilities of this position.

Faculty Responsibility

Engagement in assessment has a long standing, successful history on the CSUN campus. However, the climate in higher education nationwide has changed the way we assess our programs. The focus is on creating a culture of evidence through student learning outcomes assessment and utilizing the findings to strengthen the overall quality of academic programs.

The evidence is abundantly clear that assessment liaisons cannot complete their roles and responsibilities without the unconditional support and participation of the department chair and the departmental faculty. While assessment liaisons are responsible for providing leadership in assessment, the entire faculty is expected to cooperate with assessment activities, and the department chair/program coordinator is responsible for producing and providing assessment reports to the college and university.