Educational program planning is based on regular and continuous assessment of programs in light of the needs of the disciplines, the fields or occupations for which programs prepare students, and other constituencies of the institution.

In 1994, the Center for Academic Excellence (CAE) was created with a focus on three related strands of activity: community/university partnerships, teaching and learning excellence, and assessment. Directors were appointed to provide leadership for community/university partnerships, and for teaching and learning excellence, but the Provost and Vice-Provost responsible for founding CAE decided that responsibility for the leadership and development of assessment should reside with the faculty. CAE was given the responsibility for centralized administrative support of student learning assessment.

Getting Started

In 1995, five members of the faculty were selected to serve on a team charged with establishing an overall assessment framework for Portland State. Two elements were central to the framework: an emphasis on student learning, and the creation of a faculty-centered culture of assessment. The team felt that faculty buy-in for assessment could best be achieved by framing assessment as a scholarly activity, while still emphasizing accountability as a component that could help the University address its overall goals for student learning.

Within the framework developed by the assessment team, CAE initiated several activities from 1995 though 1999 to encourage assessment within programs and departments, including the following:

• Mini-grants to faculty to create 100 community-based learning courses with an assessment component.
• Faculty workshops on classroom assessment.
• A consulting team to work with individual departments in establishing learning objectives and devising formal assessment plans.
• A faculty-in-residence for assessment.
• Joint efforts with the Office of Institutional Research and Planning (OIRP) to provide ongoing support for administering surveys and analyzing data.
• Use of external consultants to engage faculty groups around assessment.

As work progressed, it became clear that a financial commitment was necessary to support departmental efforts, and that leaders needed to be identified to champion the next phase of assessment activities. These issues were addressed following release of the President's Commission on Campus Climate and Life Final Report in 1999, which identified three initiatives for closer attention: assessment, advising, and diversity. The President funded these initiatives and appointed a vice provost to supervise implementation.

The Assessment Resource Network (ARN) was established in 1999, and was coordinated by the CAE faculty-in-residence for assessment, and staffed by an assessment associate. This action began a major five-year effort to organize support and planning for assessment on an institutional level.

Since the beginning of the President's Assessment Initiative, assessment of student learning at Portland State has proceeded through two major stages of work, and has now entered a third stage. From 2000 through 2003, the focus of the initiative's activities was on assessment within academic units. During academic year 2003-2004, attention turned to building an institutional record of Portland State's assessment activities. Beginning in Fall 2004, the focus expanded to create the structures and policies necessary to support a sustainable assessment program.

Although assessment of student learning was already being conducted in some academic units before 1999, it was encouraged and supported on a broader scale by the ARN. Ten academic units with a strong interest in assessment were identified by the ARN, and these units initiated pilot programs to develop student-learning objectives, formulate assessment plans, and begin assessment activities. Over the next three years this work expanded to all academic programs and departments. The faculty-in-residence and assessment associate of the ARN promoted campus-wide discussion and understanding of assessment issues. Instrumental support was provided to the academic units by a group of assessment graduate assistants. Multiple graduate students were jointly trained and supervised by the ARN.

Building an Institutional Record

As part of the overall assessment effort, OIRP developed a website for departmental profiles of all academic units. The profiles include information on student learning assessment activities underway in each academic department or program. Documentation of undergraduate degree granting or minor programs, continuing education and licensure programs associated with an academic department, and graduate programs is included in the profiles. Through this process, assessment of student learning is part of ongoing planning and evaluation activities.

Educational assessment components, recommended in Policy 2.2 from the Northwest Commission on Colleges and Universities, form the assessment framework. Components include an introductory statement, program learning objectives, a description of how objectives are mapped onto the curriculum, an assessment plan, a description of assessment projects fielded (including methods or tools used to collect data and compile results), summaries of findings, and a reflection on assessment activities. Where appropriate, departments have included examples of rubrics or student portfolios to illustrate their methods. (The assessment website may be viewed by clicking on the sidebar on the right side of this page.)

The assessment website contains a range of assessment techniques, reflecting department or discipline-specific needs. Some departments or programs rely on student surveys, others employ tests or pre/post-test instruments, and others have implemented student portfolios in courses or across their curricula. In Winter 2005, 81% of units reported being actively engaged in student learning assessment work. Of those programs engaged in assessment, 82% report at least some use of direct evidence of student learning as part of their assessment program, or that they have used assessment data in program-level discussions of course and curriculum revisions. For those programs that are subject to specialized accreditation, this commitment to assessment has been reinforced and strengthened due to professional expectations of evidence of program-related assessment strategies.

The culture and climate of the institution rewards "from the ground up" approaches. Portland State recognizes that placing assessment firmly in the hands of faculty has been essential for its success and sustainability. From 1999 onward, the Assessment Initiative proceeded in a decentralized fashion and focused on initiating and supporting assessment at the academic-unit level. Assessment work at Portland State is therefore characterized by strong faculty control and the belief that assessment should be integral to the institution.

Organizing for Sustainability

By the 2003-2004 academic year, the institution realized that it was time to develop mechanisms for central assessment planning to ensure sustainability and consistency. Moves were made to change from an initiative staffed mainly by graduate students to a permanent staff and structure that would build and retain assessment expertise.

Beginning in 2004, CAE staff expanded to include a second assessment associate, bringing the technical and quantitative skills that academic units had identified as necessary. At the President's request, the ARN prepared a statement on assessment policy and practice at Portland State. This work related to the strategic goal of developing a stable central assessment structure at the institutional level.

• President's charge to ARN

By December 15, 2004 most departments or programs had provided assessment information for their department profiles. The CAE and ARN began analysis of the information, available in the assessment database. As part of the analysis, the CAE director conducted discussions with the deans and chairs regarding the institutional assessment structure and accountability, and found a high degree of acceptance for CAE's role as an internal assessment consulting service and an organizing body for institution-wide assessment planning. The deans were especially supportive, but also supported the idea that the faculty holds the ultimate responsibility and authority for student learning assessment in the academic units.

CAE's internal consultant role provides support to the academic units in their assessment work. With current staff, CAE can assist departments in a variety of assessment activities. The following consulting services are well established:

• Develop or revise student learning goals.
• Develop or revise assessment plans.
• Design assessment projects based on either qualitative or quantitative methods.
• Write scoring rubrics.
• Design assessment instruments.
• Prepare assessment information for specialized accreditation reviews.

The current state of student learning assessment at Portland State has been summarized in a formal Statement on Student Learning Assessment. The June 2005 statement was written in response to the President's request for a report on assessment. Throughout 2004-2005, the ARN and CAE assessment staff reviewed the assessment database to develop an evidence-based description of assessment goals and methods that are both valued and practiced at Portland State. The resulting draft report was discussed in an open campus forum on February 24, 2005, and was presented to the Faculty Senate during Spring 2005. This report and the discussion that attended its writing have contributed to the building of a stable and sustainable assessment infrastructure and plan for Portland State.

• Assessment report to the President

Future Directions

In addition to the continuation of the internal consulting model for the support of assessment, significant discussions concerning future directions for assessment work are taking place. One such discussion concerns the possibility of adopting a comprehensive approach toward student learning assessment related to the University's general education goals.

A pilot assessment project is being supported in a partnership between the Millar Library and CAE. The project uses the Educational Testing Service's Information and Communications Technology (ICT) Literacy Assessment, which tests information literacy in a 21st-century-relevant context. Presently, the instrument is also being piloted in other selected programs. In the future, the instrument may be used in mid-program ICT assessment, which may pave the way for other mid-program general education assessment projects.

The Office of Student Affairs has initiated discussions pertaining to future directions for student learning assessment at Portland State. Assessment planners in Student Affairs are exploring a conceptual model that frames practices in student services as a support for student learning, thus expanding the role of student services.