Office of Assessment & Accreditation

Mission

The Office of Assessment and Accreditation (OAA) partners with academic programs, co-curricular and administrative units to advance meaningful assessment of student learning, student success, and operational effectiveness in alignment with the university’s mission, strategic goals, and standards of quality and accountability. We also oversee institution-wide surveys that amplify the voices of our community and support the use of those voices to shape decisions and actions. Through this work, our role is to activate curiosity, collaboration, and inquiry as the drivers of continuous improvement and to facilitate the use of data to enhance outcomes, identify needs, and improve processes.

Vision

To cultivate a culture where:

• assessment is embraced as a scholarly and professional practice rooted in curiosity, inquiry, and collaboration; and
• each program/unit is data-empowered and contributes to student success and institutional excellence through continuous improvement.

Theory of Action

If the university, through the work of OAA:

• Builds an assessment structure that provides clear expectations, tools, and capacity-building supports,
• Empowers academic, co-curricular and administrative units to design outcomes, measures, and targets with intentionality,
• Activates a data-empowered culture of inquiry – one that begins with key stakeholders jointly reviewing data and asking thoughtful questions, moves through learning and action, and ends with evaluating the effectiveness of actions taken;
• And creates feedback loops that make assessment plans and reports useful for decision-making at every level.

Then:

Faculty and staff teams will:

Academic and Division Leaders will:

Develop intentional assessment plans that support the improvement of key practices and outcomes. Design and implement curricular, instructional, and operational improvements grounded in evidence. Recognize excellence and growth - by documenting not only whether targets are met, but how results guide meaningful change. Collaborate with colleagues to interpret and use results to guide decisions. (No silos). See assessment as a scholarly and professional practice, not a matter of compliance.

Integrate assessment findings into program review, resource allocation, and improvement planning. Model and recognize the use of assessment results for continuous improvement. Celebrate successes and tell a data-empowered story of their units’ contributions toward the university’s mission and strategic goals.

And ultimately, the university will:

• Demonstrate improved student learning across programs and experiences.
• Provide more effective and efficient services in co-curricular and administrative units.
• Build a culture of assessment that centers continuous improvement through evidence and reflection.
• Tell a data-empowered story of how it is advancing its mission and strategic goals.

Our Values:

Excellence: We set a high bar, follow through, and stay the course. For us, excellence is the balance of recognizing high quality and growth – seeing both as essential to doing meaningful work.

Collaboration: Our work isn’t about collecting reports, plans, or completing tasks. We show up in the ways our partners need us: to create clarity, build shared understanding, co-plan, co-create, problem-solve. For us, collaboration means walking alongside.

Learning: The field of assessment and accreditation is evolving and so do we. Curiosity keeps us sharp, humble, and ready for what’s next. We learn not only by staying current, but by taking feedback seriously.

Coaching: We don’t prescribe – we partner. We work alongside every program/unit to cultivate exemplary assessment practices. Recognizing that each is at a different stage in the journey, we provide customized support to help them move forward with clarity and meaning.