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Outcomes Assessment is the means by which the university’s programs and departments hold themselves accountable to their own aspirations. The SACSCOC principles of accreditation offer helpful guidance with regard to the scope and nature of the university’s assessment efforts.

Academic programs and services maintain student learning objectives that describe the knowledge, skills, and attitudes/responsibilities/dispositions their graduates will demonstrate upon program completion. Academic and student services identify outcomes of their work that support student success. Section 8 of the 2018 SACSCOC principles articulates the following requirements:

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Particularly important in the SACSCOC language above is the requirement that programs “[provide] evidence of seeking improvement based on analysis of … results.” The PACE process and the tools of SPOL are designed to scaffold this work and support departments in maintaining relevant data and documenting their efforts.

Administrative departments must likewise articulate the expected outcomes of administrative support services. Section 7 of the 2018 SACSCOC principles articulates the following requirements:

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It is worth noting that the SACSCOC principles do not here require that administrative departments provide evidence of seeking improvement. Administrative support services may find success in having articulated articulating standards of performance/service (outcomes) and consistently achieving them. 

See Appendix 1 for lists of EMU’s academic programs and services and its administrative departments as identified for PACE assessment purposes.

 Likewise, administrative departments may demonstrate compliance with SACSCOC expectations for outcomes assessment via well-designed planning objectives with clear outcomes (via PACE planning) and/or performance-focused outcomes (via PACE assessment).

See Appendix 1 for lists of EMU’s academic programs and services and its administrative departments as identified for PACE assessment purposes.

Assessment Timeline and Data Collection Cycles

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• Fall Semester - Collection of data from fall courses/activities as per program/department assessment cycle requirements; survey administration per university survey calendar
• Spring Semester - Collection of data from fall courses/activities as per program/department assessment cycle requirements; survey administration per university survey calendar
• April - September - Window for data analysis and outcomes assessment reporting in SPOL
• Summer - Collection of data from summer courses/activities as needed
• August - September - Develop assessment follow-up planning objectives for upcoming year to seek improvement in student learning on the basis of assessment findings

Special Considerations

It is important to note that academic programs and services and administrative departments need not collect and analyze data for each of its outcomes every year. A program/department may develop a multi-year (ideally 2-4 year) cycle over which it assesses each of its outcomes. Such a cycle allows for data collection over multiple years, and allows programs/departments to provide more focused attention on a subset of their outcomes in any given year. Beginning with the rollout of the updated academic program review cycle in 2020-21, academic programs are expected to have collected and analyzed data for each student learning outcome at least twice between each program review. See below for further details on program review.

Further, in order to ensure the sustainability and validity of assessment, small academic programs may opt to extend assessment data collection over several years in order to achieve adequate sample sizes to support analysis. Programs that opt for this approach should collect data for all outcomes each year, but may still focus on analysis of results for a subset of student learning outcomes each year. 

PACE - Executive Reporting

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In addition to the PACE process, all academic programs that do not undergo an external accreditation review are reviewed on a six-year cycle (adapted as-needed to specific program considerations). See Appendix 2 for more details on the review process. See the Program Review Cycle for details on when each program is reviewed. This comprehensive review is conducted by a faculty task force, overseen by the provost council and includes consideration of:

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Appendix 1 - EMU Planning Units and Programs for PACE

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For the purposes of institutional effectiveness work, EMU organizes its academic programs, academic and student services, and administrative support services into planning units and academic programs. The configuration of these programs and units largely aligns with the [university organizational chart]. However, in some cases--due to uniqueness in focus or scope of impact--organizational units are excluded from PACE processes. For example, PACE processes exclude academic and public service centers that (a) do not have associated academic programs, and (b) have a small scope of influence within the university as evaluated by considerations such as direct impact on student-facing educational activities, external focus, fiscal footprint, and/or governance.

The tables below outline the organizational units (i.e., academic programs, academic and student services, and administrative services) that are incorporated into the PACE processes.

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Appendix 2 - Academic Program Review Process Details

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