Purpose of Assessment
The mission of Indiana University Kokomo, a regional campus of Indiana University, is to enhance the educational and professional attainment of the residents of north central Indiana through effective teaching, learning, and civic engagement and by providing a wide range of bachelor's degrees, and a limited number of master's and associate degrees. Indiana University Kokomo is further dedicated to enhancing research, creative work, and other scholarly activity, promoting diversity and inclusion, and strengthening the economic and cultural vitality of the region and the state through a variety of community engagement, partnerships and programs.
Student learning is at the core of Indiana University Kokomo’s mission, and the purpose of assessment is to support student learning. All IU Kokomo academic and service units are involved in fulfilling this mission. Assessment provides a structure for determining how well a unit is meeting its goals for supporting student learning, and gives specific guidance as to what changes or enhancements would improve its performance in this area. In addition, ongoing, systematic assessment is required for the campus to continue to meet the accreditation standards of the Higher Learning Commission. In particular, assessment addresses Criteria Three and Four:
Criterion 3. Teaching and Learning: Quality, Resources, and Support. The institution provides high quality education, wherever and however its offerings are delivered.
Criterion 4. Teaching and Learning: Evaluation and Improvement. The institution demonstrates responsibility for the quality of its educational programs, learning environments, and support services, and it evaluates their effectiveness for student learning through processes designed to promote continuous improvement.
Faculty, staff, and administration share responsibility for assessing student learning at IU Kokomo. The faculty in academic programs and the staff in service units have primary responsibility for assessment of their own unit’s goals and outcomes. The Faculty Senate Assessment Committee guides and assists programs’ and units’ assessment activities in collaboration with the Office of Academic Affairs, the Educational Policies Committee, and unit deans, chairs, and directors.
How Assessment Data are Collected, Used, and Disseminated
Supported by the administration, the faculty in academic programs and the staff in service units are responsible for:
- determining the goals and outcomes of their programs or units
- selecting appropriate data to assess progress toward those goals and outcomes
- selecting the methods by which they will collect and analyze the data
- writing an annual report of their findings, including how they will use these results to improve or enhance the program’s or unit’s activities, to be shared with the Faculty Senate Committee and the Office of Academic Affairs, and
- implementing plans for improvement or enhancement based on assessment results
A program's or unit's goals and outcomes are clearly tied to the mission of Indiana University Kokomo. A unit states its outcomes in clear, measurable terms and collects data appropriate to these outcomes. Programs and units employ multiple measures, including direct measures, of the outcome being assessed. Assessment of student learning is ongoing, occurring throughout the program (not simply at the beginning and end).
Raw data remain the property of the department or unit, but a program or unit may choose to share raw data with other IU Kokomo departments, including the Assistant Vice Chancellor for Academic Affairs for Faculty Development and Campus Assessment, as appropriate. Information identifying individual students, faculty, or staff is removed before data are shared. Assessment reports do not include information identifying individual students.
Limitations on the Use of Assessment Data
Assessment data are collected to improve student learning at IU Kokomo. Data collected for the purposes of assessing student learning will not be used as entrance or exit requirements for any program, although a program may choose to report entrance or exit exam performance as part of its assessment of student learning.
Institutional and unit assessment data will not be used to evaluate faculty performance for retention, tenure, promotion, or other administrative decisions; however, faculty members may choose to include assessment data on their own students when documenting the effectiveness of their own performance.
Administrators above the level of dean, excluding the Assistant Vice Chancellor for Academic Affairs for Faculty Development and Campus Assessment, will have access to unit-level assessment data but not individual data. Assessment data will not be used by the administration or unit heads to make comparisons among IU Kokomo faculty or staff members or among IU Kokomo programs or units. However, it is appropriate for the administration or a program or unit to compare a unit’s current performance with past performance and with appropriate benchmarks.
Approved by Academic Affairs, October 6, 2009
Approved by Faculty Senate, October 8, 2018
