(2) The assessment of student learning was singled out for concern in the 1993-1994 visiting team report, leading to the submission of a plan to the Higher Learning Commission on assessment. This work continued with the concept of an Academic Master Plan, anticipated in the 1997 document, Mesa State College: A Shared Vision and initiated in 2000. Despite these planning efforts, it is clear that while a significant amount of assessment data is collected and that there is an infrastructure for effective assessment within academic programs, there is little evidence of systematic improvements resulting from the data gathered. In particular, assessment of the college’s general education goals and student progress in achieving these goals appears to be non-existent.

The expectation is that at the time of the focused visit, programmatic and institutional assessment of student learning (with respect to departmental and general education assessment) will show that:

a. For academic programs (not general education) where assessment data is being collected— data are systematically used to improve student learning, faculty are engaged in both the collection, interpretation, and use of the results of assessment in order to facilitate continuous improvement of student learning, and that program review incorporates information about how departments are involved in ongoing assessment

b. For general education— data are systematically collected regarding the degree to which student learning reflects the MSC goals for general education, this data is shared widely and is used for improvement;

c. Explicit statements about the expectations for general education goals and student learning are widely publicized so that both students and faculty understand and can articulate linkages between general education program elements.