Academic Affairs Assessment Planning

Student Learning Outcomes Assessment

• Assessment Ownership & Responsibility

  As it is part of the professional responsibility of programs and faculty members to collect and evaluate evidence of student learning to make appropriate improvements in curriculum and pedagogy, the control over that assessment process should also rest with the responsible parties. Programs and faculty members can make the best choices about the learning outcomes, the most effective assessment methods, the best processes for collecting and analyzing the data, and the most informed judgments about what changes are suggested by the evidence.

  Assessment evidence of student learning is not intended be used to negatively affect the employment, promotion status, or salary of faculty. Ferris recognizes that faculty can best collect and analyze effective evidence of their student learning and make changes to enhance the educational environment when they can do so without fear of penalty.

  Faculty members in the programs, majors, minors, and General Education are responsible for regularly collecting and analyzing evidence of student learning in relation to the stated outcomes and using that evidence to make any valuable improvements.
  
  Where there are courses with multiple sections, the department that houses those courses will be responsible for facilitating the collection and evaluation of student learning across multiple sections.
  
  Faculty members are responsible for collecting data on student learning in their own courses to determine where improvements could be made. The College, Department, and the Faculty Center for Teaching and Learning are responsible for providing faculty with the training and support necessary to engage in student learning assessment.

• Learning Outcomes

  Given the focus on student learning, all programs and courses will be defined by clearly stated and assessable learning outcomes. Assessment will establish the extent to which students achieve the level of proficiency expected for the given learning outcomes and will be the basis for making changes that will enhance future student learning.

Assessment Descriptions

• Learning Outcomes Assessment

  Learning Outcomes Assessment refers to direct or indirect measures of student learning. This is different from the measure of individual student performance to evaluate the student. Instead, student learning assessment consists in collecting data on student learning in the aggregate to determine how programs or courses may be made more effective. Measures such as standardized exams, licensure or certification exams, portfolios, capstone projects, pre-and post tests, writing samples, juried reviews of projects, externally reviewed performances, evaluations of clinical and internship performances and more are direct measures of student learning. Other measures such as NSSE or the EBI surveys, other surveys of students, employers, and alumni, and career success offer indirect measures that can support direct measures. Student course surveys (SAI's), grades or GPA's, placement rates, retention, enrollment trends, and faculty-student ratios may be useful measures of institutional effectiveness but are not measures of student learning.

• Academic Program Review

  Academic Program Review is a fundamental and cumulative part of the assessment effort through which regularly collected data, including data on student learning and other institutional measures, is carefully reviewed through the program review process to yield specific recommendations. Program review applies to all structured educational units including programs, majors, minors, pre-programs, General Education, the business core and other non-degree program entities.
  
  Academic Program Review self-study reports are cyclical and cumulative, based on regularly collected evidence, and include regularly gathered data on student learning.

• The Benefits of the FSU Assessment Culture
  There are many benefits of the assessment practices of Ferris State University. Assessment data can allow programs and courses to be adjusted to help students achieve the desired outcomes. The data can provide an opportunity to rethink the outcomes for programs and courses. Assessment data provides a rational basis for institutional planning. Assessment practices are a fundamental part of obtaining or retaining accreditation at the program or college level. Further, assessment data can document and demonstrate to external parties the quality of our programs and courses and so can serve as an important part of institutional recruitment and retention.
• Accreditation Self Study Review Process
  Accreditation is a major component of our ongoing assessment efforts. Thirty programs are accredited by professional accrediting bodies. Academic Affairs takes an active role in the self study process with each program. The self study process is an opportunity for us to closely examine a program, to evaluate strengths and challenges, to consider resource needs and opportunities for enhancements. We welcome the opportunity to have professionals from outside review our programs and provide formative feedback.
• Institutional Measures 
  Students are able to learn effectively because of the strength of Ferris' academic programs. In addition to Learning Outcomes assessment, programs make use of a number of indirect measures to evaluate the health of the program. Those measures include but are not limited to the retention rate; the graduation rate; credit hour production; job placement rate; the career success of graduates; graduate performance on certification, registry, and licensure examinations; and program productivity. Most of these are available through Institutional Research and Testing, collected as part of the Ferris FACT Book, and are included as a part of Academic Program Review. When these measures indicate a possible need for change in a program, they are the basis for a recommendation for action.
• Faculty Evaluation

  The quality of Ferris faculty is fundamental to the quality of student learning. Faculty members are regularly evaluated to facilitate their development as needed. All faculty members collect institutionally approved student surveys concerning their teaching each semester that they teach. Every five years, all tenured faculty members go through a process of Post-Tenure review where their teaching, service, and professional activities are reviewed by the appropriate supervisor with recommendations for improvement where necessary. Tenure-track faculty undergo yearly and systematic review of their performance by the appropriate supervisor and a Faculty tenure committee; such a review includes observations of the faculty member's teaching. Adjuncts and one year appointments are carefully reviewed with the appropriate supervisor or his or her designate directly observing their teaching and making recommendations for their renewal when appropriate. A promotion process is in place in each College to review candidates for promotion and evaluate the quality of their teaching, service, and learning. Faculty Development funding, Sabbatical leave, training by the Faculty Center of Teaching and Learning, and other opportunities are provided to maintain the quality faculty that insures a quality Ferris education.

  Each semester courses and evaluations utilize a standardized instrument. Click here.

• The Supportive Academic Environment

  Ferris provides its students with a supportive learning environment that provides students with the opportunity to attend presentations, lectures, and a range of cultural events at the Department, College, and University Levels. The impact of these opportunities is assessed through the NSSE and periodic surveys of student satisfaction.