UNLV Academic Assessment Plan
Improving Teaching and Learning Through Assessment:
An Institutional Plan
University of Nevada, Las Vegas
Planning, Assessment, and Institutional Research
March, 1998
Introduction
The recently adopted mission statement of the University of Nevada, Las Vegas calls for demonstrably excellent, student-centered programs that are responsive to the needs of the local and regional community. The university makes the commitment to enhance critical thinking, leadership skills, aesthetic sensitivity, and social integrity among its students and to use innovative, interdisciplinary approaches to teaching and learning. The mission statement affirms the interdependence of instruction and scholarship and calls for students to engage in substantive involvements in campus and community life. It forms the foundation for UNLV’s institutional assessment plan, a plan intended to improve learning and teaching.
Definition of Assessment
The National Center on Postsecondary Teaching, Learning, and Assessment defines assessment as "a way of describing student learning for identifiable audiences for clearly-articulated reasons."
Rationale for Assessment
The University of Nevada, Las Vegas is committed to a program of assessment that focuses primarily upon the improvement of learning and teaching. UNLV acknowledges that learning and teaching occur both within and outside the classroom. In order to be a premier urban university, as described in the strategic plan, UNLV will enhance its reputation as a serious institution by improving both student learning and the student experience using data from the assessment program.
In addition to the improvement of learning and teaching, UNLV’s assessment program is designed to clearly describe our students and their development to a variety of internal and external constituents (e.g. students, faculty, parents, employers, accreditors, legislators, Regents, and other taxpayers).
Policy of the Commission on Colleges requires that UNLV formulate a plan that includes outcomes measures that are consistent with our mission and structure. The Commission stresses that outcomes assessment is an essential component of institutional assessment and as such will be examined during institutional accreditation.
Audiences for Assessment
Internal Audiences. Data from assessment will be used by a number of internal audiences to set goals for improvement. The University Planning Council, the Faculty Senate Program Review Committee, the Faculty Senate Curriculum Committee along with other university committees will use assessment data to formulate recommendations. Degree program faculty and administrators will use data to prepare self-studies for program review and accreditation, to evaluate and revise curricula, and to monitor program effectiveness. The Office of Enrollment Management and the Division of Student Services will use data for recruitment, admissions, and retention activities. Executive level officers also will use the data for goal-setting, decision-making, and evaluation.
External Audiences. The Northwest Accreditation Association requires assessment of student learning. Assessment data ultimately will describe the development of our students from entry through employment. The UCCSN Board of Regents requires system institutions to prepare a biennial assessment report. Information from the report is used to set goals for system improvement and for evaluation of the institutional effectiveness. Nevada’s Legislative Counsel Bureau frequently requests data to inform legislative decision-making. Additionally, the general public becomes an audience for assessment data as the institution shares the characteristics and accomplishments of both students and faculty through media reports, college guidebooks, and recruiting materials.
Assumptions about Institutional Assessment
UNLV’s institutional assessment plan is based on the following assumptions. The university’s assessment efforts, will be:
a. focused primarily on improving student learning both within and outside the classroom.
b. related directly to institutional decisions both through administrative structure and institutional planning.
c. grounded in the institutional values set forth in the mission statement.
d. inclusive, participatory, and collaborative.
e. based upon the university’s mission and goals.
f. useful for multiple purposes that include but are not limited to curricular revision, teaching improvement, accreditation expectations, and public accountability.
g. part of the institutional culture.