Why Assess?
While the primary purpose of assessment is to improve student learning, it is also required by our accrediting body, the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools Commission on Colleges (SACSCOC) as listed in standard 8.2a. "The institution identifies expected outcomes, assesses the extent to which it achieves these outcomes, and provides evidence of improvement based on analysis of the results." (Institutional Effectiveness)
See SACSCOC for more information.
Academic Assessment occurs at every level at HCC. Some areas include:
Course Assessment-assessment that occurs in a course and determines how well a course meets the specified student learning outcomes.
Associate in Science (AS) and Post Secondary Adult Vocational (PSAV) - Program level assessment that measures student learning outcomes within each technical and workforce program.
Associate in Arts (AA) - Faculty have developed general education, and discipline specific outcomes primarily assessed in IDS 2891.
College Credit Certificate (CCC) - All college credit certificates must have an assessment plan if the certificate is standalone (not a stackable credential.
IR Academic Assessment - Assessment conducted by the Office of Institutional Research which occurs at the institutional level. This often supports research-based planning, evaluation processes, and satisfies state reporting mandates.
How do we report this information?
All assessment plans are contained in the password protected electronic planning system with faculty updating plans annually. Please contact Dr. Jennifer Gangi at jgangi2@hccfl.edu if you need access to the system or your password reset.
What does a quality assessment plan look like?
As part of program review, all SLO plans will be reviewed using a rubric. The focus of the review is not on what is being assessed by each unit, but rather the quality of the assessment, with emphasis on the assessment practices and processes themselves. This information will be used to identify training content and inform best practices.
More assessment information is available on our Sharepoint site.