Assessment

Institutional Objectives

University of Jamestown:

Student Learning

• maintains academic, professional, and pre-professional programs that prepare students for entry into the work force or for further education; (Academic Preparation)   
• provides undergraduate students with a general education curriculum rooted in the liberal arts to improve critical thinking skills and increase general knowledge; (General Education)
• offers co-curricular opportunities to develop wholeness in students as they learn and grow on a personal, social and civic level; (Engagement)  
• provides opportunities for students to learn basic ethical principles, serve others, and to engage in character-building activities; (Character Building)   
• provides support services to assist students in achieving their academic and career goals; (Academic Support Services)  
• fosters an appreciation of difference through the integration of curricular and co-curricular experiences that are intentionally developed to help students integrate into a global society; (Diversity)  
• provides opportunities for students to be involved in Christian religious life activities and to explore their faith; (Christian Life/Religious Life Environment)  

Community Engagement

• recognizes and fosters opportunities to connect with, integrate into, and participate and serve in the larger communities in which it resides; (Community)
• demonstrates its commitment to continuous improvement through discipline-specific and pedagogical faculty development; (Faculty Development)
• demonstrates its commitment to continuous improvement through staff development; (Staff Development)  
• maintains mutually beneficial relationships with alumni and institutional friends; (Development)
• operates within a system of shared governance in which the opinions and values of constituents contribute to decisions and responsibility for success is shared; (Shared Governance)  

Stewardship and Fiscal Integrity

• uses current technology to enhance student learning, administrative efficiency, and institutional effectiveness; (Technology)   
• maintains the infrastructure necessary to support both the academic program and student life; (Infrastructure)  
• manages financial resources to support its objectives and strategies in a manner that ensures the institution’s viability in the short- and long terms; (Sound Fiscal Management)

Assessment Activities

1. administration of the Ruffalo Noel Levitz Student Satisfaction Inventory, Adult Student Priorities Survey, and Priorities Survey for Online Learners;
2. administration of standardized testing to graduating seniors in selected departments (e.g. MFT); graduating seniors complete these assessments as required by certain departments;
3. analysis of reported performance on graduate and professional school examinations (including the Pre-Professional Skills Test and the Praxis II in Education); the Medical College Admission Test, the Law School Admission Test, and the National Council Licensure Examination in Nursing;
4. internal academic program reviews rotating all departments on a 5-year basis, with periodic external reviews;
5. analysis of placement information based on alumni surveys;
6. administration of a faculty and staff survey to gain knowledge of the opinion of faculty and staff about the institution;
7. analysis of exit surveys from graduating seniors and classroom assessment summaries from every academic department;
8. analysis of student retention, experiential education, career planning between education and career;
9. linking assessment results to program development, and;
10. an ongoing evaluation of our assessment program.

While formal and informal reports from alumni, employers, trustees and other constituencies comprise additional information relevant to assessment, student input constitutes the critical source of assessment data. Therefore, all students will be expected at various junctures during their tenure at University of Jamestown to contribute to our assessment program by completing surveys, standardized tests, and exit surveys as required by their curriculum.

Watermark

The University of Jamestown utilizes Watermark products, a suite of web-based assessment systems, to capture data from rubrics, course evaluations, satisfaction surveys, field experience evaluations, and other electronic assessment tools. Reports on these data contribute to our assessment of program outcomes and institutional objectives by providing valuable insight into student learning, faculty performance, campus life, and much more.

For questions or guidance contact: 

Anna Munns Engdahl

Director of Institutional Effectiveness

amunns@uj.edu

701-356-9204