Assessment at Texas Wesleyan
Assessment is a process through which academic programs and administrative departments determine whether the institution is effective in meeting its mission. To establish institutional effectiveness, academic and administrative departments identify expected student learning outcomes or service outcomes, and data is collected to assess whether departments meet their expected outcomes and engage in activities that result in institutional improvement.
Mission
The mission of the assessment office at Texas Wesleyan University is to facilitate institutional effectiveness and improvement through the coordination of unit strategic planning and assessment for both academic and administrative areas.
In Fall 2010 Wesleyan implemented a new hosted website system, TaskStream.
This system replaced the paper system previously used for annual strategic and assessment plans and reports. TaskStream focuses on advancing educational excellence by providing clients with the highest quality web-based software and supporting services to plan and manage the assessment process efficiently, facilitate the demonstration of learning achievement and foster continuous improvement throughout the education network. This web-based home for assessment allows Wesleyan personnel throughout departments and schools to contribute to the assessment process and centrally house the resulting data and documents, which will ultimately contribute to our upcoming reaffirmation processes. As heads of departments you are now able to more easily view, edit and follow-up on various departmental assessment goals and processes. For information on training please contact the Provost Office. To reach your workspace for assessment, follow the TaskStream link at the top of the right column.
Developing and Implementing Assessment Plans:
The assessment process is driven by the development of departmental strategic plans. All instructional and administrative departments at Texas Wesleyan University develop strategic plans linked to the University mission and the University strategic goals. Strategic plans are designed to assist departments in focusing on actions that support the long-term growth and improvement of the department and its mission in light of the University mission and University Strategic goals.
To assess the effectiveness of degree programs more specifically, instructional departments develop student learning outcomes which are descriptions of the knowledge and skills that programs intend for students to have upon completion of a degree program. The General Education Curriculum is assessed through a similar process coordinated by the General Education Committee. Administrative departments develop service outcomes which are descriptions of the expected end-result of the services provided or functions performed.
Measurements or “criteria for success” are developed in order to assess whether the expected outcomes are, indeed, achieved, and departments assess their outcomes annually. If outcomes are not achieved, departments implement improvement plans.