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Institutional Assessment

The Office of Institutional Research and Assessment (OIRA) administers surveys and conducts studies to evaluate current students’ experiences and graduates’ outcomes, including job placement and enrollment in graduate and professional programs. OIRA also provides guidance and support to university departments in learning outcomes assessment.

In addition to OIRA led surveys and focus groups, individual colleges and departments regularly conduct their own program learning outcomes assessment.  OIRA maintains an inventory of university level indirect assessments as well as indirect and direct program level assessments submitted by colleges and departments. OIRA's indirect assessments include opinion-based measures from surveys and focus groups that typically target sizeable populations (e.g., an entire college or cohort of students). 

Contact OIRA to get support with surveys, focus groups, and program learning outcomes assessment, or to request the latest inventory of university level indirect assessments.

Institutional Surveys and Reports

The Office of Institutional Research and Assessment (OIRA) conducts surveys and analyses that support planning and assessment activities on campus. OIRA works jointly with other offices on campus, including the Career Development Center and Alumni Relations, to administer several of these surveys, such as the Future Plans Survey and various alumni surveys.

Learning Outcomes Assessment

Learning Outcomes Assessment is an evidence, assessment and improvement process. Ideally we start with an important question, for example “How do we show what students and graduates know, can do, or care about?” To endeavor to answer this question, we need a few forms of evidence, including direct and indirect, qualitative and quantitative evidence. Direct evidence emerges straight from relevant student work, and indirect evidence includes observation or opinions about the student work or experiences. More forms of evidence increases our confidence in the conclusion that learning has taken place. Steps to this process include:

  1. Clarify institutional, program, major and course learning objectives;
  2. Identify and implement the learning activity, and the student work, with which you will measure how well those objectives are achieved;
  3. Gather and examine student work from learning activities to demonstrate student achievement of those objectives, and to understand how well the learning activities have brought about learning;
  4. Also gather and examine other information such as student experience surveys, or observations of student work in the course, to create an understanding of student learning experiences and practices;
  5. Celebrate learning achievement, or target and take action toward improving student learning. Sometimes an instructor can use classroom-based assessment techniques to adjust a course while it is in process, or students can use the same evidence to adjust study practice.