Assessment Plan Templates, Winter 2024

• Please select the Assessment Plan Template needed for your program, either Academic Program or Co-Curricular and Service Program. Download the appropriate template and complete the form, saving it as a .doc or .docx document.
• Academic programs will include a curriculum map for each major and for each stand alone certificate offered by their program. Please save this document as a .pdf, .xls, or .xlsx file.
• Critical Update--effective 3/27/2024 (clarification from HLC, GVSU's accrediting body):
  BADGES do not need to be assessed as separate entities so long as the courses used in them are not specific to the badge. For example, if the courses making up a badge can also be used in a major or certificate, the badge does not need to be assessed as a separate entity. If a badge is made of courses that are used ONLY for that badge, then the badge must be assessed like a major or a certificate (2 SLO/SCOs).

Assessment Plan Template for Academic Programs

Assessment Plan Template for Co-Curricular and Service Programs

• Complete the Assessment Plan Form, below, which has space at the end to upload a template and a curriculum map (Academic programs). A new form will be created for each major (include emphases on the same form as the major) and for each stand alone certificate.
• Critical Update--effective 3/27/2024 (clarification from HLC, GVSU's accrediting body):
  BADGES do not need to be assessed as separate entities so long as the courses used in them are not specific to the badge. For example, if the courses making up a badge can also be used in a major or certificate, the badge does not need to be assessed as a separate entity. If a badge is made of courses that are used ONLY for that badge, then the badge must be assessed like a major or a certificate (2 SLO/SCOs).
• The Assessment Plan Form opens on 2/26/2024 and will remain available through 9/15/2024.

Assessment Plan Form

Assessment is an ongoing process. This page describes the assessment timeline expectations for academic programs, advising centers, and co-curricular units at GVSU.

• Annually: Units post regular (at least annual) updates on their assessment activities. Annual updates will be due by May 20 for academic programs and by July 1 for advising centers and co-curricular programs. These deadlines will become effective Winter, 2025 as regular reporting to UAC resumes. A new reporting cycle will be released and communicated to campus early Fall, 2024.
• Two-year cycle: UAC reviews the academic programs, advising centers, and co-curricular unit assessments on a two-year rotation. Deadlines for any final updates for reviews are posted in GVAdvance under the Deadlines menu.

Periodic Self Study: All units engage in a periodic self study as part of the transition from one strategic planning cycle to the next. GVSU's next self study period is planned for 2020-2021. Self study prompts can be viewed in GVAdvance by selecting "Assemble Self Study Reporting" in the GVReview area of the site.  

• Student outcomes assessment (GVAssess): Units normally focus on assessing a small number of student outcomes for each program in a given year (see assessment guidelines). As assessment data are collected and analyzed, units add reporting for the corresponding measures in GVAssess. Data reporting can be added at any time, but all units are asked to update their assessment results in GVAssess at least annually by May 20.
   
• Strategic plan updates (GVPlan): Strategic plan updates are due by Feb. 1 every year. This is accomplished by adding data reporting for all active strategic plan objectives.

The following video presentation contains additional details about ongoing assessment activities as GVSU.

UAC reviews the assessment activities in both GVAssess and GVPlan according to the quarterly review cycle (webpage | pdf). The review cycle beginning Fall 2025 will be posted in early Fall 2024.

This process ensures UAC reviews and provides feedback on all units' assessment activities at least once every two years.

Notifications:

• Unit heads and assessment leads receive notifications for upcoming reviews within GVAdvance.
• GVAdvance users with the Group Admin tag (typically unit heads) are expected to manage the list of assessment leads for their unit via the Admin Menu area of GVAdvance (bottom of the main window).

Prior to the review deadline, units should ensure that:

• The assessment plan is up-to-date in GVAssess, and data reporting has been entered for outcomes assessed in last two years. See the Reporting Expectations page for details. 
• Strategic plan reporting has been updated in GVPlan by Feb. 1 for the previous calendar year. This means adding a new reporting entry to every active objective in GVPlan. "Active objectives" are those for which the "Time Frame End" date has not yet elapsed. 

Units may also wish to review the reporting expectations, reviewer rubrics, and resources and support page as they refine their assessment activities.