Each academic, advising, and co-curricular program at GVSU has an assessment plan that outlines the process of systematically collecting and analyzing data to evaluate the program's impact on the desired student outcomes. This page describes the current and ongoing expectations for student outcomes assessment at GVSU. 

Expectations vary by program type.

Assessment plan guidelines

The University Assessment Committee has adopted the following guidelines for academic programs, advising centers, and co-curricular programs at GVSU:

• Academic programs: Each academic major or degree program should have its own assessment plan consisting of 6-10 core SLOs. UAC expects units to provide updated reporting annually in GVAssess on 2-4 of the plan SLOs.
  • These are outcomes are common to all students who graduate with a given major. 
  • Units are encouraged to consider incorporating the GenEd Outcomes into their assessment plans where it makes sense to do so. 
• Emphases: Each emphasis area should have its own unique SLO in the assessment plan for the major. UAC expects units to provide updated reporting annually in GVAssess.
  • These are outcomes uniquely associated with the emphasis and are to be assessed separately from the core SLOs for the major.
• Certificates: Each certificate should have an assessment plan with at least 2 SLOs; these should be assessed at least once during each 2-year review cycle. UAC expects units to provide updated reporting every two years in GVAssess.
  • These are outcomes common to all who receive the certificate.
• Advising: The assessment plan for an academic advising program normally includes 3-5 SCOs. UAC expects advising centers to provide updated reporting annually in GVAssess on 1-2 of the plan SCOs. 
  • These describe measurable outcomes arising from advising-related activities and services.
• Co-curricular: Co-curricular units offer programming that complements academic learning (e.g. University Libraries, Meijer Writing Center, Campus Rec., etc.). Assessment expectations are comparable to that for advising centers.