La Belle reported that in the academic area, they will be developing a resource to help faculty, departments, and programs design approaches to collect data, report information, and translate that information into actionable items so that behaviors can change. That resolution supported student outcomes assessment that would be campus based, faculty designed, adopted experimentally and incrementally, multi-method and multivariate, linked to academic program review, and regarded as only one measure of evaluating overall program quality. So there is a policy framework in place. WASC will require the campus to do this kind of assessment in majors and in general education. Cornerstones threatens a linkage of performance based budget and student outcomes.
CUSP also calls for assessment and evaluation.
La Belle appointed a task force to evaluate the academic community's needs for supporting the assessment initiative. The task force included Richard Giardina , Nancy McDermid , Kathleen O'Sullivan , Dorothy Piontkowski , Donna Schafer , Deborah Swanson , and Susan Taylor . Gerald Carrig of the Testing Center served as a consultant to the task force. Their report indicated a need for technical assistance to faculty, departments, and colleges and included a recommendation for a University advisory committee on academic assessment and a recommendation for staffing needs. It also said that the target for the first go round should focus on WASC accreditation needs.