Approximately one-fifth of the university's departments with undergraduate and graduate programs annually are required to submit a final report on student outcomes assessment activities to the Academic Assessment Program. The process from a department's point of view takes two years, with the first year being a planning year and the second one being an implementation year.
All reports go through the dean's office first, along with any supporting documents.
Recently we began the second five-year cycle of the student outcomes assessment reporting process. A major change that began a couple of years ago is that graduate programs are now included in the assessment process. At the undergraduate level, the focus in the second cycle should be on any major changes from the prior report. Graduate education and undergraduate education can be addressed either in the same report or in separate ones, depending on the preference of the department's faculty. Departments with both undergraduate and graduate programs can submit final reports of up to ten pages in length.