For more detailed reports, you can use graphs or pie charts to illustrate findings. As with other aspects of assessment, the types of visual displays you use depend on the kind of assessment project and the audience for whom it is done. You will need to be more explicit about what information you derived about your program in an analysis of the results of assessment activities. If you wish, you can assign a numerical value to each question or item you are assessing to provide you with a numerical database from which you can design graphs, tables, or charts. It is a good idea to keep assessment results for a few years.
Programs often find it useful to do longitudinal studies of assessment projects.
As the job market, the economy, technology, or even the department itself change with time, so will the results of assessment activities. Also, many assessment evaluations are on cycles. Similarly, some departments do alumni surveys annually, while others prefer to do them every five years. To know what has been done before, to learn from past mistakes, or to do longitudinal studies, it may be advisable to keep the results of assessment projects for a period of three to five years.