These pressures reflectthe societal concern with educational accountability. The committeehas taken seriously the external interest in showing success ofinstruction programs. We propose a blueprint for Ohio University tomeet challenges posed by these pressures. Committee members assumed that assessment of academic programswill be an ongoing activity at Ohio University. Thecommittee assumes assessment will be carried out with the goal ofcontinuously improving academic programs within the university sothat students will be well prepared for career entry and lifelonglearning.
University carries out academic program assessment.
I. Current assessment activities place heavy emphasis on within course assessment of progress and do not focus attention on student outcomes at exit. Assessment within the program, at exit, and post graduation must be an annual activity focused on student outcomes in each academic major program. Units will need to understand the consequences and benefits of taking assessment seriously. One such mechanism is to tie assessment processes and outcomes to funding. Expectations for the quality of an assessment effort within a program are a significant issue.