Assessment Plan

At McKendree University, we have a systematic assessment plan.  Each year, we focus on one student learning outcome according to an established timeline. Our Student Learning, Assessment, and Teaching Effectiveness (SLATE) committee oversees the entire plan.

SLATE establishes subcommittees that operate on a two-year cycle. In year one, they plan, develop, and/or revise the targeted student learning outcome. In year two, they implement changes to the outcome or assessment tools and sponsor activities to educate the campus community about the targeted outcome. Year two is also designated as the "Year of [student learning outcome]."  For example, 2024-2025 is the "Year of Personal and Social Responsibility" at McKendree University. 

Based on continuous improvement as well as significant changes to our Assessment 2.0 process, in 2019 we will call our efforts as Assessment 2.1. The rationale for this change includes the following:

• We completed one full cycle of Assessment 2.0 and are now making changes to each of the student learning outcomes and corresponding assessment tools.
• We added Student Affairs to our Biennial Assessment Report, and all units will be included and evaluated for the first time in the 2019-2020 cycle.
• We added to the Biennial Assessment Report a section on General Education assessments.
• We are improving our data reporting and will continue to disaggregate data in more meaningful ways in the future.
• We restructured our assessment grid and reporting structure. 
• We celebrate our successful HLC reaffirmation visit in the fall of 2018 and commit to continuous improvement of our assessment processes.

Assessment 2.0 Timeline

Year	Planning and Development	Implementation (Year of...)
2010-2011	Engagement
2011-2012	Personal and Social Responsibility	Engagement
2012-2013	Diverse Perspectives	Personal and Social Responsibility
2013-2014	Effective Communication	Diverse Perspectives
2014-2015	Inquiry and Problem Solving	Effective Communication
2015-2016	Lifelong Learning	Inquiry and Problem Solving
2016-2017 (repeat cycle)	Engagement	Lifelong Learning
2017-2018	Personal and Social Responsibility	Engagement
2018-2019	Diverse Perspectives	Personal and Social Responsibility
Assessment 2.1
2019-2020	Effective Communication	Diverse Perspectives
2020-2021	Inquiry and Problem Solving	Effective Communication
2021-2022	Lifelong Learning	Inquiry and Problem Solving
2022-2023 (repeat cycle)	Engagement	Lifelong Learning
2023-2024	Personal and Social Responsibility	Engagement
2024-2025	Diversity	Personal and Social Responsibility

Note: The Discipline-Specific Competence student learning outcome is addressed by major (program-level) faculty on an annual basis and is not included in the timeline above.