Skip to main content
Executive Vice Chancellor and Provost

Undergraduate Academic Program Assessment

Updates for Annual Program Assessment

Assessment report submission dates for the 2023-2024 academic year are:

  • March 1, 2024: DUPs and DGPs submit assessment reports to department heads in the APA application: go.ncsu.edu/APA
  • March 29, 2024: Department heads review assessment reports
  • April 12, 2024: Department heads submit a summary report to their dean’s designee
  • April 26, 2024: Dean’s designee reviews assessment reports
  • May 17, 2024: Dean’s designee submits a summary report to the Provost’s Office

Assessment Support

DUPs, DGPs, department heads, deans/designees and other faculty and staff that are involved in the assessment process are welcome to reach out to the assessment facilitators for individual consultations. For undergraduate assessment, contact Kaitlyn Mittan kmmittan@ncsu.edu. For graduate programs, contact Dr. Pierre Gremaud gremaud@ncsu.edu. Learn more on the assessment resources page. 

Outcomes Assessment Process

Overview

All undergraduate programs and transcripted certificates offered for credit by NC State are expected to fully participate in the assessment process, regardless of method or location. However, University requirements are flexible enough to allow programs and/or colleges wide latitude in implementing the procedures, including integration of undergraduate and graduate program review where desired.

Learning Outcomes

Accreditation and assessment support NC State’s academic excellence by establishing learning outcomes that provide benchmarks for the success of all academic programs.

Setting the Bar for Success – NC State maintains assessment plans for each academic program, including all degree programs and certificates recognized on official university transcripts. Each assessment plan describes measurable student learning and program outcomes and appropriate evaluation methods.The university requires an annual assessment report for each academic program. Reports provide an update including a summary of recent assessment results, an evaluation of strengths and areas for program improvement based on the results, and a description of decisions made and implemented to address areas for program improvement.

Assessment Plans and Learning Outcomes

We provide access to assessment reports and corresponding learning outcomes for each academic program and certificate. Learn more at apps.oirp.ncsu.edu/pgas/.

Academic Program Assessment (APA) Application and Assessment Guidelines

Instructions

Basic Expectations for the Assessment Process

  1. Learning Outcomes – Each program and transcripted certificate must have a set of comprehensive student learning outcomes which are measurable (i.e., need to use action verbs such as those found in the Bloom’s tables online) and can all be assessed within a 3 to 5-year cycle. We generally recommend narrowing down the list of outcomes to 4 to 7 high-level outcomes (e.g., analyzing, synthesizing, creating, etc.) the faculty would expect students to be able to do or know as a result of graduating from the program.
  2. Measures – Each program and transcripted certificate must use direct measures of learning that are aligned with the outcomes such as test questions (not grades) or projects with a rubric (or another method that will allow for systematic review of the course product) from upper-level courses. When done well and in the aggregate, these methods will allow programs to determine not only the extent to which students achieved the outcome, but will allow faculty to identify both strengths and areas for improvement for the program, which is a requirement of the process (for an example of how to show these, see the “Example Report” listed above. Each program can measure as many outcomes as they deem appropriate each year as long as they are all assessed within 3 to 5 years. A single tool or set of questions from a major exam may be used to assess multiple outcomes.
  3. Using Results – Each program and transcripted certificate must make clear decisions based on the data collected. Decisions may or may not include changes to the overall program or courses and changes to the program may or may not be big changes. The spirit of the process is that the faculty review the data and make decisions regarding whether changes are needed and if so, what those changes should be. If the faculty determine that no changes are needed, please explicitly indicate that as a decision made based on data.
  4. Submitting Reports – Each program and certificate submits an assessment report in Academic Program Assessment (APA) Application. Reports are due the last business day of February each year. Instructions for submitting reports in APA can be found above.

Resources

All programs and transcripted certificates are encouraged to utilize any of the resources below throughout the assessment process. The use of a curriculum map is recommended to help programs identify the courses in which outcomes are addressed and where the best direct evidence can be collected.

University Regulation