Getting Started

• What do you expect your students to know and/or be able to do by experiencing your programs or services?
• What do the curricula and the co-curricula “add up to”?
• What do you do in your programs/services to promote the kinds of learning and development that Carleton seeks?
• What students benefit from what your office offers?
• How can you help students make connections between classroom learning and experiences outside the classroom?
• What do you want or need to show?*
• Why do you need to show it?*
• Who is the source of your data?*
• How will you use the data?*
• Who will need to see the results?*

1. Identify the outcome/s or goal/s
2. Why is this assessment being conducted? 
3. Determine an assessment method
4. Gather data and information
5. Analyze, review, discuss the findings/data
6. Share results
7. Make necessary changes

Key cycle questions

• What are we trying to do and why are we doing it?
• What do we expect the students to know or to do as a result of our program/service?
• How well are we doing it and how do we know?
• How do we use the information to improve?
• Does it work?

• Go ahead and write every program outcome down, but don’t try to assess every program outcome every year
• You may want to start by documenting what you are already doing and connect it to budget needs and key performance indicators
• Move to implementing the entire assessment cycle one outcome at a time making everything for that systematic. In other words, we want to begin to form “habits” of assessment.
• Remind each other of the importance and benefits of continual assessment.
• Share assessment examples with others and celebrate assessment victories
• Advertise your assessment learnings and decisions made
• Incorporate students in all facets of assessment planning and implementation when ready
• Articulate Division-wide assessment expectations
• Acknowledge and addresses barriers to assessment