Assessment Documents
Assessment Documents and Resources
Watermark Insights – TK20
Fitchburg State University utilizes the TK20 direct assessment tool from Watermark Insights to gather and assess student work, to conduct Juried Assessment of collections of student work, and to assess portfolios of student work.
Program Review
Fitchburg State University conducts Program Review for academic programs without external accreditation every seven years. The process begins with a Program Review Workshop in the Spring semester prior to the writing of the Self-Study Report. Once the Self-Study Report is complete, an external reviewer is invited to campus in late spring of the self-study year to conduct an on-site visit. The faculty in the program will use the comments of the reviewer to create a five-year Action Plan for the program.
Program Review Cycle:
2018-19 |
2019-20 |
2020-21 |
2021-22 |
2022-23 |
2023-24 |
2024-25 |
2025-26 |
2026-27 |
2027-28 |
Program Review Workshop
PowerPoint Presentation from April 2018
Program Review Documents
Program Review Cycle and Procedures (AUC 176)
Word Templates:
Action Plan – Table Format
Faculty Credentials Table
Faculty Demographics Table
Dean’s Rubric
Site Visit Agenda
Annual Report Templates
Academic programs complete an Annual Report each year and submit it to the Director of Assessment by May 31st. The Annual Report template is designed to capture evidence of student learning and to feed into the Program Review.
Academic Program Annual Report 2018-19
Non-Teaching units in the area of Academic Affairs complete an Annual Report each June and an Action Plan by July for the upcoming year.
Non-Teaching Unit Annual Report Template
Non-Teaching Unit Action Plan Template
Assessment Plans
Fitchburg State University has launched a new series of workshops to begin standardizing the assessment plans for the academic programs. The goal is that a written plan will aid the program in “closing-the-loop” in assessing all of their Program Learning Outcomes (PLOs) over a five-year period. Workshops are offered bi-annually in December and May.
Assessment Plan Template
Material from the May 2018 Workshop:
Program Assessment Plan Power Point Presentation
Worksheet 1 – Program Learning Outcomes Checklist
Worksheet 2 – Curriculum Maps Activity
Rubric Resources
Current LA&S Rubrics
VALUE Rubrics
Iowa State University – Revised Bloom’s Taxonomy document
Other Resources
The following organizations publish work and give great advice to institutions regarding the field of assessment:
Association for the Assessment of Learning in Higher Education (AALHE)
Association of American Colleges and Universities (AAC&U)
National Institute for Learning Outcomes Assessment (NILOA)
New England Educational Assessment Network (NEean)
Externally Accrediting Organizations and Standards
Fitchburg State University is accredited by the New England Commission of Higher Education (NECHE), formerly known as NEASC. Our Computer Science/Computer Information Systems, Business Administration, Nursing, Human Services, and Education programs are additionally accredited by external accrediting organizations. The links to the organizations are below:
New England Commission of Higher Education (NECHE) (Previously NEASC)
ABET, Inc. (Accrediting Board for Engineering and Technology) – Computer Science and Computer Information Systems
The Commission on Collegiate Nursing Education (CCNE) - Nursing
The Council for Standards in Human Services Education (CSHE) – Human Services
The Council for the Accreditation of Education Preparation (CAEP/NCATE) – Education
International Assembly for Collegiate Business Education (IACBE) – Business Administration
Additionally, the Fitchburg State University Honors Program undergoes a review by the Department of Higher Education every five years. The next review will by during the 2019/2020 academic year.
