Institutional Research, Analytics, and Reporting

Academic assessment at Humboldt occurs at three levels, as faculty measure their students’ mastery of program learning outcomes, the university’s general education (GEAR) learning outcomes, and WSCUC’s five core competencies (oral and written communication, quantitative reasoning, critical thinking, and information literacy).

The purpose of academic assessment at Humboldt is to use empirical data to inform decisions on curriculum and pedagogy in order to improve student learning. Faculty come together to discuss what skills their students should acquire before graduating, what kind of evidence would show progress in acquiring those skills, and how that evidence could be captured and analyzed. When a decision is made based on such analyses, the assessment loop is closed.

The Office of Institutional Effectiveness provides instruction and support for university-wide academic assessment. Positive findings of student learning are rewarding for faculty striving for their students’ success, but our goal at OIE is to recognize and commend innovative, exemplary assessment efforts regardless of findings. Academic assessment is an inquiry into what is working well and what could use improvement, and good assessment will find answers to both questions. And good assessment is what we’re here to support and celebrate.