Office of Assessment
The Malone University Office of Assessment, under the Office of the Provost, provides guidance in assessment and evaluation in order to sustain a purposeful culture of inquiry and improvement in programs and administrative services. The office ensures that Malone fulfills its mission in a dynamic framework of transparency and accountability to the University community.
Mission
In its contribution to the fulfillment of the mission of Malone University, the Office of Assessment exists to:
- Provide guidance to academic departments in the implementation and review of student learning outcomes assessment.
- Assist administrative and academic support services in the assessment and operational review of their respective functions.
- Accumulate and communicate best practices in support of assessment.
- Coordinate the documentation of assessment reports for accreditation agencies and other external regulators.
- Provide oversight for the integration of standard assessment inventories into the planning processes of the University.
- Develop and share analytical studies relative to academic planning and policy formulation.
- Analyze, interpret, and disseminate data, external studies, and reports germane to the mission of Malone University.
Principles
Assessment is an endeavor that begins with the adoption of goals and related expectations and benchmarks as the basis for systematic and continuous processes of gathering and interpreting data in support of qualitative improvements in programs and support services.
The assessment activities at Malone University will be guided by the following principles:
- Assessment must be considered as a continuous process with cumulative effects.
- As a goal-oriented activity, assessment is not an end in itself, but a process with self-reinforcing mechanisms for change and progressive adaptation.
- Assessment of program objectives is most effective when two or more methods are employed to measure the multidimensional nature of student learning outcomes.
- Program objectives and their corresponding learning outcomes must relate to the mission and values of the University.
- Assessment of student learning outcomes must be faculty-owned and be made part of everyday classroom experience.
- Equal rigor and attention must be allotted to both the assessment of programs and support services.
- In order to optimize its instrumental value, assessment processes and results must be integrated into the planning and decision-making structures of the University.
- The wider the involvement of the University community, the greater the impact and value added of assessment.
