Annual Assessment FAQ

The annual assessment plan report is due every academic year on September 30th, reporting on the previous academic year. 

Student learning outcome assessment is deciding what we want our students to learn and then providing evidence in a report ensuring students learned it successfully. This can be at almost any unit level, i.e., course, program, institutional, etc. For University academic reporting purposes, all academic degree programs are expected to report on Program Learning Outcomes (PLOs) every fall (i.e., by September 30) covering the previous academic year.

Learning outcomes are the knowledge, skills, attitudes, and habits of mind that students form and take with them from a learning experience. 

For University reporting purposes, this means assessing program learning outcomes (PLOs), i.e., those in the current catalog, for all academic degree programs.  Note: some discipline or specialized accreditors may use different terminology in place of  "learning outcomes", which can be reported on instead of PLOs.

A good way to start the conversation within your program/unit is to review your mission statement, accreditation standards or strategic plan. Faculty and professionals might also review other similar examples of learning outcomes at other schools.

Every program should designate key contacts for assessment. Once this contact has been established, please send their name(s) and email address(es) to AAL Assessment and the Office of Accreditation, Assessment and Learning will set up a Watermark account for them.

Kent State University has adopted Planning & Self-Study (PSS) by Watermark as the platform used to track assessment. All assessment plans should be reported using (PSS).

Watermark PSS has provided a basic demonstration video - you will need to create a Watermark Academy account to view the video.   

Also, a video channel with several PSS tutorials specific to Kent State can be accessed by clicking here.

The Office of Accreditation, Assessment and Learning also provides one-on-one and group assistance as needed.

Please contact AAL Assessment

One place to start is discussing results with key stakeholders at academic unit meetings (e.g., departmental, curriculum, etc.). The Office of Accreditation, Assessment and Learning is ready to help you make the most of your data. Please contact us for more information.

Please contact AAL Assessment for any additional questions not addressed here.