Assessment of Programs and Services

Assessment is an ongoing, systematic process aimed at understanding and improving student learning. Isothermal Community college is committed to the assessment of student learning in curriculum programs and in student and administrative support. Assessment involves:

• Making expectations explicit and public
• Setting appropriate criteria and high standards for learning quality and administrative operations
• Gathering, analyzing, and interpreting evidence to determine how well performance matches those expectations and standards
• Using the resulting information to document, explain, and improve performance

Assessment is integrated with other college processes, including annual planning for staff development and equipment, strategic planning and budgeting, and staff and faculty evaluation.

All college programs and departments participate in systematic review. (See College website for additional information on assessment.)

Academic Program Assessment

Students who complete programs at Isothermal Community College are expected to be able to function effectively as contributing citizens of our society. Our programs, regardless of their content areas, are designed to enable graduates to achieve the following general competencies:

• Communicate effectively through writing, reading, speaking, and listening, and demonstrate information literacy
• Analyze problems and make logical conclusions
• Demonstrate positive interpersonal skills through cooperative learning and group interaction
• Demonstrate quantitative competencies
• Demonstrate basic computer skills
• Perform technical skills in their chosen occupations

Achieving these competencies requires a twofold commitment involving the satisfaction of certain expectations on the part of both Isothermal and its students.

Support Assessment:

Assessment is an ongoing, systematic process aimed at understanding and improving student learning. Student support areas clearly have a direct and indirect affect on student learning. While primarily indirect, the administrative support areas provide the essential infrastructure and processes in which all other areas of the college operate. Assessment involves:

• Making expectations explicit and public
• Setting appropriate criteria and high standards for learning quality and administrative operations
• Gathering, analyzing, and interpreting evidence to determine how well performance matches those expectations and standards
• Using the resulting information to document, explain, and improve performance

In recognizing the importance of support assessment the college as developed a model to guide the development and implementation of assessment plans.

Policy Number: 202-03-00

Download a PDF of this policy