Institutional Assessment is separate from the Assessment of Student Academic Achievement in that it is an evaluation of overall institutional effectiveness in providing the services, functions, and programming that enable the students to learn and fulfill the College mission. Institutional assessment does not speak to what and how much students have learned.

Institutional assessment at ACC is the systematic and ongoing process of collecting and analyzing data and information that:

• result in continuing improvement
• demonstrate that the College is effectively accomplishing its mission
• systematically evaluate or review services and functions of the College to insure support of the College’s Mission.

The Annual Institutional Effectiveness Report is the synthesis of a variety of data to support strategic decision-making and continuous quality improvement.

Service Assessment

The Learning-Focused Organization strengthens its own capacity to learn. An organization that lacks or fails to use multiple evaluation programs to get information essential to maintaining and strengthening quality is at risk. Criterion Two signals this vital need, particularly in its call for ongoing evaluation and assessment processes that provide reliable evidence of institutional effectiveness and inform strategies for continuous improvement. (The Higher Learning Commission Handbook of Accreditation, 3rd Edition)

Assessment of our operations is essential as we plan and improve programs and services, and seek to increase confidence that we are all working within our College mission to support student learning and development.

To this end, the Annual Report Template was developed to facilitate service areas in annually reviewing and evaluating their compliance with department mission and College mission.

Assessment Tools Tips

• Are the questions phrased to give you good information? For instance, if you receive a negative response, what will it help you know and do?
• Is it cost-effective and providing useful information for improvement versus simply a perfunctory exercise?
• Can any tools be combined across departments and reduce duplication?
• How and when will data be collected, interpreted, and utilized by whom and for what end?
• Who is collecting the assessments? Is there anonymity? Is assessment handled through a neutral party?
• Create tools that will lead to program, departmental, and institutional improvement.
• Use multiple measures.

Service Assessment Tools ideas

• Admissions, Records & Testing Center Customer Service Questionnaire
• Advising Survey
• Blackboard-Customer Satisfaction Survey
• Child Care-Fall Semester Questionnaire
• Disability Services-Case Manager Survey
• Disability Services-Evalution of Disability Services by Faculty
• Disability Services-Test Administration Survey
• Institutional Research and ACC Web-Customer Satisfaction Assessment
• Student Activities-Program Evaluation Form
• Student Activities Programming Survey-Spring 2004
• Tutorial Services-Student Evaluations of Tutor
• Tutorial Services-Tutor Training Evaluations
• Tutorial Services-Tutor Self Assessment
• Tutorial Services-Workshop Evaluations