Formal Program Review (including CAS)

Student Affairs has a long tradition with both the assessment of learning outcomes and the evaluation of program/service quality. Yearly expectations for directors include Departmental Annual Reports which summarize various dashboard indicators of performance and current contributions to strategic objectives, and an online WATERMARK Assessment Report based on student learning outcomes and program objectives.

As further means of ensuring the best possible student experience, all programs and functional areas within Student Affairs are required on a six-year rotating basis, to complete a Formal Program Review (FPR) that is based on externally defined professional standards and includes reviewers who are external to the department. This process is coordinated by the Assistant Vice President for Student Affairs and can include a Council of the Advancement of Standards (CAS) Self-Study, a professional accreditation process, or a review process that is defined by an external professional consultant or nationally benchmarked survey. Each review requires input from faculty, staff, students, and in some cases, community members, or national benchmarking of results.

The materials that are used in the year-long CAS Self-Assessment process are provided below as well as a growing collection of departmental Executive Summaries and Action Plan Reports that are used to influence program improvement and student learning.