Academic and Student Support Services
Defining Academic and Student Support Service Units
Academic and student support services that fall under the institutional assessment requirements of SACSCOC Standard (8.2.c) are units that have a predominantly student-oriented purpose or function. They provide a direct service to students, develop programs or experiences for prospective or current students, and support students at various points during their academic career at UTPB. These units typically deal with advising, recruiting, counseling services, financial aid, student life, registration, and special programs that support the student experience. Units in this area are largely located within the Division of Student Success, the Division of Enrollment Management and the Division of Academic Affairs and select units within the Division of the President and the Division of Finance and Administration. Also Included are academic colleges and departments given their significant role in supporting student success.
Assessment Reporting Overview
The Office of Curriculum and Institutional Assessment (OCIA) has established a periodic assessment reporting process to ensure that all academic and student support service units engage in the continuous improvement process thereby meeting SACSCOC expectations of Institutional Effectiveness (IE).
Academic and Student Support Service Unit Assessment
Academic and student support service unit assessment is the process for collecting and reviewing data related to student achievement (e.g., enrollment, retention, completion) and the effectiveness of the unit’s operations (e.g., promoting student outreach, improving user satisfaction, enhancing service delivery) and using that information to not only continuously enhance student services and cultivate student success, but also to align initiatives, policies, and operational procedures with the institution's mission and strategic plan.
Rubric
- Use the Comprehensive Assessment Plan Rubric to ensure that your unit’s assessment plan meets UTPB’s expectations.
List of Administrative and Academic/Student Support Units
Outcomes
- At UTPB, Academic and Student Support Unit Assessment outcomes are assessed systematically in yearly cycles. Each assessment cycle involves several critical phases depicted in the below diagram. The phases are:
- Plan
- Collect Data
- Analyze
- Report Feedback
- Improve
- Monitor
- Reflect and use the results for improvement
New Unit Exception
New administrative and support units have four years to complete an entire assessment cycle. New units, however, should develop an assessment plan and begin to assess outcomes as soon as possible. Units may use assessment results to make changes if the changes seem warranted, but they are not required to make changes until their fourth year.
At the end of the four years, units are expected to document and use results regularly to improve the attainment of outcomes.
UTPB's Assessment Cycle
Assessment Timeline
Annual Program Assessment is due by October 15 for each academic year:
- Results, findings and action plans from academic year 2023-2024
- New assessment plans for 2024-2025
All plans must be entered into Watermark by the due date.
Annual Assessment Reports
On an annual basis, units are expected to provide retrospective reports of assessment results, analysis of assessment data, and plans/actions for using results to maintain or improve the quality.
Measures and Results
Identify the measure(s) and benchmark(s) for the outcomes assessed during the previous year and provide results for each measure.
Summary of Results
Identify whether the results from your measure(s) indicates that the outcome was met, partially met, or not met. If applicable, compare current results to prior results for this outcome. Also, describe how results were shared with faculty, staff, and/or others concerned with your support service unit. Be prepared to provide documentation that results were shared. Examples of dissemination of evidence include departmental retreat, newsletters, reports, websites, emails, etc.
Analysis
Describe what disaggregating the data revealed about the pattern of strengths and weaknesses in the achievement of the outcome. Also, provide an evaluation of the assessment methods by describing the strengths and weaknesses of the assessment process. The information provided in this section will guide responses to the Improvements section of the Annual Assessment Results Report.
Improvements
Identify and describe any efforts to seek improvements/enhancements to the support service unit’s operations/service delivery (e.g., service changes, departmental policy changes, personnel or resource allocation changes, technology changes, etc.) and/or the assessment processes (expected outcome statements, measures, benchmarks, assessment instrument, etc.). If improvements/enhancements were implemented, be prepared to provide documentation of when and how they were implemented via meeting minutes, policies, and/or memos and reflect on any lessons learned from changes that are in progress or implemented.