The Office of Operations and Accreditation provides Evaluation and Academic Assessment services for the Arnold School in several areas. Our team assesses the performance of our academic programs against learning outcomes, administers course evaluations, and collects feedback from graduating students and alumni. We also work closely with the Council on Education for Public Health to ensure that the Arnold School maintains its accreditation.
Services
Each unit at the University develops academic assessment plans that are used to measure performance against its programs’ learning outcomes. These data are used for planning and program improvement. The Director of Evaluation and Academic Assessment (DEAA) works with program directors in the School to ensure that data are collected and reported annually. The University’s Office of Institutional Research, Assessment, and Analytics (OIRAA) provides resources and assistance with the assessment planning process and reviews the plans annually. OIRAA’s Assessment Toolbox provides information and guidance on plan development, and includes a link to the Assessment Plan Composer, where the plans are maintained.
The Arnold School has revised its student course evaluation questionnaire to improve the quality of the data collected, while making it shorter and less burdensome to complete. Course evaluations are one of the most important ways for students to provide feedback about their academic experience. Survey results are used by instructors to modify courses or select successful strategies; by departments for program assessment; and by the Arnold School and the University to evaluate faculty for potential tenured appointments or promotion.
The Office of Operations and Accreditation conducts anonymous course evaluations at the end of each Arnold School course. Surveys are administered through Class Climate, an electronic system that allows us to schedule surveys, automatically email invitations to students, and send reminders to students who have not completed the survey, while maintaining anonymity. The questionnaire asks students to rate each course and its instructor and to provide comments about their experience in the class. At the end of each semester, the office summarizes student data by course, by department, and for the school overall. Summary reports are sent to the instructor, the department chair, the associate dean for faculty affairs and curriculum, and the dean. For information about courses evaluations for other courses, please contact the school or department offering the course.
The Arnold School regularly solicits feedback from our students and alumni to learn about their future plans, assess our success in preparing student for the workforce, and find ways to improve our programs. Results of these surveys are used by the program directors, department chairs, and dean to guide program improvements.
Exit Surveys
Each semester, the Office of Operations and Accreditation conducts electronic surveys
of students who are graduating that semester. The surveys ask students to rate their
experiences at the Arnold School and to provide qualitative feedback. We also ask
about post-graduation outcomes, e.g., will they be employed, continuing their education,
or are they still seeking employment.
Undergraduate Exit Survey [pdf]
Alumni survey
The Office of Operations and Accreditation also conducts anonymous alumni surveys
to learn more about what our recent graduates are doing (employment, continuing education,
etc.) and how well our programs have prepared them for their current roles.