Assessment

I. Mission and Goals

Augsburg University faculty and staff assessment professionals promote meaningful and sustainable assessment of learning experiences as students progress from matriculation to commencement. Assessment of students’ curricular and co-curricular work helps promote change and innovation in the interest of student learning, when supported by actionable data. This work allows us to demonstrate the quality of the academic program and our success in meeting its goals. We provide evidence of the value of our educational program to internal stakeholders, such as to faculty and the student body, as well as to external stakeholders, such as outside accrediting bodies.

This website is intended to share essential information about our assessment practice, important dates and forms. For a detailed overview of our campus assessment practice, faculty and staff can access the Augsburg University Assessment Handbook (login required). An expanded website with data summaries and reports is in production; in the meantime, please direct any requests for assessment data to the Director of Assessment. 

II. Assessment Roles

Assessment Committee 

Mission and Goals

Assessment Committee members work collaboratively with faculty and staff to support assessment practice, to build assessment capacity, and to encourage effective data collection and analysis in areas of their expertise. Assessment supports large-scale planning, as in the design of majors and programs, and smaller-scale efforts to develop individual courses or course activities. As such, the assessment of undergraduate, graduate, and co-curricular student experiences are accomplished by faculty and staff from a variety of campus roles, overseen by a committee of faculty, staff, and administrative representatives. 

Assessment Committee Membership for 2022-23

Chair: Ben Denkinger, Director of Assessment

Vanessa Bester, Jennifer Forsthoefel, Tara Mader, Katherine Martin, Leon Van Eck

Additional members: The Dean of Arts and Sciences (Ryan Haaland), the Dean of Professional Studies and Graduate Education (Monica Devers), a representative of Center for Service Work and Learning (Leah Spinosa de Vega; CGEE), and a student appointed by the Student Senate (Kai Avila), and a faculty liaison to the Academic Affairs Committee.

Co-Curricular Assessment Committee

Mission and Goals

Co-Curricular Assessment is focused on evaluating the quality and efficacy of student learning within the university’s co-curriculum, which includes all learning happening outside of or in collaboration with curricular learning in the classroom.

Co-curricular Assessment Committee Membership for 2022-23

Chair: Michael Grewe, Dean of Students

III. Learning Outcome Statements

Institutional Learning Outcomes

These mission-driven learning outcomes are achieved by the cumulative assessment efforts of undergraduate and graduate departments and programs, the General Education program, co-curricular divisions, and administrative institutional data experts.

As Informed Citizens, students are learning to …

  • engage their communities and demonstrate a sense of agency to create change in ethical and informed ways.
  • explain diverse positions and collaborate effectively across social, cultural, and geographic differences in local and global contexts.

As Thoughtful Stewards, students are learning to …

  • critically engage their own beliefs and articulate their gifts and goals for meaningful life and work in a pluralistic context. 
  • identify the broad foundations for sustainable living and apply them in demonstrable ways.

As Critical Thinkers, students are learning to …

  • use appropriate methods to gather and analyze evidence, identify underlying assumptions, and evaluate competing claims.
  • construct coherent, polished and persuasive arguments, narratives and explications in written, oral, and other formats.

As Responsible Leaders, students are learning to …

  • employ the fundamental principles of quantitative literacy to arrive at thoughtful judgments.
  • articulate and solve problems in creative, analytical, and integrative ways.

General Education Learning Outcomes

The Augsburg Core Curriculum is a set of foundational coursework that is required of all Augsburg University Undergraduate Students. Although students may take a variety of different courses to satisfy these requirements, there are a set of four primary learning outcome domains that reflect their acquisition of the essential components of the general education coursework. 

Integrative Learning Identify, evaluate or design solutions based on knowledge, skills, and values from multiple disciplines.

Communication Demonstrate effective expression of ideas.

Quantitative Reasoning Apply mathematical concepts to understand and solve problems.

Values: Appraise one’s own beliefs in relation to other value systems.Co-curricular Learning Outcomes

The nine co-curricular learning outcomes and associated rubrics are as follows:

  • Civic Engagement: Engage their communities and demonstrate a sense of agency to create positive, informed, and meaningful change.
  • Global Learning: Explain one’s and others’ global impacts and perspectives, as well as collaborate effectively across social, cultural, and geographic differences in local and global contexts.
  • Faith & Values: Engage critically with their own beliefs and articulate their gifts and goals for a meaningful life and work in a pluralistic context.
  • Health & Wellness: Identify the broad foundations for healthy, sustainable living and apply them in demonstrable ways.
  • Practical & Academic Competence: Gain skills necessary to successfully complete tasks and navigate systems relevant to academics, career, family, finances, and/or other settings.
  • Intercultural Competence: Understand their own and other cultural norms and be able to communicate and to empathize effectively with individuals who do not share similar cultural backgrounds from themselves.
  • Social Justice: Recognize their own identities, privileges, and biases; name and navigate systems of power and oppression; and demonstrate their agency towards creating a more socially just world.
  • Interpersonal & Intrapersonal Development: Be able to work and to collaborate effectively with others, as well as develop self-awareness of personal attributes and factors that allow them to live productive lives.
  • Leadership Exploration & Development: Provide facilitation, contribute, engage with conflict, and solve problems within a group setting that constructively enhance that group’s goals and initiatives.

Departmental Assessment

Mission and Goals

Each undergraduate program is responsible for developing their own set of subject-specific learning outcomes. These outcomes are mapped to the major curriculum to identify the courses in which they are Introduced, Reinforced, and Mastered. Each year, departments undertake an annual assessment project that is intended to meet the unique assessment needs of the department.

Departmental Assessment Coordinators

Each department or program has designated a faculty member who is charged with leading the department’s assessment work and serving as a liaison to the assessment committee. A list of the current departmental assessment coordinators is available to faculty and staff in the Departmental Assessment Coordinator listing. Departments may update this listing by contacting the Director of Assessment.

Annual Reporting

2021-2022 Departmental Assessment Reports are due to the Assessment Committee on October 7th, 2022. Reports follow the standard Departmental Assessment Reporting Template.

Currently, the most efficient way to submit your final report is by emailing it directly to the Director of Assessment.

Following receipt of the report, the Assessment Committee meets with each department to review the report and their plans for the coming year before preparing a written summary of their feedback to the departments that is shared with the deans and provost.