Assessment

Assessment of student learning at Ohio Wesleyan is the responsibility of all faculty and staff who engage in the teaching and learning enterprise. This assessment takes many forms: informal assessment that occurs during one-on-one dialogues between students and faculty/staff mentors and teachers; formal classroom assessment such as papers, exams and projects; department and program assessment as outlined in department/program assessment plans; general education assessment; assessment of new initiatives.

Ohio Wesleyan has “in-house” assessment measures for a wide range of general academic skills and requirements. Most of these assessments are conducted on an annual basis and are reviewed by the Assessment Committee and others for whom they are relevant. These measures, in conjunction with those used by departments, programs, and individual faculty members, allow us to assess how well we meet our Statement of Aims.

Academic assessment is guided by the Assessment Committee a non-overlap faculty committee. The committee is composed of four elected faculty members, one from each division (Social Sciences, Humanities, Fine and Performing Arts, and Natural Sciences/Mathematics), a faculty member appointed from the Academic Policy Committee, two Associate Deans of Academic Affairs, the Dean of Students, the Registrar, and two students. Actual assessment procedures are carried out by departments, programs, and one of the Associate Deans of Academic Affairs. Interpretation and evaluation of assessment results, as well as recommended studies or changes to measures or curricular approaches, are made by departments, programs, and the Assessment Committee.

Descriptions of the assessment processes for General Education, Departments and Programs, and of The OWU Connection can be found by clicking the desired category.

Between 2015 and 2018 OWU conducted a Quality Initiative as part of our Accreditation process. This initiative focused on using and developing rubrics for assessing student learning at the institutional, departmental and course level. The Quality Initiative Report (PDF) provides details of the outcomes of the initiative.