The Program Effectiveness Process (PEP)

Annual Outcomes Cycle Back to "Step by Step"

I. Institutional Purpose Program faculty and staff connect their work to institutional purpose by reviewing their program mission or goals and linking to the college’s expanded mission, goals, and vision statement. II. Program Goals & Learner Outcomes Program faculty and staff identify a very limited set (2-4) program goals or learner outcomes to focus on for a particular year. These outcomes are not meant to represent a summation of the programs work but are rather simply an indication of the particular issue a program feels is worth focusing on in a given year (or years). III. Assessment For each program goal or learner outcome identified, programs identify two assessments. Assessments must truly measure the outcomes or goal they are linked to, contain criteria for success, and not pose a heavy workload on program staff or faculty. IV. Results Programs review and analyze results from assessments. V. Action Based on the results of all of your assessments, create an action plan.

Step I Institutional Purpose: Determining Your Program’s Connection to BCC’s Mission Review your program’s mission statement or instructional goals. Write your mission statement or your program instructional goals in the appropriate box of Form A. If you do not have a current mission statement or set of instructional goals, see the workshop materials on developing a mission statement located at http://www.bcc.ctc.edu/frc/pep or contact Suzy Lepeintre at the Faculty Resource Center for help 425-564-4212. Read through BCC’s mission, vision, and goals statement and find the points where you feel your program has the strongest connection. Write this section of BCC’s mission, vision, and goals statement in the appropriate box on Form A. In the box underneath, write your own program’s mission statement. This should illustrate how your program’s efforts connect to the larger mission, vision, and goals of the institution. Step II Outcomes: Generating Program Learner Outcomes Before beginning to develop program outcomes, it is recommended that programs review the information provided for them in the Annual Profile. (See Appendix) Your program’s faculty should brainstorm a list of possible outcomes to assess and pick the three that best reflect current program priorities. Use the following definitions and criteria to ensure that your outcomes will do the work you want them to do as benchmarks for effectiveness. PROGRAM LEARNER OUTCOME: For the purposes of program assessment, "program learner outcomes" describe what a student knows and is able to do at the end of a program. Interior Design graduates demonstrate the attitudes, traits, and values of professional responsibility, accountability, and effectiveness. Interior Design Graduates demonstrate creative problem solving ability within the design process. Interior Design Graduates are able to create professionally competitive interior design portfolios Program Learner Outcomes Criteria Criteria I: Observable/Measurable Outcomes describe behavior, skills or results that can be observed and assessed. Criteria II: Straightforward Outcomes should not create overly burdensome assessment situations. Beware, for example, of outcomes with conjunctions as they are often multiple outcomes hooked together and might require different assessments for each outcome. For help in developing your outcomes, see the workshop materials on developing outcomes at http://www.bcc.ctc.edu/frc/pep or contact Suzy Lepeintre in the Faculty Resource Center 425-564-4212 Once you have narrowed your list to 3 outcomes, place the outcomes in the appropriate box on Form A. Step III Assessments: Developing Assessment and Benchmarks for Success Develop two assessment strategies for each outcome. Record each outcome and its two assessments on Form B. To help ensure that the work you do in assessment does not become overly cumbersome for your unit, try using the following criteria when developing your assessment strategies: See the appendix for examples of outcomes and assessments. Assessment Strategy Criteria Criteria I: Congruent Assessment strategies should have a direct correspondence to the outcome being assessed. Criteria II: Specific Assessment strategies should include identifiable criteria for determining whether the benchmark has been met. Criteria III: Feasible Assessment strategies should take advantage of available assessment resources when possible. Assessment strategies should not be unrealistic for current personnel to implement with current resources. Criteria IV: In Line with Institutional Benchmarks If your assessment correlates to benchmarks BCC has set as institutional indicators, verify that your criteria for success are in line with BCC’s criteria for success. See the list of Institutional Performance Indicators in the appendix. Step IV Results Carry out your assessments and collect and report the results on Form B. Step V Action: With your program committee, review all the assessment results and determine what action should be taken based on these results. Report the action that was taken on Form B. Make a copy of your Annual Progress Report (Forms A & B) and send a copy to your Division Chair. Keep the original copy in a three-ring binder. All professional and technical programs should also keep a copy of their annual profile in this same three-ring binder.

Web Designer: Tatiana Alexander alexander@monroe.net Last modified: 11/16/00