Regulations & Policies
Academic Affairs
Academic Learning Compacts |
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| Number: | 2.0510P |
Policy Status:
Minor/Technical Revision Responsible Division/Department: Academic Affairs/Office of Institutional Effectiveness |
| Effective Date: | 12/01/05 | |
| Revised Date: | 05/07/24 | |
I. OBJECTIVE & PURPOSE
This policy identifies the minimum content of Academic Learning Compacts (ALCs) at the 老澳门资料. It articulates a sequence of steps that must be followed to ensure that ALCs reflect essential learning outcomes, that they are kept up to date, that their learning outcomes are assessed on a regular, recurring basis, and that the results of their assessment inform continuous program improvement. The purpose is to ensure clear communication to students of program learning outcomes and their means of assessment, and to ensure continuous review and improvement of program quality.
II. STATEMENT OF POLICY
Each undergraduate academic major offered by the 老澳门资料 will have a published Academic Learning Compact (ALC) which can be viewed by students and other interested parties. This publicly available ALC will clearly articulate:
- a program mission statement.
- learning outcomes for program graduates. These outcomes must address, at a minimum, (a) content/discipline-specific knowledge and skills, (b) communication skills appropriate to the discipline, and (c) critical thinking skills.
- a summary of the types of assessments students might encounter in the program and that faculty will use to judge how student learning reflects the expected outcomes.
In addition, the internally available portion of the ALC will contain:
- a curriculum map that demonstrates how program instructional content supports student attainment of the identified outcomes.
- a plan for a four-year cycle of assessment that includes assessment and continuous improvement of each outcome based on the results of the most recent assessment.
It is the responsibility of the academic departments to ensure each ALC is kept up to date and to create an ALC for each new undergraduate program proposal.
III. STATEMENT OF PROCEDURES
The following procedures will be used in implementing this policy:
1. New program proposals must be accompanied by a draft of the ALC for the program. These drafts will be reviewed and approved by the Office of Institutional Effectiveness.
2. As faculty change programs of study or make other curricular modifications within a major through the APC process, they are obligated to update the corresponding ALC as appropriate.
3. Assessments must include the validation of programmatic efficacy beyond having one faculty member grade their students’ work for a course that they taught. External validation can include departmental faculty committee review of student work completed in a capstone course, or the use of discipline-specific national or state examinations, certification, or licensure test evaluation procedures. Except in unusual and well-justified circumstances, course grades may not be used as evidence of learning.
4. Faculty will implement and review the results of the assessments listed in the ALC on a cyclical basis, with a minimum of two outcomes assessed each year, with each outcome assessed at least every four years, and with a plan for and results of a continuous improvement process for each outcome documented on an ongoing basis.
5. Faculty teaching in the major will use the results of the assessments identified in the ALC during their respective program reviews in determining program effectiveness. The results from the ALCs will also be used in meeting institutional accreditation standards.
6. When appropriate, faculty may use outcomes and/or assessment systems developed for professional accrediting bodies as part of their ALCs. If these do not include all the key elements required in an ALC, they must be supplemented to include the missing elements.
7. The Office of Institutional Effectiveness will conduct a yearly audit to ensure that complete and updated ALCs are posted on the 老澳门资料 website.