Guidelines for Program Assessment

As part of NPCC's overall Assessment Plan all NPCC degree programs must have an assessment plan. This assessment plan describes how student achievement of a program's expected educational outcomes are evaluated and how this contributes to curriculum planning, budgeting, and enhanced student learning.

Without such an asssessment program, program faculty are forced to make curricular, personnel, and budget decisions based on limited and possibly erroneous information and perceptions. Without a systematic, ongoing assessment program, it cannot be demonstrated over time that students and faculty are achieveing the standards of excellence set by the program faculty and by external and by external reviewers. Knowing and articulating "where we want to be" at any given moment (i.e., having the big picture clearly in mind) is not only possible, realistic, and desirable - it also frees us from the constrictions of focusing too narrowly on specific objectives which do and should change frequently as we systematically and continuously gather data about our programs.

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