PLANNING AND ASSESSMENT
The Office of Planning and Assessment facilitates the strategic planning process at the departmental and institutional levels through training, strategy session facilitation, communication and support of the College’s online planning system. It also assesses the College’s academic and functional units.
Overview of Assessment
At Indian River State College, the ultimate measure of institutional success is student success. Every department exists to support student learning and student achievement.Every element of Indian River State College, including educational programs, academic and student support services, and administrative support services, strives for excellence and is committed to a process of continuous improvement. Each department identifies goals and conducts regular assessments to evaluate how well their goals are met. The assessment results highlight strengths and weaknesses; based on analysis of those results, departments implement plans for improvement.
Educational programs rely primarily on learning assessment, while the other departments utilize a variety of assessment measures to evaluate their own performance. In addition, a number of targeted surveys are administered to supplement direct assessment.
Learning Assessment
Indian River State College is committed to ensuring that all of our graduates are well prepared to enter the workforce or continue their education. Learning outcome objectives that articulate the essential skills and knowledge needed for success and advancement have been identified for all degree and certificate programs, as well as the general education core. The faculty-led Learning Assessment Workgroup was established to guide and support learning assessment for the purpose of academic program improvement throughout the college.
Assessment of Support Services
Academic and student support services and administrative support services support the educational mission of the College less directly than educational programs that lead to a degree or certificate, and their goals and assessments reflect this distinction. These support departments may focus on quality of service, accuracy of information, wait/response times, and other measures of efficiency and effectiveness. Regardless of their defined role, each department engages in an ongoing cycle of assessment and improvement, appropriate to their function.
Surveys
The Office of Research and Institutional Effectiveness is responsible for all student surveys conducted by the institution. This includes student course evaluations that are administered online in all classes and which are used to identify opportunities for improvement in specific courses or for specific instructors. This office also conducts targeted surveys throughout the year to collect student input and monitor student satisfaction.
In addition, various service and satisfaction surveys are administered by individual programs and departments as part of their individual assessment plans. Contact the [Office of Research and Institutional Effectiveness](4.4.1 Institutional Effectiveness) for survey results or further information.
Strategic Planning and Assessment Recognition (SPAR) Award
The SPAR award was established at Indian River State College in 2013-14. The purpose of the SPAR award is to highlight good planning practices and provide concrete examples for unit managers. The emphasis is on the process of developing and documenting a plan for improvement – not on the merits of the initiative or the results.
Submissions are evaluated and winners selected by the Planning and Assessment Workgroup. Winners are announced at the Fall Quality Enhancement Council meeting.Full copies of the award-winning planning objective reports for planning years 2013-14 to present are available on the employee intranet. Copies may also be requested through the Office of Research and Institutional Effectiveness.
