Step 1- Program Mission
What is the educational goal or mission of your program?
Clearly state the Faculty Consensus of the Program's Mission
The foundation of any outcomes assessment plan, even before specific student-learning outcomes are defined, is faculty understanding and agreement regarding the program’s underlying values and mission.
Strategies for how to proceed
- Review your current mission statement, if you have one, with your colleagues.
This probably is best done at a faculty meeting. Time permitting, it could be discussed at the same meeting suggested in Step 2 to discuss Student Learning Outcomes. The program’s mission is the educational purpose for the program’s existence (Why are we here?) – a point on which there may not be total faculty agreement.
For example, some faculty may feel the purpose of the program is to prepare students for specific kinds of professional employment, while other faculty believe it is more important to prepare students for graduate or professional school and yet others may be less concerned with students’ post-graduate pursuits and instead committed to discipline mastery as the primary goal.
The faculty discussion is likely to be at least as important as the mission statement it produces. Clearly, all faculty need to agree in principle on the program’s mission in order to offer a congruent curriculum and to proceed with developing the assessment plan.
*Examples of program mission statements (Below) from the physics program from Montana State and the accounting program from the University of Central Arkansas. - Affirm, rewrite or create your program's mission statement.
Download or print a copy of the Assessment Plan Template.
The Assessment Plan Template (a facsimile of the of the web interface) illustrates the text box where the mission statement should be entered.
Examples of program mission statements
The following are examples of program mission statements from two other institutions illustrate that missions vary and mission statements need not be lengthy to convey the program's purpose
- Physics (Degree Objectives)
- To provide students with the disciplinary knowledge and problem-solving and analytical skills necessary to succeed in the workplace or as graduate students in physics or other technically oriented fields.
(Montana State University)
- To provide students with the disciplinary knowledge and problem-solving and analytical skills necessary to succeed in the workplace or as graduate students in physics or other technically oriented fields.
- Accounting (About Us . . .)
- The Department of Accounting at the University of Central Arkansas has as its primary mission the provision of a high quality undergraduate major. The curriculum is designed to provide students with a strong theoretical foundation such that they will be well prepared to become life-long learners who can evolve professionally with the inevitable career changes they will encounter. Accounting graduates are prepared for entry-level positions in public accounting, private industry and not-for-profit organizations as well as entry into graduate programs in accounting, business administration, or law. Local, regional, and international firms regularly hire accounting graduates from UCA.
(University of Central Arkansas)
- The Department of Accounting at the University of Central Arkansas has as its primary mission the provision of a high quality undergraduate major. The curriculum is designed to provide students with a strong theoretical foundation such that they will be well prepared to become life-long learners who can evolve professionally with the inevitable career changes they will encounter. Accounting graduates are prepared for entry-level positions in public accounting, private industry and not-for-profit organizations as well as entry into graduate programs in accounting, business administration, or law. Local, regional, and international firms regularly hire accounting graduates from UCA.
Outcome Assessment
Outcomes assessment is focused on what each program has added to students' knowledge and abilities. Specifically, how well students can demonstrate what they have learned as they are completing their work in the major or at some other important juncture in the curriculum.
You are now ready for Step 2
