Academic Assessment

Assessment is integral to our job as educators

At SUNY Potsdam, academic assessment serves as “an institutional strategy, a core function of continuous improvement, and a means for faculty and staff to elevate student success and strengthen institutional health” (Kuh et al, 2015). Our assessment work is intended to enhance and improve faculty teaching and student learning.  

“Assessment is the ongoing process of:

• Establishing clear, measurable expected outcomes of student learning.
• Ensuring that students have sufficient opportunities to achieve those outcomes.
• Systematically gathering, analyzing, and interpreting evidence to determine how well student learning matches our expectations.
• Using the resulting information to understand and improve student learning" (Suskie 2004).

From: Using Evidence of Student Learning to Improve Higher Education by George D. Kuh et al, 2015, p. x.

From: Assessing Student Learning: A Common Sense Guide by Linda Suskie, 2004, p. 3.

Academic assessment at SUNY Potsdam focuses on multiple facets of the academic enterprise: Student Learning Outcomes (SLO), Program Review (self-study, site visit and action plan) and SUNY Potsdam General Education.