Cocurricular Assessment

History and Plans for the Future

Prepared by University Assessment Panel, Spring 2023

Introduction

Learning takes place both in and outside of the classroom, both as part of academic degree programs and in cocurricular activities. From its inception, the University Assessment Panel (UAP) has recognized this. A memo from the first chair of UAP, Lynne M. Waldeland, to the founding members indicated that the panel’s work would include “foster[ing] assessment activities in academic and student support units” (October 14, 1998). Further, the first Annual Report summarizing the work of the panel during 1999-2000 noted that the UAP had consolidated oversight and coordination of assessment activities within the Divisions of Academic and Student Affairs.

Cocurricular learning is an important way that NIU fulfills its mission “to empower students through educational excellence and experiential learning as we pursue knowledge, share our research and artistry, and engage communities for the benefit of the region, state, nation and world.” Like many of NIU’s degree programs and general education courses, many of NIU’s cocurricular programs provide experiential learning and/or community engagement components. As Stirling and Kerr (2015) note, there are a couple of important questions which cocurricular assessment can help answer. The first is to what extent learning outcomes are achieved (rather than inferred) during cocurricular learning? The second is what conditions are necessary to facilitate cocurricular learning?

As UAP begins to resume oversight of cocurricular assessment after a pause initiated at the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020, it will be important to implement an assessment process that identifies cocurricular programs that foster student learning critical to supporting NIU’s mission. It will also be important to ensure that assessment of cocurricular learning provides evidence to support inferences about learning outcomes attained and information to help identify optimal conditions to support student learning in cocurricular experiences. This in turn will facilitate programs’ engagement with continuous improvement of learning.

History of Assessment of Cocurricular Learning Assessment at NIU

As noted above, the UAP has a history of reviewing assessment reports from academic and student affairs units. The reporting format (Appendix A) and reporting schedule (Appendices B and C) for support units were developed during 1999-2000. Although the five year reporting cycle began with 2001-2002, first three support units submitted pilot reports to UAP in 2000-2001 (ACCESS, Center for Black Studies, and Faculty Development and Instructional Design Center). Every five years, support programs were to report on their objectives, methods, evidence, use of results, further information needed, and timeline for collecting additional information. The unit’s objectives were to be stated as outcomes that were unique to the unit, which may include student outcomes as well as outcomes not directly related to students, depending on the unit’s mission.

Beginning in 2007-2008, student affairs units began reporting to UAP based on their own internal assessment processes, which involved annual priorities under larger goals. This practice continued through 2013-2014. Beginning in 2014-2015, Student Affairs assumed responsibility for their own assessment review process and UAP stopped reviewing those reports.

Over time, questions have been raised by UAP members and directors of support units about the purpose and focus of assessment reporting for support units. In particular, questions regarding whether every unit was required to have student learning outcomes, how to assess student learning for programs that indirectly support student learning (e.g., by supporting faculty and instructors) or that support attainment of a variety of student learning outcomes that are not their own (e.g., degree program learning outcomes, general education learning outcomes). Due in part to this lack of clarity, some support units focused solely on continuous improvement related to functions that support their unit’s mission (e.g., Accreditation, Assessment and Evaluation; Testing Services; University Office for Educator Licensure and Preparation) while others included assessment (primarily indirect) of student learning (e.g., ACCESS, Asian American Resource Center, Center for Black Studies).

The pause in assessment reporting for these units presented an opportunity to clarify the purpose and focus of assessment reporting for support units. It also presented an opportunity for UAP to identify programs providing cocurricular learning that supports the university’s mission and values (per HLC’s definition). HLC’s criterion 4B requires that institutions have “effective processes for assessment of student learning and for achievement of learning goals in academic and cocurricular offerings” and defines cocurricular learning as, “learning activities, programs and experiences that reinforce the institution’s mission and values and complement the formal curriculum.”

Current Work on Cocurricular Assessment of Student Learning

Beginning in December 2022, UAP examined and reflected on HLC’s definition of cocurricular learning. In January 2023, the conversation continued with UAP examining and discussing other universities’ operating definitions of cocurricular, considering possible sources of learning outcomes for cocurricular at NIU (e.g., mission, values, baccalaureate SLOs), discussing an initial draft of an operational definition for cocurricular learning at NIU developed by Accreditation, Assessment and Evaluation staff. In February, UAP revisited other universities’ operating definitions of cocurricular in addition to the learning outcomes they used and units/programs involved. By February, an initial operational definition for NIU was revised and agreed upon. UAP members were charged in March and April with applying this working definition to units formerly reviewed by UAP. The goal of this exercise was to determine whether the definition seemed to be a good “fit” for the purpose of identifying units/programs at NIU to be included in cocurricular assessment. The consensus was that the working definition seemed fine for its purpose but might need to be refined in discussions with units as cocurricular programs are collaboratively identified.

Beginning in August 2023, Accreditation, Assessment and Evaluation staff began meeting with the executive director of Student Affairs (including the University Assessment Panel representative from the University Libraries). This group developed a working list of units with cocurricular learning components, developed a reporting timeline, and drafted a reporting template. A five-year reporting schedule was established for cocurricular programs, with annual reports in the first four years building up to a cumulative status report in the fifth year. Programs will be supported to develop assessment plans in spring 2024, with a first annual report due in fall 2023.

 

References

Appendices