Student Learning Academy
Focusing on Student Learning: An Institution’s Transformation
In early 2009 Oakland Community College began a four year initiative
with the Higher Learning Commission’s (HLC)
Academy for Assessment of Student Learning. The college applied for membership in the Academy as an alternative to a 2012 Focus Visit which would evaluate OCC's progress in fully implementing its comprehensive student learning outcomes assessment program.
As a first major step of our participation, OCC established a steering
committee referred to as the Student learning Academy (SLA). This team of
knowledgeable faculty and academic administrative staff will guide the college
through the Academy experience.
The Academy experience is designed to further develop institutional culture
and increase institutional commitment to assessing and improving student
learning. Participation in the Academy is designed to generate evidence
for accreditation evaluations and follow up. The Academy for Assessment
of Student Learning offers HLC member institutions a four-year sequence
of events and interactions that are focused on student learning, targeted
at accelerating and advancing efforts to assess and improve student learning,
and designed to build institution-wide commitment to assessment of student
learning.
As outlined in the college’s application for membership, the Student
Learning Academy will develop and execute a series of projects which after
four years attain the following outcomes:
- 100% of all occupational programs will have quality assessment plans.
- 100% of all occupational programs will have collected, analyzed
assessment data and will have instituted changes in pedagogy and/or
curriculum to enhance student learning.
- Establish a clear process for faculty and academic administration
to ensure that our curriculum development process requires that all
new programs have quality assessment plans in place prior to their first
offering.
- The General Education Distribution List will be revised in relationship
to the newly revised General Education Outcomes.
- All General Education Outcomes will have been defined by the development
of a college-wide rubric.
- There will be evidence of "closing the loop" in the assessment of
general education. Specifically, there will be evidence of changes in
pedagogy/curriculum as a result of assessment.
- The assessment of student learning will be integrated into college
systems such as planning and budgeting, hiring, curriculum development
and curriculum review.
- An assessment culture will exist at OCC, and assessment is systemic
and an expected and fully accepted part of what we do.