Program Assessment

Program Assessment is the ongoing process of measuring the extent to which students obtain specific knowledge, skills and abilities within programs to support advanced education or employment. The results of program assessment are used by faculty to propose  curricular and pedagogical changes to enhance student learning. At Oakland Community College all Associate degree programs are required to identify at least three learning outcomes. Additionally, each program has an advisory board which includes employers and other stakeholders in the community, and these boards also provide guidance on the program learning outcomes.

All faculty teaching within a discipline or program at OCC are expected to have input in the development of program-level student learning outcomes and assessment plans. Once a program is assessed, if evidence suggests that students are not attaining the benchmark for a particular learning outcome, an action strategy may be implemented that makes changes to curriculum and/or pedagogy to increase student success in the program. Feedback about the success of the action strategy is tracked by the Office of Institutional Effectiveness. 

Lastly, many programs at OCC have external accrediting bodies and these external accreditation bodies often have their own student learning outcome objectives the programs must achieve.

Co-Curricular Student Learning Assessment

Co-curricular assessment is the assessment of learning that takes place in organized, structured activities in areas other than a classroom. Co-curricular assessment serves as a support of academic learning in courses and programs and aims to determine the extent to which co-curricular areas reinforce aspects of academic learning. The Office of Institutional Effectiveness, as well as SOAC, works with faculty in each co-curricular area to define appropriate learning outcomes and implement meaningful assessment activities.

Current co-curricular areas currently assessed at OCC include:

  • Success Seminars taught by Academic Support Center Faculty
  • Library Instruction Sessions taught by Library Faculty
  • OCC's Mandatory New Student Online Orientation
  • Mandatory Counseling Sessions & Academic Interventions Sessions with OCC Counselors