Office of Assessment

The Office of Assessment within the Division of Academic Affairs coordinates Towson University's assessment processes. At Towson, this includes aligning curricular and operational outcomes with strategic goals, assessing achievement of student learning outcomes, assessing divisional outcomes for institutional effectiveness, and ensuring compliance for program and institutional accreditation. Assessment of student learning occurs at the course, program, and institutional levels and encompasses academic and co-curricular activities.

The Office of Assessment (OA) was created to:

• Facilitate the assessment of university and programmatic learning outcomes,
• Coordinate institutional and program assessment,
• Provide ongoing support services for assessment, and
• Produce and maintain quality infrastructure for assessment at TU.

MISSION  

The Office of Assessment supports and advances meaningful assessment across Towson University. The OA collaborates with faculty, staff, and students to improve student learning and institutional effectiveness by:

• Providing resources, training, and opportunities for stakeholders to enhance assessment skills.
• Guiding stakeholders through the regular collection, analysis, and interpretation of assessment data for use in recognition, improvement, strategic planning, and accountability.
• Designing and maintaining efficient mechanisms for collecting evidence of assessment for the purposes of improving student learning, institutional effectiveness, and accreditation and compliance.
• Collaborating with faculty, staff, and students on assessment-related research and innovation projects.

VISION STATEMENT

The Office of Assessment strives to be collaborative, competent, effective, and reliable in its partnership with stakeholders across the university. We envision a culture of assessment at TU that enables timely, proactive, meaningful, and transparent use of data to improve student learning and outcomes.

COMMITTEES

The Office of Assessment aids in developing and implementing institutional assessment policies and practices through representation on the Academic Assessment Council (AAC), the Sub-committee on Student Learning Assessment (SSLA), and the Committee on Institutional Effectiveness (CIE). OA also assists in developing templates and rubrics for course, core curriculum, and program approvals overseen by the Academic Senate to ensure compliance with accreditation requirements related to assessment.