For Faculty/Staff

Assessment Plans

The primary goal of assessment is the improvement of student learning and teaching. Many external constituencies including parents and future students as well as legislators and accrediting agencies want to know how well Old Dominion University is doing at meeting our goal. Assessment data is also needed internally to support the administration of the University. Assessments must be documented in order to be effective and meet the needs of both external and internal constituents. An effective and efficient system of developing and implementing assessment plans and reporting the results for each of our academic / instructional AND administrative / educational support service units is critical to the success of Old Dominion University (ODU). The plans and reports enable us to monitor:

• Improvements in student learning, both inside and outside the classroom, that is, the outcomes established for our academic and administrative units,
• Old Dominion University's institutional effectiveness,
• Performance measurements as required by the new budget planning process, the success of the 2005-2009 Strategic Plan, and
• compliance with the requirements of the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools Commission on Colleges (SACS/COC).

The implementation of these plans should result in enhancement of the quality of ODU programs and services. We need to demonstrate that ODU is engaged in an ongoing program of improvement and be able to demonstrate how well it fulfills its stated mission. SACS/COC has revised its standards and is now emphasizing continuous quality improvement. SACS/COC expects us not only to set goals, collect data, and write reports BUT to use the data to continuously improve our programs. Improvement, rather than reporting, is the primary goal.

In order to continue to meet both our internal needs for assessment data and the external requirements of SACS/COC and other accrediting agencies, all academic and administrative units are required to engage in systematic, broad-based, and interrelated planning and evaluation.

Old Dominion University recently licensed WEAVEonline^SM, which is a web-based assessment management system, to facilitate the process of developing and posting assessment plans and results. WEAVE is a web-based, information system to support the development of an effective fully-integrated planning, budgeting, and assessment process, one that will facilitate communication across the campus and beyond. For more specific information on WEAVE and the assessment process for academic units click here, or for administrative units click here.