The assessment of student learning at SWIC is a faculty-driven process. The Outcomes Assessment Coordinator is a full-time faculty member, and all committees (except the Co-Curricular Committee) are composed of faculty from across the instructional divisions.

Assessment Steering Committee

The Assessment Steering Committee (ASC) is committed to educational achievement and improvement through ongoing assessment of student learning. The ASC is co-chaired by the OA Coordinator (full-time faculty member) and an appointed Dean from the Instructional Services Leadership team. This committee will guide the college-wide assessment efforts by establishing policies, procedures, and various Outcomes Assessment (OA) documents. Since the ASC oversees the Core Competency, Program Review, and Co-Curricular Committees which consists of members from all areas of the College, assessment at SWIC is seen as the shared responsibility of all areas. Assessment of student learning, however, is a faculty-driven process. Faculty, as content experts, create measures for their own areas within basic parameters set by the Instructional Services leadership and the ASC.

Core Competency Committee

The Core Competency Committee provides leadership for the assessment of the College’s institution-level core competency student learning outcomes. The Core Competency Committee fosters activities related to improving student learning aligned to the Core Competency SLOs, including communication, reasoning skills, and citizenship. The committee analyzes collected institutional assessment data, recommends improvements, develops and leads College-wide curricular initiatives concerning core competency SLOs, conducts regular reviews of SLO alignment to institutional expectations for benchmarking purposes, conducts faculty rubric norming sessions, and facilitates professional development opportunities related to core competency assessment. Additionally, the committee is responsible for creation and consistent implementation of the Institutional Assessment for Core Competency outcomes timeline. In collaborative effort, the Core Competency Committee is comprised of faculty and administration. The Core Competency committee collaborates and reports assessment outcomes to the ASC regularly.

Program Review Committee

The Program Review Committee reviews and provides recommendations to faculty, program coordinators, and department chairs on all annual program reviews and five-year ICCB program review reports. The Program Review Committee engages in the peer review process in which the committee provides synchronous feedback to the respective faculty, program coordinator, and/or department chair. The committee analyzes collected information through the program review process to provide recommendations for professional development opportunities, prospective allocation of resources, and improvements to student learning for programs/disciplines. The committee performs norming sessions for rubric and template development of the annual report to ensure consistency with SWIC’s accreditation requirements (HLC) and state recognition (ICCB) requirements, while also facilitating meaningful and ongoing internal review processes. The committee is comprised of faculty and administration to promote college-wide communication to inform SWIC’s strategic planning process. The Program Review Committee collaborates and reports program review outcomes to the ASC regularly.

Co-Curricular Committee

The Co-Curricular Committee provides leadership for assessment of co-curricular activities. CoCurricular activities are those educational experiences that occur outside of a course to assist students achieve meaningful learning outcomes in conjunction with academic study. These experiences may take the form of participation in a student club or the utilization of learning support services such as the library or the Student Success Center. The Co-Curricular Committee is responsible for establishing guidelines for identifying which activities are co-curricular and to facilitate the assessment processes for those activities. The Co-Curricular Committee consists of faculty and staff, which provide input and feedback on student activities and co-curricular plans submitted by clubs or departments annually. This committee includes faculty, staff, and administration to provide feedback college-wide. The Co-Curricular Committee collaborates and reports assessment outcomes, initiatives, and professional development opportunities to the ASC regularly.

assessment training team (a-team)

The Assessment Training Team provides leadership opportunities in professional development of faculty, staff, and administration related to assessment and accreditation topics. These topics can coincide with college, state, and external accreditor expectations; but also include classroom and programmatic/discipline assessment techniques. This team receives feedback from all aspects of the college to determine areas of need and opportunity for professional growth in relation to outcomes assessment. Participants on this team collaborate with any outcomes assessment committee and/or educational committee at SWIC for collaborative communication, professional development training, and feedback from training. This committee informs the ASC in matters related to assessment training but does not actively participate in assessment processes underneath the ASC.