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Founded in 1865, Indiana State University (ISU) has a longstanding tradition of providing public higher education within the state of Indiana with its current enrollment of nearly 12,000. Assessment and accountability are part of the institution's ethos of demonstrable student learning. Through concerted and well-established efforts, ISU executes current initiatives to promote learning and growth while developing comprehensive plans for enacting new initiatives.
The signature aspect of assessment for the improvement of student learning at ISU is the intentionality around supporting opportunities for curricular and cocurricular aspects of the institution to demonstrate student learning. Assessment activities are supported through collective efforts at the institutional level. Namely, the existence of the 20-member Assessment Council is the leading example in which ISU carries out an assessment ethos. Providing governance over assessment within the institution, this council "is charged with identifying assessment issues, developing policy recommendations, facilitating assessment activities, and promoting the adoption of best practices in assessment." In particular, the Council works with faculty and administrators to create and assess student learning outcomes for their respective curricular and co-curricular units for continuous improvement. Working diligently, the Assessment aims to address its goals of identifying and applying resources to promote assessment, increase campus-wide engagement in assessment, create a shared understanding of assessment, communicate progress and celebrate achievements, develop an infrastructure to support assessment.
The institution's intentionality spans beyond the infrastructure created through the Assessment Council. Most recently, ISU instituted Foundational Studies, a general education program, during the Fall 2010 semester. Through the development of this program, administrators and faculty worked to develop 10 learning outcomes geared toward this curriculum for all undergraduate students. The Foundational Studies program includes learning outcomes related to problem solving, critical thinking, human expression, global learning, and wellness. In order to be included in the Foundational Studies curriculum, courses that are part of this curriculum must be approved and are required to meet one or more the outcomes.
Like many institutions, ISU uses a number of methods to assess students' perceptions of their learning and engagement inside and outside of the classroom, including the National Survey of Student Engagement instruments and the Educational Testing Service Proficiency Profile. However, ISU is set apart from other institutions because of its status as a founding member of both the Presidents' Alliance and Voluntary System of Accountability. To learn more about ISU and its efforts to continuously improve student learning, visit its institutional profile and campus assessment website.
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