Compliance Review

The institution identifies college-level competencies within the general education core and provides evidence that graduates have attained those competencies.

Northwestern has specified college-level competencies that it expects students to acquire as a result of completion of the general education core curriculum.   These competencies were recently approved and will be published in the 2006-07 University catalog.   Some (e.g., the attainment of lifelong skills; meeting requirements for admission to graduate school) are rather vague.   The ad hoc committee charged with reviewing and revising the general education competencies defined a process for assessing the extent to which core competencies are achieved.   Since this process was only implemented in the spring 2006 semester, it is too soon to determine whether NSU graduates are attaining the specified competencies, nor, correspondingly, can it yet be determined whether the general education curriculum is effective in facilitating the acquisition of these competencies.

Identification of College Level Competencies for General Education

As recognized by the off-site committee, the University approved revised competencies for its core curriculum in Spring 2006.  As included in the self-study, these competencies have since been published in the 2006-2007 University Catalog (p. 19).

Though the off-site committee reported “Some [competencies] (e.g., the attainment of lifelong skills; meeting requirements for admission to graduate school) are rather vague,” the two examples of competencies cited are not Northwestern core competencies and were not identified as such in its self-study.

A significant portion of the development of the University’s core competencies was devoted to ensuring that each competency was concrete and measurable.  In addition, assessment methodologies and instruments for each competency were developed and described in the self-study.  These methodologies, assessment targets, data, and decisions for continuous improvement can be viewed on the Expected Learning Outcomes Follow-up Display (AY 2005-2006, AY 2006-2007) Web page (Core section). 

Evidence of Attainment of Competencies

The process established by Northwestern to assess current core competencies is comprehensive and includes all University core curriculum courses. Engaging the expertise of assessment professionals including Dr. Gloria Rogers, Dr. Peter Ewell, and Drs. Julia and Bob Armacost, the University community worked to adopt the best practices in assessment.  In early 2006, the University implemented core curriculum assessments tied to both the core curriculum and its Board of Regents mandated revised competencies.  Given the implementation of this recently approved assessment process, the evidence provided to the off-site team included only data from Spring 2006.  Typical of early implementation stages of outcomes-based assessment, some instruments needed revision.  Nevertheless, the data collected in Spring 2006 were analyzed, and decisions for course improvements were made.  Decisions specific to departments, programs, and courses ranged from course content revisions to changes to assessment methodologies.

Data for Spring 2006 and Fall 2006 have been posted on the Expected Learning Outcomes Follow-up Display.  Clicking on the plus sign (+) on any of the three horizontal bars will expand the display as follows:

 Degree Program Expected Learning Outcomes (years): will list the Core Competencies

 Degree Program Methodology and Results (years): will display the methodologies used to assess the competencies and present the data collected in the specified (years)

 Degree Program Changes (years): will show the decisions made for continuous improvement in the specified (years)

These data are analyzed, and follow-up decisions are being posted.  To allow adequate time for learning, data are typically collected toward the end of each semester.  However, any data that are available as the Spring 2007 semester progresses will be posted as early as possible to facilitate review. Further, the process will highlight areas for continuous improvement.

The assessment of the core curriculum (general education) parallels assessment of expected learning outcomes in individual academic programs.  Available evidence of the attainment of core competencies was presented to the off-site review team in Fall 2006.  Additional evidence is presented herein to demonstrate that the general education curriculum is effective in facilitating the acquisition of core competencies.