Institutional Assessment

Assessment Data Transparency Policy

The university differentiates between institutional level data and departmental level data. Institutional level data refers to data and findings from initiatives that do not identify or focus on individual academic units. One example would be the National Survey of Student Engagement. Another example is data compiled about undergraduate, graduate or international students as a panel or cohort.

Each department determines the type and nature of data that can be shared outside of the department. However, college deans can request department-level data as appropriate. As the governing authority for all academic units, the Provost can request data from colleges in order to fulfill its institutional obligations. In order to protect confidentiality and privacy, no individual data (e.g., individual student, faculty or class) will be made available outside the department.

Institution-Wide Assessment Instruments

WMU participates in three institution-wide national assessment instruments, the National Survey of Student Engagement (NSSE), the Faculty Survey of Student Engagement (FSSE) and the Collegiate Learning Assessment (CLA+) on a four-year rotating basis. One year we participate in the NSSE and FSSE, the next the CLA+, the third year we participate in in-house assessments for our general education program and the fourth year, we examine the data and outputs, look for trends, compare the data with other sources and identify areas where improvements can be made. Then we start the four-year cycle again. Below are links to pages for further information about the three assessment instruments and within those pages, links to reports for each year we have participated in the assessments.

NSSE     FSSE     CLA+