Phase II: Self-study report—development and preparation

Preparation of self-study

The self-study report is an interpretive document that uses data to assess progress since the last review, current program status, and future directions using the APR Self-Study Report template (Appendix 2).

Questions regarding official university financial data for the unit under review should be directed to the Office of Institutional Analysis (IA). Official data for the self-study tables is available through the Institutional Analysis Reporting group. The report is available for use or download to users who currently have access to IA dashboards. If need be, please Request Access. Or you can use this form to request access to the Institutional Analysis Reporting group.

The dataset is tightly integrated into the template. Data should be analyzed and discussed in relation to a unit’s mission, goals, and future direction.

Although the report is compiled and written by the self-study committee, the head of the unit is responsible for the content, accuracy, and completeness of the work, and should actively oversee the report preparation.

Appendix 2: Self-study report template sections are the following:

I.    Overview
II.    Mission and Strategic Directions
III.   Peer and Aspirational Peer Comparisons
IV.  Undergraduate Education
V.   Graduate Education
VI.  Student Learning Outcomes Assessment (Undergraduate/Graduate)
VII. Faculty
IX.  Program Resources

The following instructions are provided by the University Office of Evaluation and Educational Effectiveness (UOEEE).

In Section VI of the APR Manual, Student Learning Outcomes Assessment, UOEEE works with academic units in a two-phase process to help units prepare material for the self-study. UOEEE will, 1) assist in evaluating past data for inclusion in the Self-Study to determine how well programs are meeting their program learning outcomes and, 2) assist the unit to prepare for future assessment of student learning outcomes by revising their current assessment plans.

Student Learning Outcome Reflection:

As part of an assessment of Program Learning Outcomes (PLOs), academic units write a reflection of their past seven years of assessment reports in their APR self-study. Assessment reports are submitted, reviewed, and archived in the UOEEE assessment portal. To help units reflect on past data, UOEEE has developed a tool that will aggregate the data from past reports into one convenient table. Academic units can also review completed past reports with UOEEE feedback. Both of these are available via UOEEE’s assessment portal by going to the program archives (for instructions see the Program Archives section of the handbook) or through a unit’s report edit page (for instructions see the Editing Assessment Plans and Reports section of the handbook).

To help guide data interpretations, units are asked to respond to the five prompts provided below as part of the analysis. These prompts should help units establish how well students are achieving the established learning outcomes. This analysis is essential to the assessment and self-study process. The reflective questions to help guide programs in completing this section of the self-study include:

Are your students achieving at the levels of performance you had expected? 2. How well did they meet your performance criteria? 3. What plans do you have in place for students who are not achieving the desired level of performance? 4. What actions have you taken, or will you take based on your assessment data?

Please discuss the results of your quantitative and qualitative assessment data for each outcome and measure. Describe how the results have been shared with program faculty and students.

Revising Program Assessment Plans:

APR is a designated time for units to re-evaluate their assessment plans and have them reapproved by UOEEE. Assessment plan approval is provided by UOEEE and occurs alongside APR but it is not a requirement of APR. During a program’s APR process, units have the opportunity to examine how effectively their programs are meeting their mission, goals, and outcomes. Units should use this opportunity to ensure that their assessment plans meet the most up-to-date requirements from ABOR. UOEEE will provide guidance for these requirements. Units must receive UOEEE approval of their assessment plan (through the assessment portal) during the APR process.

To receive UOEEE approval, units must review their assessment plan and include all ABOR elements that are currently required, even if they were not a requirement when the assessment plan was first established. Units are also asked to review their assessment plan and consider changes in preparation for the next seven years of assessment. Changes may be made based on insight that arises from the previously collected longitudinal data, staffing changes, and/or curricular changes. Most units also have more than three outcomes and should identify the three they would like to assess during the next assessment cycle. During APR, programs may choose to assess different outcomes or revise the current outcomes they have. UOEEE will assist programs in updating their assessment plan, if requested.

For academic units preparing to go through APR, a short handbook and video have been prepared to explain how to update an assessment plan and how to respond to the prompts in the APR Manual. This video is housed on the UOEEE Canvas site.

Self-study example

Submission and approval of the self-study report

The dean should review the final self-study report and executive summary, and provide written approval to the UPRA Office at apr@asu.edu.

The final self-study report should be submitted to the UPRA Office along with the written approval of the dean (which may be made by an accompanying email). Should the report and appendices be too large for email, the UPRA Office will accept the documents via a shared folder in Dropbox.

The UPRA Office will review the self-study report. If necessary, suggested changes or improvements will be returned to the self-study committee for revision or clarification.

The final, dean-approved, self-study and appendices should be submitted to the UPRA Office a minimum of three weeks prior to the site visit date. In addition to the self-study and appendices, the unit should submit the final, dean-approved, Site Visit Schedule. (See Appendix 6 for an example of a two-day site visit schedule).

Distribution of documents to site visitors

Once submitted, the UPRA Office will convey all relevant documents to the visitors at least two weeks prior to their visit. The UPRA Office will upload the documents to a shared folder and provide access for the site visit team.