Assessment at SUNY Cortland involves both “top down” and “bottom up” approaches. Many aspects of the system are mandated and/or developed (top down) by the federal and state government, the SUNY university system, SUNY Cortland itself, as well as various accrediting bodies (e.g., NCATE and Middle States).
Assessment also begins with faculty members assessing students on a daily basis, and develops into program, department, school, unit and university assessment systems. From this perspective assessment is a bottom up generated system.
The table below illustrates the various levels of assessment that exist at SUNY Cortland, the components of which comprise the institution's overall Assessment Plan.
|
Level* |
Assessment |
Data Collection/ Reporting |
Reference/Policy |
Outcome |
|
1 |
Ongoing/Jan, Apr |
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Spring (3-yr cycle) |
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Spring (3-yr cycle) |
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Oct (Freshmen) Mar (Seniors) |
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2 |
New York State Education Department |
Ongoing |
NYSED Reports |
|
|
Feb, Apr, May, Jun, Aug, Oct, Dec |
NYSTCE Scores |
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3 |
Spring/Fall |
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|
Program Review |
Fall/Spring |
Program Reviews |
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|
4 |
Course Teacher Evaluations |
Dec, May/ongoing |
CTE Results |
|
|
IRAO Data for Annual Reports |
Ongoing/Spring |
Request by IRAO |
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|
Annual Reports (depts and schools) |
Ongoing/June |
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|
Annual Reports (service units) |
Ongoing/June |
N/A |
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|
Faculty Workload Analysis |
Fall/Jan, Feb |
Request by IRAO |
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|
Enrollment/Degrees Granted |
Fall/Jan, Feb |
Request by IRAO |
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|
Student Teacher Evaluation |
Monthly, Fall-Spring/Jun |
STE Results |
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|
Graduate Survey (Career Services) |
Mar-May/Nov |
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|
College Assessment Committee Grants |
Spring/Fall |
N/A |
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|
5 |
Ongoing/10-yr cycle |
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|
Ongoing/7-yr cycle |
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|
Ongoing/7-yr cycle |
SPA Accreditations |
*Level: 1 = Federal/National; 2 = New York State; 3 = State University of New York (SUNY); 4 = SUNY Cortland; 5 = Accreditation


