Associate in Arts Degree
The College has five ILOs to encompass communication, critical thinking, information literacy, S.T.E.M. (science, technology, engineering, and mathematics), and socio-cultural understanding. Each ILO has an accompanying rubric for assessing the competencies associated with the outcome and with the related general education area (Communication, Humanities, Mathematics, Natural Sciences, or Social Sciences.). The outcomes and rubrics may be viewed on the Institutional Outcomes and Assessment Web page.
Primary assessment of the ILOs is conducted at the course level with Signature Assignments. These are assignments that are required for the course grade and that can be scored by at least one dimension of the rubric for a given outcome. Faculty are asked to voluntarily submit assignments each fall which are reviewed by the College-wide Assessment Committee. If sampled, faculty are asked to submit student work on the selected assignment in either the fall or spring semester. That work is then scored in the summer by a trained faculty scoring team.
Review of the A.A. degree and general education begins annually in the fall semester by the General Education Council. A multi-measure approach is taken as the Council reviews results of student performance on the Signature Assignments, performance of PBSC students in the State University System, and graduation rates of PBSC students. This faculty group makes recommendations for improvement strategies which are then shared with the Strategy Council and College-wide faculty groups for additional feedback and revisions. A final report is shared with the Academic Deans’ Council to close the loop and begin implementation of improvement strategies.
Assessment Management System
Assessment data, improvement plans, and program review summaries are entered into Campus Labs Planning, an online application that systematically documents all of the College’s assessment and program review activities. Program faculty who are responsible for entering results will find the link to Planning on the Institutional Research and Effectiveness Web page. If access is needed, faculty and staff should contact IRE.