Assessment

Integrated assessment and planning

Assessment and planning are integrated at Baruch College through an institutional effectiveness model of collaborative learning.

In the Classroom

When faculty engage in development of learning goals and assessment of student learning, the assessment process:

1. Reflects the vision, mission, and goals of Baruch College
2. Reflects the values of each academic discipline
3. Reflects the learning goals of each school and department
4. Helps faculty reflect on and refine their approach to teaching
5. Helps departments reflect on and refine their curricula in a systematic way

Outside the Classroom

When administrators in AES units engage in development of learning goals and assessment of student learning, the assessment process:

1. Reflects the vision, mission, and goals of Baruch College
2. Reflects the values of the division and department
3. Reflects the goals of each department
4. Helps administrators reflect on and refine their approach to service delivery, teaching, training, and support
5. Helps departments reflect on and refine their programs and services in a systematic way

Assess@CUNY Newsletter

Learn more about the range of academic and administrative assessment activities taking place across the City University of New York system. Read Assess@CUNY.

Assessment is a collective responsibility

Assessment is a collective responsibility of the entire college.  On this page, we share information regarding how the Baruch College community engages in assessment of student learning as well as of administrative, educational support, and student support units.

Assessment of administrative, educational support, and student support (AES) units

The Office of Assessment, Accreditation, and Institutional Effectiveness at Baruch College partners with administrative Division and Department heads, and Division assessment committees, as well as Dean’s offices to engage in assessment of all  administrative, educational support, and student support (AES) offices.

AES assessment includes all units of Baruch College that are not academic departments.  This includes the Office of Administration and Finance, the Office of College Advancement, the Office of Communications, Marketing and Public Affairs, the Office of Legal Counsel and Labor Relations, the Office of Diversity, Compliance, and Equity Initiatives, the Office of the President, the Office of the Provost/ Division of Academic Affairs, the Division of Student Affairs, the Division of Enrollment Management and Strategic Academic Initiatives, and the Division of Information Services (Library, Baruch Computing and Technology Center, and Institutional Research).  It also includes assessment of the operations of each of the schools at Baruch College.

AES assessment is driven by the Baruch College strategic plan as well as the goals of each unit. Such assessments may include ways to better understand service delivery, efficiency, goal attainment, and stakeholder satisfaction.

Assessment of student learning

Assessment of student learning is faculty-led, and takes place across all undergraduate and graduate degree programs as well as for the General Education (Pathways) curriculum. In addition, all academic departments in the Weissman School of Arts & Sciences engage in an external Academic Program Review, while the Zicklin School of Business and the Marxe School of Public and International Affairs engage in external review through their specialized accreditors, AACSB and NASPAA.

Faculty-Led Assessment of Learning

At Baruch College, in accordance with Middle States Commission on Higher Education Standard V: Educational Effectiveness Assessment, and recognized best practices in higher education, faculty lead all work on assessment of student learning.

The Baruch College Governance Charter clearly states that “[t]he School Faculties shall be responsible for and conduct all educational affairs including but not limited to affairs customarily conducted by an academic faculty: including the formulation of School policies relating to curriculum and degree requirements; academic credits; the granting of degrees; student admission and retention standards; and the academic status, role, obligations, and freedoms of the School Faculty.”

Due to the governance structure as described in the Baruch College Governance Charter, faculty at Baruch College are hired by and teach in degree programs housed within one of three Schools: the Marxe School of Public and International Affairs, the Weissman School of Arts and Sciences, and the Zicklin School of Business. Assessment of student learning is therefore driven by School-based faculty, with administrative support on assessment provided by an assessment lead for each School, reporting directly to each Schools’ Associate Dean.

Faculty are solely responsible for assessment of student learning at the course level. This includes faculty setting their own course learning outcomes or objectives, and assigning work that facilitates the faculty member’s assessment of student learning.

Faculty are also responsible for assessment of student learning at the program level — this is done collaboratively in each academic department, where department faculty work together to articulate program learning outcomes or objectives for the degree program as a whole, and then provide samples of student work to the department assessment coordinator, who facilitates the process of assessment of program learning outcomes or objectives.

In addition to department assessment coordinators, school assessment leads facilitate faculty work on programmatic assessment of student learning. They share data and information, chair or facilitate meetings of each school’s assessment or assurance of learning committee, and collaborate on strengthening assessment practices at Baruch College as a whole, through their ongoing collaboration with faculty within each of the three schools.

Assessment – more than numbers

We encourage reading this short viewpoint article, which provides a clear overview of the cycle of assessment for faculty.

Barrett, S. (2014, September). Assessment – more than numbers. Urbana, IL: University of Illinois and Indiana University, National Institute for Learning Outcomes Assessment (NILOA).

https://www.learningoutcomesassessment.org/wp-content/uploads/2019/08/Viewpoint-Barrett.pdf

Course Learning Goals

All faculty assess student learning and student attainment of course learning goals. The primary purpose of such course learning goal assessment is to give students feedback on their learning and grade them. The faculty handbook suggests that all course syllabi for courses taught at Baruch College include course learning goals. Grading at Baruch College is the responsibility of all faculty, and guidelines for faculty about grading are provided by the Office of the Registrar and found in the faculty handbook.

Program Learning Goals

Program-level assessment is assessing learning of all students in a program on program-level learning outcomes. Program level outcomes are generally addressed over multiple courses and are broader than course learning objectives. Course-level objectives generally contribute to program-level learning outcomes. For example, several courses in a program may each address specific technological skills. Those courses collectively contribute to an overall program-level learning outcome that students use technologies appropriately and effectively. Program-level outcomes are often best assessed with a significant assignment or project completed shortly before students graduate.

Baruch College has program learning goals or outcomes for all degree-granting programs across all three Schools. In each of the three Schools of Baruch College, faculty use the terminology (learning goal as opposed to learning outcome) that is set by the related specialized accreditation agency.

Marxe School of Public and International Affairs: NASPAA Competencies and Program Learning Outcomes
For program learning outcomes in the Marxe School of Public and International Affairs, please see:

• MSPIA Master’s in Public Administration core competencies and program learning goals
• MSPIA Master’s in International Affairs program learning goals
• MSPIA Master’s in Higher Education Administration program learning goals
• MSPIA Bachelor’s of Science in Public Affairs program learning goals

Weissman School of Arts and Sciences Learning Goals

For program learning goals in the Weissman School of Arts and Sciences, please see Weissman Assessment.

Zicklin School of Business: AACSB Learning Goals
For program learning goals in the Zicklin School of Business, including the program learning goals for the BBA in general, the majors within the BBA, as well as for graduate MBA, MS, and PhD programs, please see the information about Assurance of Learning, which is part of the requirements for AACSB accreditation.

College-Wide Learning Goals

College-wide learning goals encompass a universal set of expectations that speak to the student’s holistic Baruch College experience. Student learning is assessed through the college-wide learning goals which are embedded across the general education curriculum as well as department programs.

Baruch’s college-wide learning goals are clearly articulated in the strategic plan under Goal 3.3 as follows:

• Critical thinking, analytical, and problem-solving skills
• The application of learning to practical situations
• Oral, digital, and written communication skills
• Teamwork, social intelligence, and interpersonal relationship skills
• Cultural and ethical competence

General Education

Baruch College is a part of the CUNY system-wide general education framework known as the Pathways curriculum. The Baruch College Pathways requirements are broadly communicated to all students via the Office of Undergraduate Advisement and Orientation and located on the undergraduate degrees page as well as well as the undergraduate academic bulletin. At Baruch, college-wide learning goals are incorporated within the general education curriculum, as every student is provided this pedagogical foundation.

General education assessment at Baruch College includes working to continually understand and enhance undergraduate teaching and learning from the perspective of these goals. Faculty teaching to a particular general education outcome collaborate to develop and implement valid methods to deduce student proficiency related to that expectation. This is accomplished using various methods, including a shared program rubric to assess a key assignment or project, using a common set of test questions, or using portfolios. They then aggregate results across courses and based on results and conclusions, faculty decide if and where curricular and programmatic adjustments should be implemented to improve teaching and learning…and ultimately student success.

To support ongoing assessment initiatives, CUNY provides every campus with guidelines on creating a general education assessment plan with the common core, as well as on conducting a course-level assessment of selected common core student learning outcomes. There are also many additional resources that CUNY provides on assessment of general education and the Pathways curriculum.