This page includes information about Institutional objectives and learning outcomes, Unit objectives and program learning outcomes and measuring the achievement of objectives and learning outcomes.
Assessment of institutional effectiveness and student learning at AUP is guided by clearly identified objectives and learning outcomes (LOs) aiming at implementing the university's mission. This page explains how these are defined at different levels of the institution and how they interact.
The mission statement of a department, unit or program concisely describes its purpose and values and its relation to the institutional mission.
The figure below is a hierarchical alignments structure of the university’s assessment process. It shows how Objectives and LOs are related at different levels.
Institutional-level goals (Pillars) and learning outcomes (Core Capabilities) are directly based on the University's Mission and Strategic Plan. These elements are essential for evaluating the University's overall effectiveness.
At the unit and program levels, goals and learning outcomes are based on their specific missions. Staff and faculty regularly draft and update these, ensuring they align with the University's Pillars and Core Capabilities. This alignment continues down to lower levels, maintaining consistency.
In the figure above, downward arrows show that higher-level goals and outcomes guide those at lower levels. Upward arrows indicate how assessment efforts are carried out.
The connection between higher and lower-level goals and outcomes is shown in alignment matrices (green boxes). These matrices are created for all units and departments, included in assessment reports, and compiled in the Institutional Alignment Register.
Institutional Objectives and Learning Outcomes
The definition of objectives and learning outcomes at the institutional level is part of the Strategic Planning process undertaken regularly by the President, the Leadership Team and the Board in an interactive exchange with Faculty and Staff. Under the Strategic Plan for 2020-2023, the University’s mission is advanced by five distinct Pillars: Community, Curriculum, Campus, Communication, and Continuous Improvement.
Each pillar is further divided into a set of Core Initiatives. The strategic plan's success can be identified with the completion of the Core Initiatives. Advancement toward completion of the Core Initiatives is measured by a set of key performance indicators, timely achievement of milestones, and collection of deliverables which are linked with specific unit objectives. Institutional learning outcomes are set, and regularly reviewed, by the President and Provost in consultation with the faculty. The current institutional learning outcomes are referred to as the “Core Capabilities”. Every academic program offered at AUP demonstrates coherence, principally through an articulated alignment table, with the institutional Core Capabilities.
Unit Objectives and Program Learning Outcomes
Each administrative unit and academic program define its own objectives and learning outcomes. Note that the choice of using “objectives” for administrative units and “learning outcomes” for academic programs. It stems from the need to align with previous practices at the University while also keeping the assessment process simple.
Objectives and learning outcomes must be measurable and aligned with the ones defined at the institutional level, meaning that lower-level objectives and LOs should contribute to the achievement of higher-levels ones. They must also be agreed upon by all direct stakeholders. As part of the assessment-planning-implementation cycle, objectives and LOs should be subject to continuous revision and improvement. Recommendation on the definition of objectives and learning outcomes can be found here.
Measuring Achievement of Objectives and Learning Outcomes
Institutional objectives
Under the 2020-2023 Strategic Plan, Institutional objectives are referred to as “Core Initiatives”. The advancement of the Core Initiatives of the Strategic Plan is measured and monitored through a collection of KPIs, deliverables, and milestones. These measurements are gathered annually either through the regular unit and program assessment reports or through complementary processes such as alumni surveys, LinkedIn studies, ad-hoc reporting.
Deliverables, KPIs, and milestones for each of the Core initiatives of the Strategic Plan are established by the President and Leadership Team in consultation with the Dean of Institutional Effectiveness and all stakeholder staff and faculty.
Unit Objectives and Program Learning Outcomes
Assessment methods for each administrative unit's objectives and academic program learning outcomes (LOs) are detailed in the "Objectives" and "Learning Outcomes" tables of the Assessment Report Templates. Each university unit or program determines the most suitable measures and target results for its own objectives and LOs.
Unit objectives
Assessing the achievement of unit objectives should be objective, representative, and cost-effective. As a rule, whenever the unit is responsible for producing specific KPIs, deliverables, or milestones to measure specific Core Initiatives of the Strategic Plan, the unit should define objectives that are aligned directly with those Core Initiatives and use the same KPIs, deliverables, or milestones to measure progress toward their objective.
Program learning outcomes
When assessing student learning for the Program Learning Outcomes, two types of evidence: direct and indirect evidence.
-
Direct evidence includes student work evaluated through specific criteria (like a grading rubric) or tests with items linked to specific learning outcomes (these links are called the “blueprint” of the test).
-
Indirect evidence comes from surveys and questionnaires, reflecting opinions and perceptions of learning, such as student evaluations.
Ideally, student learning assessment should use both direct and indirect evidence, though direct evidence alone is enough. Indirect evidence alone is not enough to demonstrate the achievement of learning outcomes. Any tools supporting measurement methods—like scoring rubrics, portfolio creation instructions, or qualifying exams—should be described or included in the assessment plan.