Core Competencies Process

UCI conducts assessments simply and effectively to facilitate continuous improvements of student learning.

UCI undergraduate programs are expected to determine the extent their curriculum reflects each of the core competencies.

Programs provide evidence of student achievement of core competencies via assessment reports on a regular schedule to be reviewed by UCI’s Academic Senate to facilitate continuous improvement

Click on the boxes below to learn more about each part of the process for assessing core competencies.

Assessment Reports

Programs are expected to report on the following:

  1. A summary of how previous assessment findings have been integrated into the program to improve student learning.
  2. A review of the program’s current learning outcomes to evaluate whether such outcomes continue to represent the program’s aims.
  3. A method for reviewing student learning in relation to the program’s learning outcome(s), including descriptions of evidence and the faculty & staff involved in reviewing student work. 
  4. A review of assessment results, including supporting data and evidence.
  5. A discussion of how the current assessment will be used to facilitate improvements in student learning.

Please view a template for reporting assessments here.

Reporting Schedule

Programs are expected to assess approximately one learning outcome per year. The results of these assessments are then expected to be compiled and presented to the Academic Senate once every five years.

For more information on the current reporting schedule, please view the current Assessment Schedule for Undergradaute Majors.

Assessment Reviews

The Academic Senate Policy and Assessment Subcommittee (SPCA) reviews programs’ assessment reports and provides feedback on the assessment process.

Importantly, SPCA focuses its feedback on the strength of the assessment process, not on the results of a particular assessment. The goal of these reviews is to provide guidance to programs on how they can best assess their programming to foster cultures of continuous improvment in student learning.

Please view the Rubric for Reviewing Program Assessment Reports to learn more about the criteria SPCA uses in their reviews.

Continuous Improvement

Faculty use the results of assessment work and feedback from the Academic Senate to strengthen assessment practices and to improve teaching and learning.

Please see the Using Learning Outcomes Assessment to Improve Academic Programming document to review ways to utilize assessment for continuous academic improvment.

Learning Outcomes

View the learning outcomes of core competencies.

FAQs

We answer FAQs about assessing core competencies

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