Assessment

Welcome to Assessment in the Office of Institutional Effectiveness

South Seattle College faculty assess student learning of course, program, and institutional learning outcomes. Specific learning outcome assessment occurs primarily within the classroom, however discussions about the integration and alignment of outcomes occurs outside the classroom. We also assess the achievement of specific outcomes set forth by various areas across our campus, including Student Service Outcomes developed by staff in those areas. We assess so that we know how we are doing and how we can make changes to improve! 

In response to our 2019 recommendation from the Northwest Commission on Colleges and Universities (NWCCU) accreditation site visit, an Assessment Committee was established and begin meeting winter quarter 2020. Over the last 5 years there have been different approaches to gathering learning outcome assessment information from faculty. Currently we ask all faculty to submit a Program or Degree Outcome assessment within Canvas for at least one class they teach each year. This data is added to an ever-growing Student Learning Dashboard that helps faculty across programs identify courses or areas where programmatic learning approaches could be adjusted in order to improve student success

South’s Learning Outcomes (SLO)

The 7 SLOs were developed to reflect the skills and outcomes that we want students at South Seattle College to show when they leave our institution. These outcomes are not necessarily achieved in each course, but students achieve them over time as they complete a wide variety of courses at South.

Assessing Learning Outcomes

Degree and Program Outcomes (DOs and POs)

All Professional Technical Programs at South Seattle College link their Course Learning Outcomes (CLOs) to Program Outcomes and up to our South's Learning Outcomes (SLOs). These Outcome alignment tables are available on all Professional-Technical Master Course Outlines and are reviewed and updated whenever a course outline is updated. The listing of all Master Course Outlines can be found using the Inside Seattle Colleges link and accessing the Automated Course Approval System (ACAS).

College Transfer Programs at South developed Degree Outcomes specific to each degree pathway:

Associate of Arts (AA) Degree Outcomes

Associate of Business (AB) Degree Outcomes

Associate of Science (AS) Degree Outcomes

Course Learning Outcomes (CLO)

Course Learning Outcomes (CLOs) are the basis for all student learning in classes at South Seattle College. Full-time faculty, in collaboration with the Assessment Committee and the Curriculum and Instructional Committee (CIC), write the CLOs for each course. Depending on the number of sections and the alignment with other courses in the Seattle Colleges District, the specific language of the CLOs can be discussed and written by large groups of people. Revisions occur every 4-5 years or earlier if major changes occur to the curriculum before that time. Alignment of the CLOs with the Degree or Program Outcomes as well as South’s Learning Outcomes is a necessary step for all new course revisions. 

Non-Instructional Assessment

The Director of Assessment began working with Managers of Student Services (MOSS) to provide background, structure, and information on best practices surrounding work plans and assessing their success/accomplishments. The Student Services Assessment Committee helps facilitate staff and administrator trainings that help people understand how to integrate assessment and continuous improvement processes into their workflow. Area supervisors develop their own work plans, and we help determine the assessment piece as a feedback loop for determining success and/or progress with the work plans.