SLO Assessment Guide for Department Chairs

As the department chair, you will guide your department through a four-step process that focuses on the degree/certificate SLOs and coordinating the course assessments so that the course SLO results can be rolled up into the degree/certificate SLOs.

The SLO assessment process consists of four steps:

  1. Reviewing Course and Degree/Certificate SLOs
  2. Selecting and Using Assessments for Course SLOs
  3. Reviewing Degree/Certificate Assessment Data
  4. Completing Degree/Certificate Action Plans

Each of these steps involves in some way the use of elumen, so for each of the steps are a set of instructions for completing that step in elumen. The first step is not technically part of the assessment process, but it is necessary in order for you to manage that process, that is, selecting your appropriate elumen role.  As a department chair you will be assigned at least two different roles in elumen: faculty and program coordinator.

 

1. Reviewing Course and Degree/Certificate SLOs

As department chair, you will want review the course and degree/certificate SLOs with your department. To review course and degree/certificate SLOs, you will want to print two separate “SLO Presentation” reports, one for your course SLOs, the other for your degree/certificate SLOs. 

Adding, Revising, or Deactivating SLOs

After reviewing your course and degree/certificate SLOs, your department may have decided to add, revise or deactivate either course or degree/certificate SLOs. Depending on your particular needs there are two Amend workflows that can be initiated without pushing the course into a full Curriculum review.

  • SLO Amend Workflow: Allows you, or contributing faculty, to make edits to current SLOs (i.e. correct typos, rearrange SLOs, or expand on an SLO) and/or to add new SLOs. To initiate this workflow you must contact the SLO Specialist. (Currently: Jasmin Sanchez jsanchez@cerritos.edu) 
  • Periodic Review Workflow: Allows you to delete, modify, revise, and add SLOs. To initiate this workflow you must contact the Curriculum Specialist. (Currently Phally Lay play@cerritos.edu)

 2. Selecting and Using Assessments for Course SLOs

As the department chair, you will want to lead your department through a discussion of how they wish to assess the SLOs for a particular course. The two ways accommodated by elumen are rubric and gradebook assessments.

Option 1: Rubric Assessments

With the rubric method, faculty generally have graded a final paper, exam, or project and then used the student’s performance to assess the course SLOs. The English, Philosophy, Woodworking, and other departments have used this method of assessment.

Option 2: Gradebook Assessments

With the spreadsheet method, faculty identify an assignment or assignments that address a particular SLO, and they use the scores on the assignment(s) to assess a particular SLO. With some minor preparation, they can then upload the assessment scores directly into elumen. This can be done using either an Excel spreadsheet or TalonNet Gradebook.

Selecting the Assessments

3. Reviewing Degree/Certificate SLO Assessment Data

In the early part of the spring semester, you will want to lead your department in a discussion of the degree/certificate SLO assessment data. To review this data you will need to print the report titled “SLO Performance—ISLO PSLO Overall.”

If your department does not offer a degree or certificate, then you will want to review data from your two or three largest courses.

4. Completing Degree/Certificate Action Plans

After your department analyzes the assessment data for your degree and/or certificates or your departments two or three largest courses, you will then determine what changes you wish to make to the SLOs, the course, the curriculum map, course material, etc. Whatever changes your department decides upon need to be documented in the Action Plan.

Additional Program Coordinator Instructions

Confirming Faculty Participation in the Assessment Process
Faculty are responsible for collecting and inputting the data, and based on the data, creating an improvement plan/action plan.  As the department chair you may determine whether faculty have completed their assessments and action plans.

Uploading Degree/Certificate SLO Assessment Data into “Program Review +”
After reviewing your department’s degree/certificate SLO data and, based on that analysis, developing an Action Plan, you will want to incorporate that data and plan into your annual program review. The report will be uploaded into the data portion and your action plan(s) will be included in your goals.