Assessment Initiatives

Voluntary System of Accountability (VSA)

"The VSA is a voluntary initiative for 4-year public colleges and universities. Developed through a partnership between the American Association of State Colleges and Universities (AASCU) and the National Association of State Universities and Land Grant Colleges (NASULGC), the VSA is designed to help institutions meet the following objectives:

  • Demonstrate accountability and stewardship to public
  • Measure educational outcomes to identify effective educational practices
  • Assemble information that is accessible, understandable, and comparable"

Voluntary System of Accountability Home Page

K-State's College Portrait

Office of Assessment Contributions to the K-State College Portrait

Higher Learning Commission Academy for Assessment of Student Learning

"The Academy for Assessment of Student Learning offers The Higher Learning Commission's (HLC) member institutions a four-year sequence of events and interactions that are focused on student learning, targeted at accelerating and advancing efforts to assess and improve student learning, and designed to build institution-wide commitment to assessment of student learning. WHen planned comprehensively and carefully by the institution, participation in the Academy:

  1. can produce evidence for Criteria and Core Components in upcoming accreditation evaluations;
  2. can serve in place of mandated progress reports, monitoring reports and focused visits on assessment of student learning (PEAQ);
  3. can serve in place of one or more action projects (AQIP)"

Handout on the Academy for Assessment of Student Learning (.pdf)

Higher Learning Commission of NCA

How K-State is committed to being part of this initiative

Project: the Teaching, Learning, and Assessment of Critical Thinking

First-Year Seminars

"The purpose of the First-Year Seminars (FYS) program is to help students make the transition to university courses and college-level learning. In this effort, the FYS's focus attention on the intellectual skills that students need to flourish at the university. As a place to ask questions about the University and practice the skills needed to succeed as a first-year student, these courses provide support for the transition into college life and the K-State community."

Assessment Plan for F-Y Seminar Courses

Critical Thinking Rubric (adopted from Washington State University) (.pdf)

K-State's First-Year Seminar Home Page

Description and Outline of all Assessment Projects