Academic Assessment and Program Review

In Fall 2021, HPU launched its second, campus-wide initiative designed to assess written communication in general education and capstone courses. During the 2021 - 2022 academic year, faculty collected 286 artifacts of authentic student work.

In Fall 2022, each college convened an assessment committee to sample and score these artifacts. These college-level committees normed their evaluations to a common rubric adapted from the American Association of Colleges and Universities (AAC&U) Written Communication Rubric. 

In August 2023, HPU presented its assessment findings at the university assessment day and engaged deans, department and program chairs, and members of the academic assessment and program review shared governance committee in a thoughtful discussion of the implication of these results for continuous, quality improvements to the curriculum.  To view these results, please click on the following link: Written Communication Assessment Report.

In Fall 2022, HPU launched its second campus-wide initiative to assess oral communication in general education and capstone or upper-division courses. During the 2022 - 2023 academic year, faculty collected 682 authentic student work video artifacts. 

In Fall 2023, the Academic Assessment and Program Review Shared Governance Committee (AAPRC) coordinated a rubric norming session with participation by all five schools and colleges. Faculty normed their evaluations at this session to a common rubric adapted from the AAC&U's Oral Communication Rubric and scored 495 randomly chosen student videos. 

In August 2024, the AAPRC chair presented the assessment findings at the university's Annual Assessment Day and engaged deans, department and program chairs, and faculty members in a thoughtful discussion of the implications of these results for continuous quality improvements to the curriculum.  To view these results, please click on the following link: Oral Communication Assessment Report

In August 2023, HPU launched its campus-wide initiative to assess Critical Thinking at its annual Assessment Day event.

During the 2023-2024 academic year, faculty collected student artifacts in selected General Education and Upper-Division or Capstone courses. In Fall 2024, faculty scored the student artifacts against the rubric in Watermark, and the Academic Assessment and Program Review Shared Governance Committee analyzed the assessment data. 

The results were presented at Assessment Day, where participating deans, department and program chairs, faculty, and members of the Academic Assessment and Program Review Shared Governance Committee discussed the data and any necessary "closing the loop" actions to improve the curriculum. To view these results, please click on the following link: Critical Thinking Assessment Report.

At our annual Assessment Day event in August 2024, HPU launched its campus-wide initiative to assess Information Literacy in General Education and Upper-Division courses. 

In Fall 2024 and Spring 2025, the Academic Assessment and Program Review Shared Governance Committee deployed three quizzes in Blackboard, designed to assess information literacy skills. Students in selected General Education and Upper-Division courses were asked to take all three short quizzes.  

In Fall 2025, the  Academic Assessment and Program Review Shared Governance Committee presented its assessment findings at the University Assessment Day event, where they engaged deans, department and program chairs, and faculty in a thoughtful discussion of the implications of these results towards continuous, quality improvements to the curriculum.  To view these results, please click on the following link: Information Literacy Assessment Report. 

At its annual Assessment Day event in Fall 2020, HPU launched its fifth, campus-wide initiative to assess quantitative reasoning in general education and in undergraduate capstone courses.  At that time, the Academic Assessment and Program Review Shared Governance Committee introduced a quantitative analysis and symbolic reasoning quiz that had been developed in Blackboard for general education and capstone or senior-level undergraduate instructors. 

In Spring 2021, the Academic Assessment and Program Review Shared Governance Committee deployed the quiz to instructors in general education courses with a quantitative analysis and symbolic reasoning learning outcome and in capstone or senior-level courses in each undergraduate program.  Participating instructors asked students to take these quizzes, which were housed in a separate Blackboard course.  The quiz  continued to be available to instructors and to students in Summer 2021.

In Fall 2021, HPU  presened its assessment findings at the university Assessment Day event and engaged deans, department and program chairs, and members of the academic assessment and program review shared governance committee in a thoughtful discussion of the implication of these results for continuous, quality improvements to the curriculum. To view these results, please click on the following link: Quantitative Analysis and Symbolic Reasoning Assessment Report.

The next assessment of Quantitative Reasoning will begin in Fall 2025.

In Fall 2021, the Academic Assessment and Program Review Committee (AAPRC) reviewed the method used to assess graduate Institutional Learning Outcomes (ILO). The AAPRC agreed that with a growing number of graduate programs, assessment data analysis, reporting, and “closing the loop” processes warranted dedicated, separate treatment of the graduate ILO assessment outcomes. After consultation with graduate faculty representatives, it was decided that one common rubric could be used to assess all graduate ILOs during a student’s final coursework at HPU. The AAPRC piloted the new rubric in Spring 2022 and then deployed the rubric across all graduate programs in the 2022-2023 academic year. This report outlines the 2022-2023 graduate ILO assessment results.

In Fall 2023 and Spring 2024, the Academic Assessment and Program Review Committee (AAPRC) conducted an ILO assessment of our graduate student population.  We used the same rubric deployed in the 2022-2023 academic year and assessed the graduate ILOs at a single point during a student’s final coursework at HPU (e.g. final project or presentation, thesis defense). This report outlines the 2023-2024 graduate ILO assessment results.

2023-2024 Annual Academic Assessment Plans

Below are examples of Annual Academic Assessment Plans from the College of Liberal Arts:

• Bachelor of Arts in Cinematic Multimedia Arts
• Bachelor of Arts in Communications Studies and Practices
• Bachelor of Arts in English
• Bachelor of Arts in History
• Bachelor of Arts in Psychology
• Bachelor of Science in Diplomacy and Military Studies
• Bachelor of Social Work

2024-2025 Annual Academic Assessment Plans

Below are examples of Annual Academic Assessment Plans from the College of Natural and Computational Sciences:

• Bachelor of Science in Biology
• Bachelor of Science in Electrical Engineering
• Bachelor of Science in Environmental Science
• Bachelor of Arts in Environmental Studies
• Bachelor of Science in Mathematics

2023-2024 Annual Academic Assessment Plans

Below are examples of Annual Academic Assessment Plans from the College of Liberal Arts:

• Master of Arts in Diplomacy and Military Studies
• Master of Arts in Strategic Communication