Mission Statement

The Office of Institutional Assessment pledges to enhance the educational experience at Polytechnic University. This office will serve as a resource to the University by evaluating and disseminating the data that is received from students, faculty and staff. The use of this information will help improve the quality of education at Polytech.

Goals and Objectives

Assessment is, first and foremost, a process. It is not in and of itself a product, although the process will "produce" a variety of results and documents that are an important part of the process. The process must lead to continuous improvement in the delivery of service to the University's many constituencies.

In the ABET 2000 era, assessment focuses on identifiable outcomes that demonstrate the achievement of clearly stated missions, goals, and objectives.

Thus, the goals and objectives of the assessment process include:

1.    Documenting the University mission.

2.    Documenting the mission, goals, and objectives of each academic program of the University.

3.    Documenting the mission, goals and objectives of each non-academic unit or function of the University.

4.    Measuring, on a regular and repetitive basis, the achievement of mission, goals, and/or objectives by the University as a whole, and by individual academic and non-academic units.

5.    Identifying shortcomings in the achievement of mission, goals, and/or objectives at all levels of the University.

6.    Development of plans to improve/advance the achievement of mission, goals, and/or objectives of the University as a whole, and of individual academic and non-academic units.

7.    Incorporating feedback on specific plans and actions into subsequent measurements of success against mission, goals, and/or objectives.

It is important to recognize that the entire University community must be involved in the process of assessment and continuous improvement. An Office of Assessment and Institutional Research (AIR) has been established to organize the process, to conduct the many surveys that will be required, to provide a consistent and complete data base for informative statistical analyses, to provide a central location for assessment results and record-keeping, and to assist various units of the University in conducting the assessment process.

The results of assessment, however, must be reviewed and responded to by all affected units of the University. It is important to note that appropriate responses to assessment results are the responsibility of virtually every member of the University community, as assessment will touch every academic and non-academic unit of the Polytechnic.