The OPAIR Assessment Team leads and supports efforts to gather and use evidence to monitor and improve institutional performance across Penn State. One of our most important tasks is partnering with faculty and administrators conducting program learning assessments. Nearly all undergraduate, graduate, and certificate programs are required to perform an annual assessment of learning outcomes and our assessment professionals are here to support their efforts. Our team provides one-on-one consulting to support program assessment, professional development to build assessment knowledge and capacity, and customized feedback on every submitted assessment report. As part of our focus on learning assessment, we also collaborate with the Office for General Education and the University Faculty Senate to assess General Education.

In addition to learning assessment, we also support other types of institutional assessment at Penn State. Examples of our work in this area include campus climate studies, academic administrator reviews, functional area and team reviews, and faculty exit studies.

The goal of any assessment is to use evidence to improve a process or product. In the case of higher education, we use assessment to ensure students are graduating with the knowledge, skills, and abilities necessary for success in their future careers or studies. We also use assessment to explore the contexts in which learning happens and to improve the processes that support teaching, research and creative activity, and outreach.

Because it’s such a powerful strategy for producing well-educated graduates, annual assessments of program learning outcomes and the educational and administrative processes that support learning are required by the University and by our regional accrediting body, the Middle States Commission on Higher Education (MSCHE).