Institutional Assessment

Overview of Assessment Activities at Tulane University

Assessment activities at Tulane University were historically decentralized, and responsibility for assessment efforts rested with the units, departments, and schools. Following Hurricane Katrina, assessment and institutional effectiveness efforts became more coordinated and a more formal structure for unit-level assessment emerged.

In Spring 2009, Tulane hired its first director of institutional assessment to coordinate assessment and institutional effectiveness efforts campus wide. Housed within the Office of Academic Affairs, the director of institutional assessment provides guidance to departments and assistance to curricular and co-curricular programs conducting assessment.

The Committee on Assessment is comprised of faculty representatives from each school, representatives from administrative units, and graduate and undergraduate student members. The committee is charged with reviewing and making recommendations on assessment and institutional effectiveness efforts to the director of institutional assessment and the senate. The committee examines assessment-related topics impacting academic, administrative, and support units. These issues include, but are not limited to, survey fatigue among students, gathering appropriate data for decision-making purposes, and utilizing data to inform decision making and make improvements. Many academic and administrative units also utilize committees to coordinate department-specific assessment activities.

Institutional effectiveness processes at Tulane include strategic planning, goal setting, budgeting, and evaluation at each institutional level. The processes involve frequent interaction with Tulane's internal and external constituencies to ensure goals and objectives are appropriate and meaningful.