A&R's signature professional development program to build assessment capacity for university staff.

Overview

The Assessment Institute is cohort-based, experiential learning program that has been offered annually by A&R since 2017. The year-long institute provides University of Arizona staff and administrators an opportunity to develop knowledge and hone their skills conducting co-curricular assessments within their unit and department.   

Learning Goals

  • Develop knowledge, skills, and tools needed to plan and implement robust assessments
  • Understand and apply program outcome-based assessment in programs and services
  • Effectively synthesize, communicate, and use assessment results
  • Acquire skills to lead assessment within a unit or department at the University of Arizona
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Cohort Experience 

Interested applicants apply over the summer with support from their supervisor and an assessment project or area of inquiry in mind. The admitted cohort completes 8 weekly modules in the Fall led by campus data and assessment experts. In the Spring, each member completes a Capstone Project with support from a designated assessment coach. 

Relaunched fully in person in 2022, A&R partnered with Student Success & Retention Innovation (SSRI) on a focused redesign to

  • Emphasize real-world applications by highlighting guest speakers’ relevant assessment projects
  • Build community through weekly check-ins, sharing progress, and constructive feedback of capstone plans
  • Provide scaffolding to leverage learning module content into capstone planning

Meet the 2023-2024 Cohort

Assessment Institute Modules

  1. Assessment Purpose and Foundations
  2. Logic Models and Outcome-Based Assessment
  3. Equity in Assessment
  4. Data Collection Techniques
  5. Leveraging Institutional Data
  6. Primer on Data Analysis
  7. Synthesizing and Using Results
  8. Capstone Project Preview and Workshop

Assessment Capstone Project

Participants also plan and implement an assessment capstone project through the academic year based on an assessment need in the unit or department. The plan is developed in the Fall through the modules and executed in the Spring with support from an assessment coach.

Each May, Assessment Institute participants are invited to share their project progress and impact through a capstone showcase presentation.

 “I loved my experience in the Assessment Institute. I have highly recommended it to several colleagues and will continue to. Awesome opportunity for professional development, networking and community building. Additionally- it was so relevant! Professional development activities are often the first to go when I am busy but the time in this program was isolated time to focus in on actual work that I need to be thoughtful about, so it just felt like a great use of my time."

Apply for the Assessment Institute 

Applications for the 2023-24 Assessment Institute Cohort are currently closed. Applications open in July of each year and close in August.  To preview the application and schedule, see the documents below.  We particularly welcome applications from new and mid-level professionals with emerging assessment knowledge.

Preview Schedule and Coach Bios

 Access application   Supervisor Support Form