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Trinity Valley Community College
Office of Planning and Institutional Effectiveness
What does SACS Say About Assessment of Student Learning?
While it is timely to have this question on our minds, the overall efforts to assess student learning at Trinity Valley Community College is designed to gain a better understanding of how students learn so that we may better answer two questions when making decisions at TVCC:
(1) How does what I am doing improve student learning
(2) How do we know?
The answers to these two questions relate to our ability to evaluate and make measurable improvements on what students know, are able to do, or think when they have completed an instructional program at TVCC. The goal of assessment is to improve student learning—not to prove that students are learning! This approach allows us to improve what we are doing well, but could do better. The goal is not to prove how exceptional we are. It is about serving students.
In short, TVCC has identified the practice of assessing student learning to enhance learning as a "best practice" among community colleges in the United States. Furthermore, the process of inquiry that we engage in when assessing student learning helps us to answer questions important to us as professional educators.
Having said that, the information below shows how college assessment activities are related to the Compliance Certification Requirements of the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools (SACS). SACS does not set any specific standards that we must achieve; they simply require that we assess our programs and services and use the results to implement improvements.
Southern Association of Colleges and Schools Principles of Accreditation
Core Requirement 2.5
The institution engages in ongoing, integrated, and institution-wide research-based planning and evaluation processes that incorporate a systematic review of programs and services that (a) results in continuing improvement, and (b) demonstrates that the institution is effectively accomplishing its mission.
Comprehensive Standard 3.3.1
The institution identifies expected outcomes for its educational programs and its administrative and educational support services; assesses whether it achieves these outcomes; and provides evidence of improvement based on analysis of those results.
Comprehensive Standard 3.4.1
The institution demonstrates that each educational program for which academic credit is awarded (a) is approved by the faculty and the administration, and (b) establishes and evaluates program and learning outcomes.
Comprehensive Standard 3.5.1
The institution identifies college-level competencies within the general education core and provides evidence that graduates have attained those competencies.
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