Institutional Effectiveness at UR

The University of Richmond has several mechanisms in place for measuring institutional effectiveness. These include assessment of academic programs, administrative planning and evaluation, and academic program review. The Office of Institutional Effectiveness (OIE) oversees these processes by coordinating and providing administrative support and technical expertise to departments. Individual departments and programs are responsible for developing their annual assessment and evaluation plans, conducting assessment and evaluation, and providing OIE with a report summarizing the results and how they plan to use them for improvement. Full descriptions of these processes are described below.

Assessment of Academic Programs

The goal of assessment at the University of Richmond is to gather evidence to demonstrate how well students are learning what our programs are designed to teach them and to use that information to make our programs even more effective.  
Each fall, academic programs must submit an annual assessment plan for that year and a report summarizing the assessment results from the previous academic year to the OIE. The Assessment Specialist will review the assessment plans and work with programs as needed to refine them. The annual assessment reports will be forwarded to the appropriate School Assessment Committee. The School Assessment Committees will review the assessment reports and provide summaries and recommendations to the Institutional Assessment Committee and the Deans. The School Assessment Committees will also provide direct feedback to the academic programs. The Institutional Assessment Committee (composed of representatives from each of the School Assessment Committees) will review the reports from each of the schools to ensure that assessment practices and standards are comparable across schools and present their recommendations to the Provost. The Provost and Deans will work with academic programs as needed to improve student learning based on these assessment results. They will also use assessment results to inform decision making particular in areas that involve student learning and support

Annual assessment plans and reports for academic programs are posted on Blackboard in a course entitled “Assessment.” All program and department chairs are automatically enrolled in this course. Other faculty can be enrolled by simply emailing us at assessment@richmond.edu.

The OIE has developed a workbook to walk academic programs through each step in the process of developing an assessment plan, summarizing and using assessment results, and writing up the assessment report. Print copies of the workbook are available from the OIE. An electronic version is available below and on Blackboard. Dr. Ashley Patterson is also available to provide a workshop in which your program faculty can go through the steps outlined in the workbook. To schedule a workshop or to get assistance with the assessment process, contact Dr. Ashley Patterson at apatters@richmond.edu.

Administrative Planning and Evaluation

A parallel process to academic assessment has been created for administrative departments (including educational services, centers, and institutes)  that focuses less on student learning outcomes and more on process and satisfaction outcomes. The goal of administrative planning and evaluation is for administrative departments to gather evidence to show how effective their services are. Depending on their education mission, some may include learning outcomes but generally, most outcomes will be process- or satisfaction-focused.

In July, administrative departments must submit an annual plan for what outcomes they intend to measure in the coming year and an evaluation report summarizing the evaluation results from the previous year to their Vice President (Academic Affairs, Advancement, Business & Finance, Enrollment Management, Information Services, and Student Development). The Vice Presidents will review these or delegate their review to a staff member or committee of staff members and follow up with departments as needed if revisions are required. The Vice President then forwards the final plans and reports to the Office of Institutional Effectiveness by September 1st. We also recommend holding a summer staff retreat to share the reports and the plans for the coming year.  The Office of Institutional Effectiveness will forward the reports to the Administrative Planning and Evaluation Committee (made up of representatives from each administrative division) which will review them and develop a summary with recommendations to the President. The President and Vice Presidents will work the departments and divisions as needed to improve administrative services based on these evaluations.

Annual plans and evaluation reports for administrative departments are posted on Blackboard in a course entitled “Administrative Planning and Evaluation.” All Vice Presidents and their direct reports are automatically enrolled in the course. Other staff can be enrolled by simply emailing us at assessment@richmond.edu. For more information, contact the Office of Institutional Effectiveness.

The OIE is in the process of developing a workbook to walk administrative departments through each step in the process of developing an evaluation plan, summarizing and using evaluation results, and writing up the evaluation report. Dr. Ashley Patterson is also available to provide a workshop in which your staff can go through the steps outlined in the workbook. To schedule a workshop or to get assistance with the planning and evaluation process, contact Dr. Ashley Patterson at apatters@richmond.edu.

Academic Program Review

Academic program review is much broader than assessment and is only conducted periodically. Every 5-7 years, academic programs undergo a review. The academic program process at the University of Richmond varies across schools. The School of Business goes through a broad review every five years as part of the AACSB accrediting process. The School of Law undergoes a broad review every seven years as part of the ABA accrediting process. Programs in the School of Continuing Studies undergo a broad review whenever a new strategic planning process is initiated (every 3-5 years). The School of Arts & Sciences and the School of Leadership Studies have initiated a rotating schedule of academic program review (see timeline below). For more information on academic program review, contact Patty Murphy at pmurphy@richmond.edu.