Academic Unit Assessment
Academic units constitute the building blocks of the university. OSU's successes in research, teaching, and outreach and engagement stem from supporting faculty and student excellence through effective academic units. In addition to their disciplinary strengths, units cooperate to deliver interdisciplinary academic programs, research, and outreach.
Academic Unit Assessment (AUA) is conducted by the Provost office biennially as a review of all eleven academic colleges, the Graduate School, the Honors College, and OSU-Cascades. The assessments are data-driven, and can result in recommended actions for the units, including further external review of all or part of any unit. The findings are intended as a guide of unit based leadership and staff, Provost's Office leadership, and staff. Faculty Senate also participants in AUA.
Academic Unit Assessment is intended to:
- Provide Deans and the Provost's Office timely, clear, data-driven insights about the strengths and weaknesses of each college, its constituent units (schools or departments) and its academic programs, potentially leading to actionable recommendation for improvement.
- Support Dean's efforts to lead their colleges toward continuous improvement and excellence.
- Develop detailed knowledge in the Provost's Office about the state of OSU academic units and programs, especially around student success, program assessments, research and scholarly productivity. This includes scrutiny of the mix of academic programs within and across units.
- Guide future directions for the academic units and the institution, in alignment with Prosperity Widely Shared.
- Identify potential opportunities to redirect existing units and college level resources.
- Spurs greater alignment of the roles and responsibilities of units to strategically manage the academic programs, research and outreach, and allocate resources across these areas.
Frequently Asked Questions
Review of academic colleges, the Graduate School, the Honors College, and OSU-Cascades by the Provost Office. The assessments are data-driven, and can result in recommended actions for the units.
The AUA is conducted biennially (every two years).
The AUA process includes:
-
Examination of quantitative and qualitative data.
-
Submission of research key performance indicators (KPI's) and program updates.
-
Meetings between unit leadership and the Provost's Office.
-
Development of an action plan by the unit.
The key performance areas include:
- Achieving relevant learning outcomes and improving student success.
- Producing high-quality, impactful scholarship.
- Contributing to the university's goals for diversity, equity, and inclusion.
- Using resources efficiently to achieve outcomes.
After the meetings, the Provost’s Office provides a summary of the discussions. Units then respond to this summary, adding any additional data. This is followed by a second meeting with the Provost to discuss the unit’s performance and outline an action plan.
External reviews may be recommended during the AUA process. These reviews are conducted in the academic year and typically cover most or all functions of the unit, including fiscal considerations.
The AUA uses data related to student success, research and scholarship, diversity, equity, and inclusion, and resource utilization. Relevant dashboards include the AUA Undergraduate Enrollment, AUA Graduate Enrollment, and Every Student Graduates dashboards.
The AUA process focuses on each unit’s efforts to advance the colleges diversity action plan, including aligning with OSU’s Diversity Action Plan. It includes metrics of student success and demographics of students and faculty.
The Provost’s Office prepares and delivers a summary report to the Faculty Senate Executive Committee on academic performance metrics for all units and their academic programs. This report highlights strengths and issues raised during the AUA.
The AUA process augments, but does not duplicate, accreditation reviews. While accreditation ensures that minimum standards are met, the AUA examines the entire college in its context at OSU and with respect to OSU’s strategic plan.