Responsibility for and authority over academics at the University of Delaware lies with the faculty and we support the faculty in carrying out these charges, including the very important charge of understanding the extent of student learning in our courses and activities. Faculty in academic programs are responsible for (a) developing program educational goals that clearly state what students should learn through their completion of the program and (b) systematically assessing the extent of student achievement of those goals, including dissemination and use of that information on a regular basis. Regular and familiar university processes and policies are used to ensure these vital processes are being carried out, including (a) the annual appraisal of department chairs and program directors, (b) academic program reviews, and (c) curriculum proposals and revisions processed by the Faculty Senate.

There are two new, related processes that are intended to help systematically support faculty in carrying out these responsibilities. First, the university’s Faculty Senate passed a resolution in the spring of 2020 mandating the collection of program educational goals and publication of those goals in the academic catalog. This will begin in the fall of 2021 (it was postponed due to the COVID-19 pandemic). The goals will be initially collected and reviewed by the Faculty Senate with subsequent changes and additions processed through the regular curriculum proposal and review processes. Second, the university will begin centrally collecting program assessment plans and results on annual basis. This information will be collected in the fall and returned to deans and chairs in the spring to be used as part of the relevant annual appraisal processes.