General Education - Frequently Asked Questions

• All instructors teaching general education courses

Yes. The input of all faculty teaching general education courses helps to make the assessment process meaningful and allows the University to work toward continuous improvement. Departments should review assessment processes with all GE teaching faculty and arrange for full-time faculty to mentor part-time faculty if necessary.

The SLO’s for general education can be found online.

Instructors submit their assessment data via MachForm at the end of each semester. The data from each area will be aggregated and reviewed by the General Education Assessment Committee and all stakeholders will receive an annual report detailing results.

General education assessment is intended to assess how well the general education program as a whole is meeting its goals not to evaluate individual instructors’ performance. Assessment results will never be used in personnel decisions.

Final course grades do not provide enough specific information. More detailed, diagnostic information is required in order to determine what areas need improvement.

Consult the assessment schedule. If you are teaching a course in a GE area that is on the schedule, you are responsible for collecting data. This may be once or twice a year. It is advisable to administer the assessment measures that you use to collect data every time you teach the course.

Data from all the courses in each area are aggregated in summary reports that are disseminated campus wide. The General Education Assessment Committee will review all data but individual course results are not identifiable in institutional reports.

You can begin your “assessment education” by consulting your department’s assessment coordinator or chairperson. For general education, there are guidelines and orientations to help you. Keep an eye out also for development opportunities conducted by the Center for Excellence in Learning and Teaching (CELT). The Director of General Education and the Director of the Office of Accountability and Assessment are also resources for you if you have specific questions about an assessment-related initiative.

All ideas for improving the General Education Assessment process are welcomed by the administration at SUNY Brockport. There are many ways to suggest changes. Instructors collecting data have an ongoing opportunity to reflect on the process and suggest improvements when they submit their reports. Instructors may also propose their ideas to any member of the GEAC at any time or discuss them with the Director of General Education, the Director of the Office of Accountability and Assessment, or school Deans.