Strategic Planning and Evaluation

Within Academic Affairs, planning and evaluation begin with the five-year strategic plan.  Each administrative office, academic department and college office is required to prepare a five-year strategic plan.  The current strategic plan is the 2005-2010 Strategic Plan.  The next plan, the 2010-2015 Strategic Plan, will be prepared during the 2009-2010 academic year.  

Planning and evaluation are interrelated; therefore, Academic Affairs units use a template to prepare and link their strategic plan and annual report.   The template includes action plans, effectiveness measures and performance outcomes for every strategic goal articulated in the plan. The annual report section of the template requires units to report annual progress against each of the performance outcomes and to identify changes that will be made as a result of their assessment findings. 

Academic departments and college offices must attach their student learning outcomes assessment plan in Appendix D of the strategic plan.  A common format for reporting student learning outcomes is no longer required; however, academic departments and college offices must minimally include in their student learning outcomes plan assessment methodology, performance outcomes, and an assessment schedule (e.g., annually, bi-annually) for each student learning outcome to be assessed.  Annual reports must report assessment findings and include data for each student learning outcome assessed during the year.  Changes to be made in the curriculum or pedagogy as a result of assessment findings must be reported as well.   

Student learning outcomes are assessed many different ways at UNC Charlotte.  Assessment methods range from tests to assess knowledge, to presentations and recitals to gauge skills development, to student teaching and internships to demonstrate competency in the workplace.

Five of the seven colleges at UNC Charlotte have professional accreditors that are fairly prescriptive as to the student learning outcomes to be assessed.  In the remaining colleges (College of Arts & Sciences and College of Computing & Informatics), academic departments determine the student learning outcomes to assess of their majors. 

Deans and associate provosts are responsible for ensuring strategic planning and evaluation, including the assessment of student learning outcomes, in their respective colleges and departments.  The Director of Assessment serves as an advisor to university administrators needing assistance with strategic planning and/or outcomes assessment. 

For a list of UNC Charlotte’s accreditations, please reference the Accreditations section of this website.