ACE Assessment Digest

Current Issue

ACE Assessment Digest | September 2026

In this issue:

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Fall Welcome and Transitions in the Faculty Assessment Coordinator Role in Your Department, School, or Program

As the fall semester progresses, we look forward to opportunities to support your work on undergraduate program-level assessment of student learning!

If you are no longer serving in the faculty assessment coordinator role for an undergraduate degree, or are aware of personnel changes in the faculty assessment coordinator role for your department, school, or program, please let us know at ace.office@wsu.edu.

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Save the Date: Please Join Us at the Fall 2026 WSU Celebration of Assessment Excellence

The Fall 2026 WSU Celebration of Assessment Excellence will take place on Thursday, November 5^th at 3pm in the CUB Junior Ballroom (Zoom option available). The event will recognize ten programs that have used learning outcomes assessment collected near the end of the curriculum to improve curriculum or instruction in their undergraduate degrees. More information about the ten programs and the specific examples of use of program-level assessment to improve curriculum and/or instruction being recognized in 2026 are available on our Celebration of Assessment Excellence webpage. We hope to see you there!

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Summaries of 2025 Undergraduate Degree Program Assessment Reports Available to Support Planning and Decision-making

Each summer, we review data from the undergraduate assessment reports submitted by programs and produce summaries for the institution, as well as for our university-wide archives that provide evidence of assessment activities in support of university accreditation. Again this year, we are providing 2025 annual undergraduate program assessment reporting summary dashboards for the university using Tableau, including a WSU-wide and College View and an Individual Program View, available to WSU employees (log-in required). A WSU-wide executive summary for 2025, intended to summarize the university-wide data presented in the Tableau dashboards, is also available for the broader WSU community, as well as the public.

Another goal of the undergraduate program assessment reporting summaries is to help programs, leadership, and ACE identify needs and next steps. Each year, we meet with programs, college, campus, and university leadership to discuss potential actions that can support program assessment. >> Read More …

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WSU’s Upcoming Institutional Accreditation Visit Moved to Spring 2028

Program-level assessment is key to WSU’s demonstration of regular and systematic assessment as required by our institutional accreditor, the Northwest Commission on Colleges and Universities (NWCCU). In August, WSU was notified that our upcoming institutional accreditation visit has been moved from spring 2027 to spring 2028. Under this revised evaluation schedule, WSU will resume drafting its self-study for the Evaluation of Institutional Effectiveness (EIE) comprehensive review in spring/summer 2027 in advance of a peer evaluation visit in spring 2028.

One goal of annual undergraduate program assessment reporting at WSU is to document regular assessment activities and uses to help meet accreditation standards. Reports submitted by undergraduate programs in recent years, as well as the reports due in February about 2026 activities, will provide key evidence to demonstrate an effective, regular, and comprehensive system of assessment of student achievement of program learning outcomes.

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Program Assessment Spotlight: Building a Sustainable Embedded Assessment System Through Program-Level Rubrics (Sociology)

Effective program-level assessment relies on meaningful evidence of student performance on program learning outcomes. Direct evaluation of authentic student work provides rich evidence of student learning while helping faculty identify opportunities to strengthen curriculum, instruction, and assignments. Recent work in the Department of Sociology offers an example of how faculty can develop and implement an embedded assessment system with program-level rubrics to generate actionable data and support ongoing improvement. >> Read More …

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2025 Examples of Direct Measures Collected Near the End of the Curriculum at WSU

WSU expects undergraduate degree programs to regularly collect direct measures near the end of the curriculum, providing programs with information about student achievement of program-level student learning outcomes as students are completing the curriculum. WSU encourages programs to choose measures that provide useful information to their faculty and fit with disciplinary expectations.

Each year, we compile selected examples of direct measures collected near the end of the curriculum by WSU undergraduate degree programs, as reported in the annual undergraduate degree program assessment reports. The examples are intended to show a range of direct measures collected near the end of the curriculum and are not intended to be exhaustive or show all measures collected by WSU programs.

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Two New Prompts on Our AI Tools and Prompts Webpage

We are continuing to explore ways that AI can support program assessment activities. This summer, we added two new prompts to our AI Tools and Prompts to Support Program Assessment Activities webpage:

• Our rubric feedback prompt is intended to provide feedback on an existing rubric to help program faculty to ensure that the rubric evaluates student performance on one or more program-level SLO. The prompt workflow will ask you to provide the rubric, as well as information about the program-level SLO(s) and assignment(s), and then provide output with concrete suggestions and supporting details, intended to support faculty review and discussion.
• Our survey, interview, or focus group instrument and program SLO alignment prompt is intended to help program faculty review an existing survey, interview, or focus group instrument (e.g., NSSE, course evaluations, alumni surveys, employer surveys, etc.) to determine the alignment between the instrument’s questions and program-level SLOs to help programs consider their use as an indirect measure for program-level SLO assessment. The prompt workflow will ask you to provide your program-level SLOs, as well as the survey, interview, or focus group instrument to review, and then provide a draft alignment describing the relationship between the instrument and the program-level SLOs, to review and revise/refine.

We are also available to collaborate with undergraduate degree programs interested in exploring the use of AI to support program assessment activities; contact us for additional information.

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Short Video: How to Collect Data from Keston Fulcher’s Assessment 101 Series

Keston Fulcher from James Madison University’s Center for Assessment and Research Studies discusses how to collect representative assessment data in a short video.

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FYI – Calendar of Fall 2026 Dates Related to Program Assessment

Month	Date	Activity
Aug	Mid Aug	Spring 2026 [CAPS] instructors receive a pdf copy of their [CAPS] Assessment Report for UCORE from UCORE via email. Note: Typically, assessment in a [CAPS] course for majors can contribute toward degree program-level assessment of student learning – see our resource related to [CAPS] Assessment Reporting for UCORE as part of degree program assessment.
	24th	First day of instruction for the term.
Sept	22nd	Deadline for undergraduate students to drop a course without record.
	Late Sept	Fall 2026 [CAPS] instructors receive an email from UCORE with initial information about [CAPS] Assessment Reporting for UCORE for the fall term.
Oct	1st	Fall submission deadline for major Curricular Change Requests for new and revised courses & new and revised requirements.
	30th	Program assessment coordinators receive an email from ACE with information about 2026 Undergraduate Program Assessment Reporting, including the report planning sheet. ACE is also available to help assessment coordinators complete the report; contact us for additional information.
Nov	5th	Fall 2026 Celebration of Assessment Excellence at 3pm in the CUB Junior Ballroom (Zoom option available).
	20th	Deadline for undergraduate students to withdraw from a course.
Dec	Early Dec	Fall 2026 [CAPS] instructors receive their link to the [CAPS] Assessment Reporting for UCORE form in Qualtrics via email (i.e., reporting opens).
	11th	Last day of instruction for the term.
	Mid Dec	Program assessment coordinators receive an email from ACE with a unique link to their 2026 Undergraduate Program Assessment Reporting form in Qualtrics. Assessment coordinators can submit their report during the open reporting window — anytime from mid-Dec 2026 through Feb 2027. ACE is also available to help assessment coordinators complete the report; contact us for additional information.
	22nd	Final grade submission ends.
Jan	8th	Fall 2026 [CAPS] Assessment Reports for UCORE are due (i.e., reporting closes).

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ACE Support for Program Assessment Efforts

We work with program faculty and leadership to assess student learning towards the improvement of undergraduate academic programs. ACE provides learning outcomes assessment support for university-wide undergraduate education, serving all degree programs, colleges, and campuses, as well as UCORE general education. See What We Do and Our Services for more information.

ACE’s Assessment Specialists are happy to answer any questions and consult with programs on their assessment efforts! For information about who to contact, see our ACE Staff page.

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Copyright © WSU Office of Assessment for Curricular Effectiveness (ACE), All rights reserved.

ACE Assessment Digest is a bite-sized email, sent twice a semester, communicating timely information about undergraduate program assessment at WSU. To send feedback, tips, or to opt out, email ace.office@wsu.edu.

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