What is Institutional Effectiveness?

Institutional Effectiveness is a continuous cycle for planning, assessing, analyzing, and improving processes, programs, and services supporting EWU’s mission and vision. Assessment at EWU evaluates through a data-driven decision-making process. Institutional Effectiveness is guided by EWU’s vision for the future. This is achieved through:

• Collecting, analyzing, and distributing high quality institutional data and research.
• Consulting with departments and programs on research to insure legitimacy and rigor of data.
• Coordinating a system of academic program reviews in line with EWU’s mission and strategic goals.
• Providing assistance and data support for student learning outcomes assessment.
• Guiding and facilitating the process of university and academic program accreditation.
• Promoting consistent decisions with information and research gained from routine assessment.
• Supporting EWU’s strategic planning and its implementation.

What is Institutional Effectiveness is comprised of?

Click the buttons on the left to learn more about each of the five main concepts.

Institutional Effectiveness is comprised of:

1. Institutional Data

The management of institutional data while expanding access to these data is critical to the institution. An element is considered institutional data if it supports students or the institution.

Institutional Effectiveness is comprised of:

2. Learning Outcomes Assessment

Student learning outcomes specify what students will be able to do and demonstrate when they have completed a course or an academic degree-granting program. This helps to ensure students are achieving the stated learning outcomes.

Institutional Effectiveness is comprised of:

3. Program Review

Program review aims to continually enhance the overall quality of education offered at EWU by evaluating academics programs while focusing on institutional and department missions, student learning outcomes, evidence-based decision making, and university strategic planning.

Program review addresses such questions as:

• How is the institution progressing?
• Is the quality of academic departments and programs increasing over time?
• What are EWU’s strengths and weaknesses?
• Where is improvement and growth occurring at EWU?
• Where is future improvement and growth most likely to occur at EWU?
• What can be discovered new about EWU or our academic programs?

Institutional Effectiveness is comprised of:

4. Strategic Planning

Thoughtful, data-informed, and effective planning to identify and analyze any internal and external factors impacting EWU’s focus on students.

Strategic planning committees at EWU seek representation from advisory boards, faculty, administration, staff, students, alumni, and the community. The intent is to include and provide weight to stakeholders responding to important institutional issues leading to dynamic and comprehensive strategic plans and a vision for the future.

Institutional Effectiveness is comprised of:

5. Accreditation

The goal of accreditation is to ensure the education provided at EWU meets acceptable levels of quality. Accreditation in higher education is about improvement of academic quality and public accountability.