• About program learning outcomes and assessment plans
• Parent program learning outcomes.
• List the program learning outcomes.
• Summarize the assessment plan.
• Department Approved Assessment Plan

About Program Learning Outcomes and Assessment Plans

All academic programs must have program learning outcomes (plos), an assessment plan, and report on assessment following a schedule set by the Office of the Provost. See more about UW-Madison's Assessment Plan.

Program learning outcomes must:

• articulate what students are expected to know or be able to do upon completion of the program.
• be clear and measurable and written in a way that can be assessed.
• apply to the degree/major and all named options, if applicable.

Procedures

• Program learning outcomes may only be added/revised through Lumen Programs.
• Changes must be approved by the department and school/college; this is documented via the Lumen Programs workflow.
• Changes may necessitate corresponding changes in an academic program's assessment plan. 
• Changes are only allowed for a fall term (June Guide publication). Changes are not permitted in the middle of an academic year.

Notes about named options

• PLOs and the assessment plans are set at the degree/major level.
• If adding named options, the parent's learning outcomes must apply or be revised.
• If adding named options, the assessment plan must be revised to include the new named option. Changes to the assessment plan must be made at the parent plan.

Fields

Parent Program Learning Outcomes 

This field displays the parent/plan information. Content is not editable at the subplan (named option). Changing content that displays here requires a separate change proposal for the parent/major.

When this field displays, there is no option to assign program learning outcomes at the subplan.

Form logic

List the program learning outcomes

Enter one learning outcome per box in the Lumen Program Proposal System. Use the green + to create additional boxes.

Reference the resources from the Office of Student Learning Assessment for writing learning outcomes.

Guidance

• Write out all abbreviations.
• Do not use special characters.

Form logic

Summarize the assessment plan 

Explain briefly the program's plan for assessing student learning outcomes, including:

1. How the program will continuously assess (using both direct and indirect assessment measures) the extent to which the learning outcomes are accomplished, and
2. Describe the processes that will be in place to make use of assessment evidence to improve the quality of the program. 

Form logic

Approved Assessment Plan

At UW-Madison, each academic program is required to articulate and adopt an assessment plan. Conducting ongoing and systematic evaluation of student learning is an integral component of high-quality academic programs. Assessment plans are established as part of the approval process for degrees, majors and certificates. For programs that have named options, the assessment is at the parent plan level. Revisions to assessment plans require approval of the academic unit (i.e. department) that own the program and school or college approval. Schools and colleges will notify the Student Learning Assessment office when changes to an assessment plan are approved at the department level. Please upload the assessment plan as a .pdf file. For help and information about preparing an assessment plan, use the additional resources on program assessment from the Office of Student Learning Assessment, including further information on the basic assessment cycle and planning process.

• An assessment plan does not need to be revised for minor curricular changes, however the program may upload a new one.
• All other Lumen Programs proposals, even those that do not change the program learning outcomes and assessment plan, a current version of the assessment plan must be uploaded with the proposal.

Form logic