Auburn designated as an institution of excellence for assessment

University recognized for innovative assessment programs to improve Auburn students' learning

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Auburn University is one of seven institutions to receive the 2019 Excellence in Assessment, or EIA, designation from the National Institute for Learning Outcomes Assessment. 

Monday's announcement places the university in an elite group of educational institutions nationally regarded for excellence in assessment and commitment to improving student outcomes. The designation acknowledges the significant work universities such as Auburn are doing to promote comprehensive assessment and highlights their innovative best practices.

"Today's designation acknowledges several years of hard work to elevate the role assessment plays in defining the value of an Auburn degree," said Provost and Senior Vice President for Academic Affairs Bill Hardgrave. "We have a campus culture that supports and promotes assessment, and that's a remarkable accomplishment for our faculty and students."

Auburn's Office of Academic Assessment was instrumental in achieving the EIA designation. The unit was established in 2015 to help programs enhance student learning and support curricular innovations by demonstrating learning improvement. In addition to the office's Quality of Assessment Rubric, a tool created to empower units to lead program-level assessments, Auburn was recognized for its compelling institutional research questions, infusion of literature into practice and intentional decision-making involving faculty and staff to support and shift the culture of assessment. 

"Auburn faculty have made great strides in improving the quality of assessment across campus, both in degree programs and in our new general education assessment infrastructure," said Megan Good, director of academic assessment. "This national recognition helps to propel our culture of learning and improvement."

The EIA selection committee also recognized Auburn for its SCORE, or Student Core Outcomes and Readiness Evaluation, initiative, a unique institutional-level assessment designed to measure general education student learning outcomes. By requiring graduating seniors to complete the one-hour test, SCORE replaces previously used in-class assessments. 

The EIA designation is co-sponsored by the Voluntary System of Accountability, the National Institute for Learning Outcomes Assessment and the Association of American Colleges and Universities. Voluntary System of Accountability is a joint initiative of the American Association of State Colleges and Universities and the Association of Public and Land-grant Universities.

"The EIA designees have a demonstrated commitment to measuring the impact of their student success efforts and are working to improve that impact through evidence-based methods," said Association of Public and Land-grant Universities President Peter McPherson. "Their work is rightly being nationally recognized with a designation that not only profiles their work but provides a platform from which other institutions can learn and better track their progress to drive improvement."

Auburn University is a nationally ranked land grant institution recognized for its commitment to world-class scholarship, interdisciplinary research with an elite, top-tier Carnegie R1 classification, life-changing outreach with Carnegie’s Community Engagement designation and an undergraduate education experience second to none. Auburn is home to more than 30,000 students, and its faculty and research partners collaborate to develop and deliver meaningful scholarship, science and technology-based advancements that meet pressing regional, national and global needs. Auburn’s commitment to active student engagement, professional success and public/private partnership drives a growing reputation for outreach and extension that delivers broad economic, health and societal impact.