A description of LSUA’s planning and assessment process is provided in Policy Statement 225 [1] . The strategic planning process takes place every two years and provides for input from students, prospective students, faculty, staff, and community members. As a result of the strategic planning process, revisions may be made to LSUA’s vision statement, mission statement and institutional goals. Once the mission, vision, and institutional goals have been established, each administrative and support services unit develops a unit statement of purpose [3] and unit outcomes. The unit’s purpose and outcomes must support one or more of the institutional goals. Similarly, for each certificate, associate degree and bachelor’s degree program, as well as for developmental education and general education, appropriate faculty develop expected educational or learning outcomes. All statements of purpose and outcomes are reviewed by the Institutional Effectiveness Committee [4] for appropriateness. Outcomes for all administrative and support services units and for all educational programs are listed according to which university goal they support on pages 13-33 in the LSUA Strategic Plan 2004-2006 [5] .  Student learning outcomes may be found under Goal 6.

All units at LSUA assess achievement of unit outcomes through LSUA’s institutional effectiveness process.  During each assessment cycle [6] (a two-year period), every unit assesses achievement of its outcomes. Typically a unit has three to six outcomes.  Similarly, up to six outcomes are assessed for each degree and certificate program and for each developmental education program. For general education, all nine outcomes are assessed in each cycle. 

All units document their outcomes assessment on Annual Assessment Forms via an online database [7] . At the beginning of each assessment cycle, the unit completes one of these forms for each outcome being assessed. On the form, the unit must describe the methods it will use to assess achievement of each outcome and the criterion or measure of achievement. These forms are then submitted to the Coordinator for Planning and Assessment, who is responsible, in conjunction with the appropriate vice chancellor,  for insuring that high standards for achievement have been set and assessment methods are reasonable and varied. After approval, the unit proceeds to carry out its planned assessments and report the results. Assessment and reporting are done annually, but the unit has the entire two-year cycle to achieve the outcome. Results of the assessment are reported at the end of each academic year on the Annual Assessment Forms [7] . The Director of Institutional Research and Effectiveness also summarizes the results of campus assessments that support each institutional goal in the Annual Assessment Report Card [8] .

When assessment results indicate that an outcome is not being achieved, unit personnel (appropriate faculty in the case of learning outcomes) meet and discuss actions that can be taken so that the outcome will be achieved in the future. Units must document these planned actions in the final section (Section III) of their Annual Assessment Forms [7] . This planned use of results for improvement is also submitted to the Coordinator for Planning and Assessment, who, in conjunction with the appropriate vice chancellor, must insure that the planned actions are adequate and appropriate.

Over the approximately 10 years that LSUA has used its current assessment process, a variety of improvements have resulted from the process. For example, because assessments showed that developmental English students were not doing as well in their subsequent credit courses in composition as were students who placed directly into freshman composition, the English faculty developed a new developmental English course so that students who entered LSUA with very poor writing skills could begin at a lower level and spend two semesters in developmental English. The faculty also changed the textbooks used for developmental English and changed some of the teaching emphasis. The English faculty are also now working much more closely with adjunct faculty to insure that all students in developmental English receive similar instruction and are subject to similar expectations. Additionally, students must now earn a C or better in each developmental English course before being allowed to enroll in the next level of English.

In another example from academics, performance of LSUA graduates on the ACT CAAP exam in Mathematics has been slightly below the desired outcome level for several years. Additionally, a locally-developed mathematics exam showed graduates to have poor skills at working word problems. As a result of these assessments, the Mathematics faculty have changed the requirement for successfully exiting the second developmental math course and College Algebra from a D to a C, have incorporated more word problems into developmental mathematics courses (which approximately 90% of LSUA freshmen must take) and have incorporated use of graphing calculators in all sections of College Algebra.

There are other examples from academics as well. All LSUA graduates now must either pass a computer literacy exam or take a 1-hour course. This requirement was instituted because surveys of graduates indicated fewer graduates than desired had any opportunity to learn certain computer skills, particularly with spreadsheets, as they completed their degree programs. History faculty developed guidelines for teaching courses in western civilization and American history so that students across all course sections would have a more consistent educational experience. Science faculty have been asked to revise their courses to incorporate more exposure and practice for students relative to use of the library, use of the scientific process, and ability to reason and communicate logically.

There also have been many improvements to administrative and support services functions as a result of LSUA’s assessment process. Facility Services has increased its training of staff as a result of assessment that showed the unit was not meeting benchmarks for such training. Facility Services now conducts frequent short training sessions as the staff begins their work day. The printed schedule available to students each semester was changed greatly as a result of student dissatisfaction with the previous format. Orientation sessions for new and transfer students have been modified as well in response to findings from assessments. The Counseling Center has increased advertising for its services after assessments showed fewer students were aware of and used the services than was desired. Many changes have occurred at the Bookstore, including longer hours of operation, changes in book ordering procedures, customer service training for staff,  and finally outsourcing to Follett as a result of assessments that showed dissatisfaction with that unit.

Examination of many years of assessment records would be necessary to give a complete picture of assessment at LSUA. In any given assessment cycle, most units achieve most of the outcomes they set for themselves. However, when assessment is an ongoing process, all units, at some point, discover areas where improvement is needed and take steps to make those improvements.