Overview

UMD has distinct campus student learning goals and outcomes for undergraduate and graduate programs.

Each undergraduate curricular program determines when its program learning outcomes (PLOs) will be assessed in a 3-year assessment cycle. 

All graduate programs use the same schedule for program learning outcome assessment reports:

• 2022-23: Goal Category 2 
• 2023-24: Goal Categories 1 and 3
• 2024-25: Goal Categories 4 and 5

UMD’s campus student learning goals and outcomes are scaffolded into program assessment, as every program learning outcome (PLO) must be assigned to one of the campus learning goals (graduate) or outcomes (undergraduate). PLOs are further scaffolded into assessment specific to the educational experiences comprising the programs, such as courses, capstone portfolios, performances, and theses.

PLOs and assessment details are provided on every program’s assessment plan. All PLOs must be assessed and reported at least one time during each assessment cycle. Programs use their assessment data to inform program-level changes impacting teaching and learning within their programs.

Each program assesses and reports on their PLOs for the campus learning goals and outcomes through the Campus Assessment Data Form. The Campus Assessment office then aggregates the data at the institutional level for the UMD Assessment Subcommittee, which prepares and distributes annual Campus Learning Goals and Outcomes Reports. Campus-level administrative and governance committees review these reports and can use the data to inform decisions affecting student learning and assessment. 

The table below summarizes UMD’s schedule in which data for specific campus student learning goals and outcomes are aggregated from program data for campus-level reports. Every annual Campus Learning Goals and Outcomes Report includes data for the preceding 3-year period to encompass a full assessment cycle (e.g., the fall 2023 report includes assessment data for academic years 2020-21, 2021-22, and 2022-23).