Assessment
St. Louis Community College expands minds and changes lives every day. It is the largest community college in Missouri -- and among the largest in America. Annually, more than 120,000 persons enroll in a variety of classes and programs offered on the campuses, education centers, on-site work locations and via telecommunication networks. St. Louis Community College students are critical to the workforce and economic development of our region. It is estimated that the current regional workforce embodies more than 16.1 million credit and non-credit hours of instruction. The total economic impact of the college in the St. Louis metropolitan region is more than $3 billion. How do we ensure that our programs stay current and meet the needs of our students and community? One of the college’s most effective tools to improve programs and services is assessment.
St. Louis Community College collects and uses assessment data to improve student learning, academic achievement and overall institutional effectiveness. When combined with thoughtful interpretation by faculty and staff, assessment supports the overall decision-making needs of the college and the specific decision-making needs of individual units and programs.
Assessment is not a bureaucratic exercise that takes place separate from the work we do every day in our classrooms and offices. Rather it is a critical component of how we think about our work with students and their learning outcomes associated with our mission. In this context, assessment can be viewed as a simple, yet significant, process.