Preparing for accreditation: Defining outcomes and figuring out how to measure them

CHED 539

Joe L March, march@uab.edu, Department of Chemistry, University of Alabama at Birmingham, 901 S 14th St, Birmingham, AL 35294
Accreditation brings new questions into each department. Defining learning outcomes and establishing reasonable protocols to measure these outcomes is an enormous challenge. Our process involved discussions with faculty, chairs, deans, administrators, and external consultants before arriving at a working document. Our experience was healthy for the department and the campus. We learned a lot about ourselves and recognized new potential thrusts through this process. This talk will outline the process, report the outcomes we established, and describe how we are beginning to collect the needed data.