Standard 2: Planning and Assessment

The institution develops and implements a broad-based and integrated system of planning and assessment which involves all appropriate constituencies. This system is appropriate to the institution’s mission and its purposes as an institution of higher education and includes planning and assessment processes that embrace all of the standards of membership. The results of assessment data are used to determine institutional effectiveness and to modify institutional plans as appropriate. Consistent with institutional outcomes assessments that demonstrate attainment of institutional purposes and objectives, the institutional record of formal complaints which relate to compliance with the accreditation standards and which are filed through the grievance process within the institution or with NEASC or with the U.S. Department of Education during the review period must be included in all institutional assessments, analyses and self-studies for CTCI accreditation. The records and incident files shall be available for verification. The integration of assessment and planning processes allows the institution to identify priorities for improvement.

Mission

2.1 The institutional mission and goal statements include objectives for which accomplishment can be documented and made public. The institution regularly evaluates and revises as necessary its institutional policies, practices, and publications to ensure integrity in all its representations about its mission, programs and services.

Governance

2.2 The governing board regularly evaluates and revises as necessary its policies, practices, and performance to ensure its constituencies that it carries out its responsibilities in an effective and efficient manner.

Finance

2.3 The institution’s planning process and budget process are interconnected. The institution provides the necessary resources for effective evaluation and planning processes.

Faculty

2.4 The institution has in place a process to assess the professional qualifications of its faculty and to assess its policies related to faculty. Furthermore, there is a process to evaluate the effectiveness of instruction.

Student Services

2.5 The institution assesses the learning needs of its student population and provides services and programs for meeting them. The institution regularly evaluates and revises as necessary its student services and programs to ensure that it is meeting the identified needs of its students. The institution uses the results of its systematic assessment activities to improve its instructional programs and institutional services and activities.

Programs of Study

2.6 The institution has implemented a process to verify that its programs, wherever and however they are offered, support the mission of the institution. Through its planning and assessment process, the institution ensures the quality of instruction, academic rigor, and educational effectiveness of all of its courses and programs wherever and however they are offered. Furthermore, the planning and assessment process ensures that all educational programs have a coherent design and are characterized by appropriate breadth, depth, sequencing of courses, synthesis of learning, and use of information resources.

2.7 The institution identifies and publishes in appropriate and accessible documents the expected learning outcomes for each of its major programs and general education programs. It assesses and documents that students completing its programs have achieved those stated learning outcomes.

2.8 The institution’s processes for establishing and evaluating its educational programs are clearly defined, encompass all of the institution’s offerings, are conducted on a regular basis, and are integrated into the institution’s overall planning and evaluation efforts. The institution uses the results of its assessment activities to improve its educational programs. The institution provides evidence that its program reviews lead to the improvement of the teaching and learning processes at the institution.

Physical Facilities

2.9 A process is in place to evaluate the physical facilities of the institution on a regular basis. The results of this process are used to inform the institution’s planning processes.

Library and Information Resources

2.10 The institution regularly and systematically evaluates the adequacy and utilization of its learning and information resources and services and makes changes as necessary.

Publications

2.11 The institution regularly assesses its publications both in terms of their adequacy and their integrity, making sure that the publications are complete, clear, and accurate.