Assessment
UT Dallas engages in continuous, integrated, and comprehensive planning and evaluation processes. As a part of these activities, UT Dallas' administrative and academic units identify expected outcomes, assess the extent to which they achieve those outcomes, and provide evidence of improvement based on analysis of the results. This process incorporates a systematic review of the UT Dallas mission, goals, and outcomes in areas such as:
Degree and certificate programs are assessed to determine the quality and efficacy of the educational programs offered at UT Dallas. Each program clearly defines and documents expected student learning outcomes and findings from the assessment of those outcomes. Based on this information, all degree and certificate programs can determine:
- The degree to which student learning outcomes are successfully achieved within each program
- Areas in which each program can be improved upon
- How UT Dallas' use of assessment results has led to improvements in its educational programs
The assessment of administrative and academic support programs focuses on examining the quality and effectiveness of programs/units that provide services to students, faculty, and/or staff and/or perform university functions. For academic support units, this also includes assessing student learning outcomes.
Every year, administrative and academic support programs are asked to submit a report to the Office of Assessment. This report describes assessment results from the previous year, ways in which assessment data were used (if any) and plans for program improvements. Assessment reports also include a description of a program’s outcomes (i.e., anticipated results), measures, and targets.
The Core Curriculum at UTD is assessed through the Comets to the Core project. The project began in the fall semester of 2017 for all first-time in college freshmen. Comets to the Core is completed during the fall semester of students first and third years at UT Dallas through the UNIV 1010/2020 course sequence.
Through this project, the following skills are assessed, as mandated by the Texas Higher Education Coordinating Board:
- Critical thinking - critical thinking, innovation, inquiry, analysis, evaluation, and synthesis of information.
- Communication Skills [oral and written] - effective development, interpretation and expression of ideas through written, oral, and visual information.
- Teamwork - to include the ability to consider different points of view and to work effectively with others to support a shared purpose or goal.
- Social responsibility - intercultural competence, knowledge of civic responsibility, and the ability to engage effectively in regional, national, and global communities.
- Personal responsibility - ability to connect choices, actions and consequences to ethical decision-making.
- Empirical and Quantitative Skills - to include the manipulation and analysis of numerical data or observable facts resulting in informed conclusions.
Through this project, students will:
- Collaborate with peers to develop a solution to a real-world problem.
- Analyze research to identify how they can alleviate social problems in the real world.
- Identify the social, political, environmental, and economic components of a complex world problem, and will provide a solution that addresses sustainability in each of those areas.
2014 Core Quick Reference
Required Core Objectives | Optional Core Objectives |
Foundational Component Area | SCH | CT | COM | EQS | TW | SR | PR |
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Communication | 6 | ||||||
Courses in this category focus on developing ideas and expressing them clearly, considering the effect of the message, fostering understanding, and building the skills needed to communicate persuasively. Courses involve the command of oral, aural, written, and visual literacy skills that enable people to exchange messages appropriate to the subject, occasion, and audience. |
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Mathematics | 3 | ||||||
Courses in this category focus on quantitative literacy in logic, patterns, and relationships. Courses involve the understanding of key mathematical concepts and the application of appropriate quantitative tools to everyday experience. |
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Life and Physical Sciences | 6 | ||||||
Courses in this category focus on describing, explaining, and predicting natural phenomena using the scientific method. Courses involve the understanding of interactions among natural phenomena and the implications of scientific principles on the physical world and on human experiences. |
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Language, Philosophy & Culture | 3 | ||||||
Courses in this category focus on how ideas, values, beliefs, and other aspects of culture express and affect human experience. Courses involve the exploration of ideas that foster aesthetic and intellectual creation in order to understand the human condition across cultures. |
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Creative Arts | 3 | ||||||
Courses in this category focus on the appreciation and analysis of creative artifacts and works of the human imagination. Courses involve the synthesis and interpretation of artistic expression and enable critical, creative, and innovative communication about works of art. |
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American History | 6 | ||||||
Courses in this category focus on the consideration of past events and ideas relative to the United States, with the option of including Texas History for a portion of this component area. Courses involve the interaction among individuals, communities, states, the nation, and the world, considering how these interactions have contributed to the development of the United States and its global role. |
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Government/Political Science | 6 | ||||||
Courses in this category focus on consideration of the Constitution of the United States and the constitutions of the states, with special emphasis on that of Texas. Courses involve the analysis of governmental institutions, political behavior, civic engagement, and their political and philosophical foundations. |
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Social and Behavioral Sciences | 3 | ||||||
Courses in this category focus on the application of empirical and scientific methods that contribute to the understanding of what makes us human. Courses involve the exploration of behavior and interactions among individuals, groups, institutions, and events, examining their impact on the individual, society, and culture. |
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Component Area Option | 6 | ||||||
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The Assessment Team provides university-wide support to assist the institution's administrative and academic units with demonstrating their institutional effectiveness.
Assessment Awards
The Office of Assessment hosts a biannual celebration to recognize the dedication and hard work of those collecting, using, and learning about assessment. Visit the Biannual Assessment Awards to find out more and see the winners.
Upcoming Assessment Deadlines
- October 28, 2024 (Monday)
- Academic program assessment reports for academic year 2023-2024 and plans for academic year 2024-2025 due
- Administrative unit reports for academic year 2023-2024 or fiscal year 2024 and plans for 2024-2025 and fiscal year 2025 are due
- Clarifications on Reports and Plans - Let’s think of a report as two parts. Part A consists of what you plan on doing this year for assessment (fill out the column labeled measure). This is also known as an Assessment Plan. Part B then looks at the past year of what you’ve done for assessment (fill out the columns labeled results and plan along with the summary sections). A full Assessment Report is part A that was filled out last year plus part B that you’re filling out this year. Each year you will hand in Part A from the current school year (Assessment Plan) and part B from the previous school year (making it an Assessment Report).
- Please contact Drs. Gloria Shenoy (gloria@utdallas.edu) for Academic Assessment or Melissa Ray (Melissa.Ray@utdallas.edu) for Administrative and Academic Support Assessment with any questions or concerns.