Educational Planning and Assessment (EPA)

Saddleback College's Educational Planning and Assessment Committee oversees our efforts to engage in an ongoing quest for quality improvement, and to document how well we fulfill our mission and goals by employing a comprehensive system of planning and outcomes assessment in all programs, student support units, and administrative service units on campus.  The three components of Educational Planning and Assessment (EPA) are program review/administrative unit review, student learning outcomes/administrative unit outcomes, and curriculum.

Requirements and Timeline for 2012-2014

An Overview of Educational Planning and Assessment

Program Review (PR) and Administrative Unit Review (AUR):

Contact: Heidi Ochoa

• Every two years, each department and administrative unit at the college completes a PR or AUR as a way to assess the strengths and weaknesses of its programs and services, and to determine its needs
• Departments and administrative units set objectives and action steps for the coming two years
• PRs and AURs are linked to planning and budget allocations
• Reports are housed in TracDat (contact the EPA Coordinator or PR/AUR Coordinator for access to specific reports)

Student Learning Outcomes (SLOs) and Administrative Unit Outcomes (AUOs):

Contact: June Millovich

• Course SLOs are assessed each year in every course offered
• Program SLOs (PSLOs) are assessed annually for each degree and certificate program
• Course SLOs are linked directly to PSLOs and Institutional SLOs (ISLOs), as shown in the diagram above
• SLOs should be listed on all course syllabi
• Administrative unit AUOs are assessed each year
• Assessment data is housed in TracDat
• SLO and AUO results must be input prior to completing the PR or AUR

Curriculum:

Contact: Kris Leppien-Christensen

• Curriculum and program development are coordinated by the Curriculum Committee, which is associated with but independent of EPA
• Courses are approved on the basis of such standards as grading policy, units, prerequisites, academic rigor, course content, course objectives, repeatability, assignments, instructional methodology, and methods of evaluation. 
• Each course and program is evaluated on a regular cycle through the technical review process

Institute for Teaching and Learning:

Contact: Claire Cesareo-Silva

• Centralized information on faculty training in relation to teaching and learning
• Organizes workshops for faculty on teaching and learning, instructional technologies, and SLO/AUO assessment
• Produces a bi-annual newsletter on issues related to teaching and learning