ABOUT
The Office of Assessment and Institutional Effectiveness, a department of the Office of the Executive Vice President of Academic Affairs, promotes rigorous evaluation in the pursuit of institutional excellence. The office supports, coordinates, and advances efforts to demonstrate that the University is fulfilling its academic mission and enhancing learning excellence within the community of learners.
OFFICE MISSION
The Office of Assessment and Institutional Effectiveness will advance learning excellence through information, evaluation, and recommendations while striving for improvement through communication and collaboration.
PHILOSOPHY
Assessment assists in achieving excellence by asking: Who are we? Are we who we say we are? How do we know? How can we improve? Are the improvements working? Assessment activities increase the dialog about excellence throughout the campus community.
Assessment is the systematic and ongoing process of collecting, analyzing and acting on data and information and is an essential component in achieving the university's mission and supporting goals and outcomes. Assessment is oriented towards measuring results and using these results to aid in decision-making enhancement. Assessment is not an isolated event, but rather a communication loop affording continuous quality improvement of programs, departments, and courses.
The goal of institutional effectiveness is to integrate planning, evaluation, and budgeting processes into a comprehensive program that not only encompasses teaching and learning but also the array of administrative and support services which sustain the core of activities of the University.
DIRECTOR
Dr. Garlough is Director of Assessment and Institutional Effectiveness at Northwestern Oklahoma State University and serves a point of contact for the Ministry of Higher Education and Scientific Research in Kurdistan. Prior to her current appointment, she spent several years as an administrator of a USAID/University of Oklahoma grant to assess, support, and revitalize higher education in Iraq. Her area of study includes assessment practice in the Middle East and her papers have been presented at international higher education conferences. Dr. Garlough has served as a member of the Board of Directors for the Association for the Study of Higher Education (ASHE) and has been appointed to numerous committees.