Institutional Learning Outcomes Policy

Month/Year Posted: 
March, 2019
Policy Number: 
P19-03

In the course of achieving competence in a major area of study, HSU students will acquire intellectual skills and knowledge of cultures, history, and the physical and natural world that will prepare them for fulfilling careers, for thoughtful and civic participation in democratic society, and to work for sustainable, just societies.

Purpose of the Policy:

According to the CSU’s Program Planning Resource Guide: Academic Programs and Faculty Development (2017), each CSU must have institutional learning outcomes (ILOs) that “highlight the general knowledge, skills, and dispositions all students are expected to have upon graduating from an institution of higher learning,” that represent “the collective expression of the learning environment the university offers.”  Such learning outcomes must be thoroughly and methodically developed across the university’s curriculum. Institutions are expected to identify specific behaviors that demonstrate the outcomes, and they are expected to regularly evaluate these behaviors in order to assess student learning.

According to the standards presented in the WASC Senior College and University Commission (WSCUC) 2013 Handbook of Accreditation, WSCUC institutions shall “ensure the development of core competencies including, but not limited to, written and oral communication, quantitative reasoning, information literacy, and critical thinking.” In addition, “the institution’s student learning outcomes and standards of performance [shall be] clearly stated at the course, program, and, as appropriate, institutional level.”

The WSCUC team’s report for reaffirmation of HSU’s accreditation, March 2018, noted that “there is a lack of integration and alignment of program-level outcomes to university-level outcomes.”

Adoption of these revised, assessable ILOs is a necessary first step for the development of the university’s institutional assessment plan, which will ultimately include all five of the core competencies required by WSCUC and will formally align and integrate course- and program-level learning outcomes with the outcomes we expect to see in every graduating HSU student.

Policy Details

In the course of achieving competence in a major area of study, HSU students will acquire intellectual skills and knowledge of cultures, history, and the physical and natural world that will prepare them for fulfilling careers, for thoughtful and civic participation in democratic society, and to work for sustainable, just societies.

Specifically, the HSU curriculum ensures that all graduating students will achieve competence in the seven areas of concentration and assessment described below:

1.  Equity and Social Justice – HSU graduates will be able to identify and evaluate the systems of power and privilege and identify methods for creating diverse, inclusive, and racially just and equitable communities.

2.  Sustainability and Environmental Awareness – HSU graduates will be able to explain how the functions of the natural world, society, and the economy depend on the resilience, sustainability, and conservation of ecological systems.

3.  Information Literacy – HSU graduates will be able to locate, evaluate, and employ information effectively and ethically for a wide range of purposes.

4.  Critical Thinking – HSU graduates will be able to critically evaluate issues, ideas, artifacts, and evidence to guide their thinking.

5.  Written Communication – HSU graduates will be able to develop and express ideas effectively in writing.

6.  Oral Communication – HSU graduates will be able to effectively communicate orally for informational, persuasive, and expressive purposes.

7.  Quantitative Reasoning – HSU graduates will be able to apply math concepts and skills to the interpretation and analysis of quantitative information in context.

History

Issued: 03/06/2019
Revised: MM/DD/YYYY
Edited: MM/DD/YYYY
Reviewed: MM/DD/YYYY