Reporting Process

The focus of the Office of Educational Effectiveness is to collaborate with each academic program offered at Stony Brook University to coordinate, develop, and enhance their program assessment process. Programs will follow the SBU Academic Program Assessment Policy and Procedures linked below.  Programs will conduct an assessment of at least one Program Learning Objective (PLO) per year and submit a brief assessment report by September 30 annually.

SBU Academic Program Assessment Policy

SBU Academic Program Assessment Procedures

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Pilot Process 2024-25: OEE Content Management System
We are pleased to share our newest assessment initiative. Beginning July 1, 2025, Assessment Coordinators will be able to enter information about the PLO they are assessing directly into our Content Management System (CMS). We encourage you to log in, explore the system, and submit your information there.  

To ease the transition, coordinators can still use the APAR Planning Document as a backup this year, should you encounter any CMS difficulties. If you notice any unexpected issues with the CMS, please let us know.

We are here to support you every step of the way. If you would like assistance, we are happy to meet with you—either in person or virtually. Your feedback on this new process is both welcomed and greatly appreciated.

To complete the assessment reporting requirements for the 2024-25 academic year, please submit your updated report by September 30, 2025. 

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OEE Content Management System Resources
We invite you to review our overview slides, Youtube video tutorials, or contact us at EducationalEffectiveness@stonybrook.edu for more information on how to use this system.

• Launch the OEE CMS:www.stonybrook.edu/OEECMS

• Launch the OEE CMS Overview YouTube Playlist 

• View the complete OEE CMS Overview Slidedeck

• Download the APAR Planning Document to draft your report (Word file)

• View a sample completed report PDF

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Looking for targeted information on a specific section of the OEE CMS? 
Check out the excerpts below for quick access to the resources you need.

• Accessing & Logging in to the CMS: Videoor Slides

• Steps 1-2: Reviewing & Revising Program Goals & PLOS: Videoor Slides

• Step 3: Reviewing & Updating Assessment Plan Components: Video or Slides

• Steps 4-5: Reporting Assessment Results: Video or Slides

• Step 6: Closing the Loop & Reflecting on Prior Changes: Video or Slides

• Step 7: OPTIONAL Additional Outcomes Assessment: Video or Slides

• Step 8: Sign, Submit & Review Your Report PDF: Video or Slides

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Tips for a Strong Assessment Report

• Review and revise your assessment plan based on feedback from the Assessment Council (2023–2024 reports).

• Edit, add, or remove assessment components as needed—including updating any missing criteria for your PLOs.

• Assess at least one Program Learning Outcome (PLO). Be sure to include your results/findings and any actions/improvements taken.

• In addition, programs can now track additional program outcome data optionally to fully capture your 2023–2024 efforts. This could include data such as graduation, retention, career outcomes, etc.

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Academic Program Assessment FAQs

• What are the benefits of using the OEE CMS?

  Switching from  the prior Google Docs  reporting system to using the OEE Content Management System provides multiple benefits: 

  • Access your program's historical data (prior reports, feedback documents, etc.) all in one centralized place.

  • Includes instructions and embedded resources to guide your submission.

  • Helps align programmatic data across assessment initiatives, such as program review, accreditation, and strategic planning.

  • Facilitates better tracking and aggregation of data across programs, departments, and schools to inform University-wide assessment outcomes.

  • Use of the OEE CMS instead of a third-party assessment management system ensures programmatic data is secure and allows OEE to customize requirements to meet the needs of SBUs internal assessment processes.

• Do I need to assess all of my program learning objectives every year?

  No. You can assess as many PLOs annually as you would like, but SBU's flexible approach to assessment only requires that you assess one PLO per year. 

• Do I need to redo my entire assessment plan every year?

  No. You should have submitted a complete assessment plan in 2022, year 1 of SBU's 5-year assessment cycle.  The plan should have included a complete list of your program goals, program learning objectives, assessment location, assessment methods, assessment timeline/frequency and assessment benchmarks. You are welcome to make edits and updates to these elements as you see fit, but revision is not required annually. Instead, only the assessment of at least one PLO and updating your accomplishments, improvements, and evidence is required annually. 

• Do I need to respond to the feedback from the Assessment Council on last year's assessment report?

   We hope that you will take the Council's feedback into consideration and use their suggestions to improve your assessment plan, but their feedback is non-binding and may not be applicable to the nuances of your program's mission, goals, or learning objectives. Please note, however, that if choose not to use the Council's feedback to make changes or improvements, you may receive similar feedback in subsequent reviews. 

• Where are we in SBU's 5-year assessment cycle?

  The following timeline provides an overview of SBU's 5-year assessment cycle from academic years (AY) 2022-2027:

  • Year 1: AY 2022-2023 - Report due February 20, 2023. 

  • Year 2: AY 2023-2024 - Report due February 23, 2024. 

  • Year 3: AY 2024-2025 - Report due September 30, 2025.

  • Year 4: AY 2025-2026 - Report due September 30, 2026.

  • Year 5: AY 2026-2027 - Report due September 30, 2027.

  By the completion of the assessment cycle in 2027, you should have assessed all of your PLOs at least once. Then, the 5-year cycle will start over between 2027-2032.

• My program is accredited. Do I need to submit a report?

  No. Accredited programs are not required to submit annual assessment reports at this time, unless otherwise specificed by your individual School/College leaders.

• How do I know if my program is accredited or non-accredited?

  Accredited programs have specialized, discipline-specific accrediting agencies at the program level. A complete list of SBUs accredited programs is available on our website. If your program is not listed there, then it is considered non-accredited and an annual assessment report is required. 

• Why is it important to submit my annual assessment plan?

  Submitting your annual assessment plan can help your program make incremental progress toward curricular, pedagogical, and student learning improvement in an evidence-based way.

  In addition, all non-accredited programs periodically participate in an external review process called Department/Program Review. Your annual assessment report will serve as a useful source of information and student outcomes data to support your self-study document. 

• What happens after I submit my report?

  The SBU Assessment Council review all assessment reports using a collaboratively developed standardized rubric and provides improvement-oriented feedback to programs. 

• I still have questions about the assessment process or report requirements. How can I get assistance?

  • Email your questions to EducationalEffectiveness@stonybrook.edu

  • Request a consultation with OEE. 

  • Review our archived workshops and training materials. 

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Assessment Coordinators' Words of Wisdom

Looking for some assessment inspiration? Hear what your fellow assessment coordinators had to say about keeping the assessment processes manageable and meaningful, or read the video transcript.