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The strategies used to assess the educational effectiveness of the program are based on the mission and goals for the program and with the intention of providing useful information for program improvement. The information obtained is carefully reviewed and has significant influence on academic program change and how the department serves its constituents. The Cal Poly Construction Management Department uses several assessment instruments to correlate program content and performance outcomes to the overall program mission and goals.
ASSESSMENT TOOLS
Constituent Surveys:
Constituent surveys provide input derived from perceptions of graduating seniors and employers of Cal Poly CM graduates. The data derived from these surveys are considered to provide valuable information pertaining to the quality of program content and delivery in the Construction Management program.
- Graduating Senior Surveys - Current student perceptions are provided by the graduating senior survey. Information regarding student perceptions of their educational skills and abilities, and other faculty and administrative support functions, provides quick and useful feedback to the department and the opportunity for program improvements where necessary.
- Employer Surveys - Employer surveys are intended to reinforce the positive elements of the program and identify those areas where improvements need to take place. The most recent survey was distributed to our Industry Advisory Committee and proved to be very useful when the results were reviewed at the subsequent committee meeting. This survey also provided important information related to how the program’s job placement activities serve the industry.
- University Career Services Graduate Status Report is a survey supported by the University Career Services Office and is limited to employment data such as employer, salary, and satisfaction with the University’s placement services. It is a useful tool in determining where our graduates prefer to work, in what area they are currently working, and how our graduates succeed in relation to graduates from other departments.
Periodic Curriculum Review:
The periodic review of courses, curriculum, and program goals conducted by the university and the department assures that actual course content corresponds with the intended learning objectives. This generally occurs during the curriculum review process, led by the departmental Curriculum Committee, and during the Program Review cycle conducted by the university. The curriculum review culminates at a time to coincide with the university catalog revision cycle, which occurs every two years.
The Construction Management Department is currently preparing curriculum revisions for the 2013-2015 Catalog Cycle. These revisions have all been informed by the following assessments. [The most current data (2011-2012) will be posted by Dec. 15, 2012.]
Faculty Assessments:
- Faculty Evaluations - These are prepared and submitted by students for each faculty member each year for at least two classes they teach. These evaluations are required for both tenured faculty and lecturers alike. These evaluations are both quantitative and qualitative in nature and provide the department and the individual faculty member with an assessment of the quality of each course, the delivery of the material, and the relevance of the course content to perceived current practices.
- Professional Development - Our faculty also participate in continued professional development in the areas of research, program delivery, and service as evidenced in their Professional Development Plans submitted as part of their Working Personnel Action Files. This translates into continuous improvement in course content and relevancy.
- Industry Engagement - Faculty are encouraged to take advantage of industry contacts and faculty internships with industry where they can hone the skills they have not just as academics, but as professionals. Many of our faculties also are involved in consulting, construction, or professional testimony.
Industry Advisory Committee:
Regular engagement with our Industry Advisory Committee and other industry partners has proven to be a valuable resource in terms of program quality assessment. These meetings have provided us direct feedback from California’s foremost construction companies. There are representatives from all sectors of the industry and they have worked diligently to help us refine our program. These eye-to-eye meetings provide insight that cannot be ascertained from surveys alone. Several committee members have guest lectured in classes, engaged students directly in lab exercises, and sat on review panels to evaluate student work. These meetings have initiated several program improvements as described later in this section.
IMPROVEMENT PLAN
The diagram below depicts the outline for the Construction Management Academic Quality Improvement Plan. The relationship between the program assessment plan and the individual course assessment plan is critical to the success of this program. The establishment of goals, objectives, and outcomes provides the structure for formal assessments and other forms of evaluations providing for a feedback loop which leads to adjustments in the program’s mission and goals.
