Introduction - East Los Angeles College

3.2 The college should develop a model to systematically gather and report evidence of
student learning outcomes at the course, program, certificate, and degree levels in order
to assess institutional effectiveness at multiple levels of operation (Standards 3A.3, 3A.4,
3C.1, 4B.3).
Student Learning Outcomes are a collegewide priority. To support the college’s commitment to
SLOs, a faculty coordinator for student learning outcomes receives .6 FTE reassigned time and
two additional faculty each receive .2 FTE reassigned time to assist the departments in the
preparation and assessment of SLOs through workshops and individual meetings with
departments. They have made presentations at opening days on SLO development and
assessment, rubric development, and at workshops on “What are SLOs,” assessment
development, and what to do with assessment results.
The SLO Committee, in operation since fall 2005 and chaired by the SLO coordinator, reflects
the shared governance structure of the college with membership from the faculty, classified staff,
and administrators. The standing SLO Committee meeting is another venue for discussion of
SLOs and their effectiveness. The committee develops annual goals and objectives with
measurable outcomes for each academic year. The committee recently evaluated software that
will assist in the organization of student learning outcomes. The software selected is TracDat and
training for its use should be in place during spring 2009.
The Office of Research and Planning has been expanded to support the institution’s efforts to
enhance student learning and its ability to assess and evaluate the effectiveness of academic and
student services. An Associate Dean of Research was added to the staff in 2008. The office
works closely with the SLO Committee in assisting departments with the development of SLOs
and the analysis of assessment results. However, due to all of the other responsibilities of that
office, the staff cannot fully meet the demand. Currently no researcher in the office is solely
responsible for assisting faculty and staff with the assessment of their SLOs. When the next
researcher position (previously approved but now on hold due to budget constraints) is filled, a
principal responsibility of that individual will be to assist departments in the assessment of their
SLOs.
SLOs and strategies for attaining them are produced by each department or discipline, which has
its own SLO committee meetings to determine what outcomes will be assessed for each course
and how. Each department has a designated SLO facilitator. Yearly SLO reports with SLOs,
assessment methods, and plans of action are submitted to the SLO Coordinator. Beginning spring
2009, the reports will be reviewed by the newly formed (late fall 2008) SLO Assessment
Committee (SLOAC) to ensure that SLOs are assessed regularly for learning with authentic
assessment strategies, tied to college mission and core competencies, and that results of
assessment are used for improvement in courses, programs, and institution-wide planning.
SLOAC will then report back to departments via each department’s designated SLO facilitator.
SLOAC is composed of the SLO Coordinator, SLO Facilitators, Research and Planning
representative, Academic Senate representative (CTE/Academic), Student Services
representative (when appropriate), and an Administrator (CTE/Academic).
Responses to Previous Recommendations Page 30