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Stephen J. Friedman, Outcomes, Learning, and Assessment in General Education 192. GE assessment is difficult to design and implement because a generaleducation curriculum belongs to everyone—and to no one.3. Faculty construe academic assessment not as part of their normalinstructional and/or curricular re-design responsibilities, but rather as an“above load” activity.4. GE assessment is the product of a variety of external and internalconstituencies, and these constituencies impel and constrain the processof general education assessment at different times and in differentways.5. When it comes to implementing change with complex and far-reachinginitiatives like general education, it is prudent to think of “academictime” in terms of “geologic time.”When assessment is imposed on existing programs (and many institutionsalready have GEPs), it becomes more difficult to make assessment partof institutional culture. GEPs differ from departments that house specificdisciplines. 16 This often results in an ownership problem that can impedeassessment. In GEPs (and other situations where assessment occurs), it mustbe demonstrated that assessment is not an “add-on” but something that canbe systematically and incrementally integrated into the program. It is truethat programs can feel like puppets on strings being tugged by accreditingagencies, for example. However, if the outcomes of the program are alignedwith those of accreditation (and why would not they be, assuming accreditationadds value to the program), then both masters can be served. Assessment ofGEPs, especially when designed for established programs, can take time, but16 Those interested in assessing outcomes within the context of the major should see Friedman(1995).