Assessment & Continuous Improvement

Student learning is at the heart of Southeast Community College’s mission. The College is committed to continuous improvement in order to provide the best possible learning outcomes and support for its students. Because the continuous improvement of learning outcomes is a collaborative process upon which the success of both the College and its students depends, all members of the institution share responsibility for student success.

SCC engages in multiple types of ongoing assessment, encompassing the systematic measurement and review of student learning outcomes as well as operational outcomes in academic programs and student support areas. The on-going assessment of these outcomes is used to develop improvement strategies and demonstrate our accountability for students’ learning inside and outside of SCC’s classrooms.

Student Learning Outcomes

Southeast Community College’s Institutional Learning Outcomes (ILOs) are the broad student learning outcomes that all students at SCC are expected to learn and demonstrate. All Program Learning Outcomes (PLOs), General Education Learning Outcomes (GELOs), and Cocurricular Learning Outcomes at SCC are connected to the College’s ILOs. These learning outcomes are incorporated into students’ courses, programs of study, cocurricular activities, student support services, and interactions with faculty and staff at the College.

Institutional Learning Outcomes

Institutional Learning Outcomes (ILOs)

SCC’s Institutional Learning Outcomes (ILOs) (PDF) were developed by a team of faculty and staff and approved in spring of 2020. The ILOs are driven by the College’s mission and Strategic Plan and represent what all students should learn at SCC regardless of their program of study, and both inside and outside of their coursework. All student learning outcomes at the course, program and general education levels align with the ILOs.

Program Assessment – Program Learning Outcomes (PLOs)

SCC’s faculty have designated a set of Program Learning Outcomes (PLOs) for every degree, diploma and certificate offered by the college. PLOs are the knowledge, skills, and abilities that students can expect to attain through completing their specific program of study. Students’ attainment of PLOS is regularly assessed through course-embedded assignments and reviewed annually by the program faculty and administrators.

SCC CORE – General Education Learning Outcomes (GELOs)

The SCC Core consists of a set of student learning outcomes aimed at the development of knowledge and skills beyond those specific to an occupation and at academic, personal, and social growth. The courses that make up the SCC Core support and assess these student learning outcomes.

General Education at Southeast Community College supports the College’s mission of empowering and transforming our diverse learners by providing students with transferrable, broad-based skills and knowledge, preparing them to acquire new competencies, broaden their perspectives, adapt to the needs of a changing society and participate responsibly in local, national. and global communities. All GELOs are aligned with Institutional Learning Outcomes.

Cocurricular Assessment

SCC defines cocurricular learning as purposeful and assessable learning that complements the formal curriculum, and which contributes to students’ achievement of SCC’s Institutional Learning Outcomes (ILOs). Cocurricular activities are those that happen beyond the formal curriculum—across our campuses and in our communities—through service learning, student organizations, activities, and student success programs and services.

Cocurricular learning is regularly assessed by staff and faculty responsible for implementing or overseeing those programs or activities designated as cocurricular. The College has a designated Cocurricular Assessment Team which has input on developing the assessment process, reviewing the assessment, and recommending changes to cocurricular programming.

Operational Assessment

SCC’s Student Success, Student Enrollment, and Continuing Education divisions have also developed mission-driven operational outcomes for their services. The participating departments gather data to measure their outcomes and use that data to develop improvement plans on an annual cycle. The College’s Operational Assessment model is integrated with SCC’s Strategic Plan, department-level strategic planning (Mission Action Plans), and college-wide budgeting processes. SCC plans to introduce operational assessment into all administrative and support divisions across the college in the near future.

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