The following expandable sections provide some of the details regarding Assessment Day that may be most relevant to both faculty at JMU and those visitors to our website. If you have any further questions not answered by the information below, please contact us at assessment@jmu.edu.
The mission of James Madison University’s Assessment Day is to facilitate high quality, pre-post data collection on student learning and developmental outcomes. The focus of Assessment Day is to collect information to assess programs with broad scope and high intensity, such as General Education clusters, large-scale student affairs programs, and university-wide initiatives.
On Assessment Day, JMU undergraduates are tested on their knowledge in one of the General Education areas of communication, history, science, mathematics, or fine arts. Students may also complete tests measuring critical thinking, cultural knowledge, ethical reasoning, or intellectual and personal development.
Each year, there are two Assessment Day events: one in late August (the fall Assessment Day) and one in mid-February (the spring Assessment Day). Incoming first year students are assessed on the fall Assessment Day. After earning 45 to 70 credit hours, typically in the second year at JMU, students are tested again on the spring Assessment Day. All students are assigned the same tests they completed as entering first year students at the second Assessment Day; this allows JMU to assess how much has been gained from the academic experience.
The Center for Assessment and Research Studies (CARS) is responsible for the coordination of Assessment Day. Contact us at assessment@jmu.edu.
The focus of Assessment Day is to collect information to assess programs with broad scope and high intensity, such as General Education clusters, large-scale student affairs programs, and university-wide initiatives. These results are used to improve the quality of JMU programs by pinpointing strengths and weaknesses using a pre-post data collection design. Results are presented to external stakeholders to convey the quality of the JMU experience. For instance, results are presented to our accrediting body, the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools Commission on Colleges (SACSCOC).
A number of academic programs collect assessment data from seniors as part of their assessment process. Spring Assessment Day is an ideal time to administer program-level assessments or hold exit interviews with graduating seniors. Other programs reserve this day for the program faculty to meet and make progress on time intensive assessment activities.
If you are an Assessment Coordinator wanting to learn more about how your program could use Spring Assessment Day, contact us at assessment@jmu.edu.
All classes (including graduate-level classes and labs) starting before 3:55 PM are cancelled on Spring Assessment Day. This frees the schedules of students and faculty so that they may engage in university-wide and program-level assessment activities. This policy also ensures classroom space for such activities to occur. Students should not be required to make-up classes cancelled on Spring Assessment Day. For example, faculty should not require students to attend a make-up class on a Saturday. Instead, the missed instructional time should be accommodated within the remaining class meeting times or through electronic means.
The most important action faculty can take is to emphasize the importance and uses of Assessment Day to students and colleagues.
