Accountability Background

Welcome to the Student Success in Higher Education website. It features the efforts of many Ohio institutions of higher education. It promotes the goals of the Planning Committee on Higher Learning Accountability and Productivity, convened by the Ohio Board of Regents in June 2005 to respond to issues concerning assessment and accountability among Ohio's colleges and universities.

The Planning Committee for Higher Learning Accountability and Productivity of the Ohio Board of Regents recommends that all of Ohio's public two- and four-year institutions publish their Student Success Plans online.

It invites independent institutions to do so as well.

The Planning Committee's primary goal, the development and online posting of a Student Success Plan by every Ohio two-year and four-year institution, was the topic of a series of a statewide meeting in June, 2006, five regional workshops held in the Fall of 2006, another series of five regional workshops held in the Winter of 2007, and the statewide Student Success Summit on June 14, 2007. These events were held to assist institutions to deal thoughtfully, yet practically, with institutional accountability concerns.

Each Student Success Plan consists of the following characteristics:

• Define learning outcomes and assess student achievement of those outcomes in General Education.
• Define learning outcomes and assess student achievement of those outcomes in undergraduate majors.
• Identify and measure the impact of special features of the undergraduate learning experience that occur in institution-wide programs (for example, first-year experience programs, residential learning communities, undergraduate research, study abroad, internships and co-ops, service learning).

These components reflect a larger purpose of higher education as a whole, which is attainment of student goals in professional and personal endeavors.

Through local implementation and online publication, Ohio's higher education institutions are leading the way in documenting educational accountability while maintaining a clear focus on what really counts, student learning.

Members of the Planning Committee:

Kay Adkins, Columbus State; Steve Acker, Ohio State; Robert Beckstrom, Lorain; Bob Burke, AICUO; Kate Carey, OLN; Mark Gromko, BGSU ; Milt Hakel, Planning Committee Chair, BGSU; Lillie Howard, Wright State; Steve Kopp, Marshall; Tom Lasley, Dayton; Fred Law, Lakeland; Gayle Ormiston, Kent; Randy Smith, Ohio State; Elizabeth Stroble, Akron; Jon Tafel, OBR; Paul Unger, Owens; Garry Walters, OBR; Mike Williford, Ohio U