Assessment and Data
Institutional Effectiveness And Assessment Resources
Learning Experience Surveys
The USC Upstate Student Opinion Polls have been revised and renamed the Learning Experience Survey. They are accessible on Blackboard by clicking the My Course Evaluations link in individual course menus. Students have ten days to complete surveys, according to the following schedule.
- Winter 2022 Session (8WT) Courses - opening date Tuesday, January 10th and closing date Sunday, January 15th.
- Spring 2023 Session I (First Half) 8A Courses - opening date Tuesday, February 14th and closing date Friday, February 24th.
- Spring 2023 Session (First 10 weeks) 8AA Courses - opening date Tuesday, March 14th and closing date Thursday, March 24th.
- Spring 2023 Session Courses - opening date Tuesday, April 4th and closing date Monday, April 24th.
- Spring 2023 Session (Second Half) 8B Courses - opening date Tuesday, April 11th and closing date Friday, April, 21st.
- Spring 2023 Session (Last 5 Weeks) 8BA Courses - opening date Tuesday, April 18th and closing date Friday, April 28th.
Students will also receive email notifications about the surveys, so it is important that they have their correct preferred email address in Blackboard. Your email address in Blackboard coincides with your preferred university email. If you are unsure of your preferred email, please go to your Blackboard profile page by clicking your name in the main Blackboard menu. For instructions on setting your preferred university email, please see the How To Change Your Primary University Email Address Knowledge Base article.
The University of South Carolina Upstate seeks to provide support and leadership for ongoing continuous improvement through academic program assessment. The Continuous Improvement Blueprint (formerly known as the “Assessment Report”) is integral to providing rigorous, career-relevant, and accessible education to the Upstate of South Carolina community and beyond — which is the first of three strategic priorities for the University Strategic Plan, Up. Together.
The Continuous Improvement Blueprint (CIB) is similar to our previous Assessment Report in that it provides a structure for academic programs to report their student learning outcomes and the degree to which students are meeting the outcomes. The CIB is submitted annually on October 1.
Designated Faculty Assessment Coordinators will create the CIB with support from their college’s Faculty Assessment Liaisons and the Director of Institutional Effectiveness and Compliance.
College of Arts, Humanities, and Social Sciences
Kenneth Barideaux
June Carter
Allison Ellis
Shuang Hundley
Bridget Kirkland
Courtney Mcdonald
Lee Neibert
Colleen Obrien
Calvin Odhiambo
Nolan Stolz
College of Science and Technology
Ryan Harper
Polinpapilinho Katina
Tammy Pike
Susan Richardson
Astrid Rosario
Kimberly Shorter
Tyrone Toland
Wei Zhong
George Dean Johnson, Jr. College of Business and Economics
Chung-Yean Chiang
Uma Gupta
Mary Black School of Nursing
Sharon Smith
School of Education, Human Performance, and Health
Brooke Hardin
Tina Herzberg
Mary Lou Hightower
Sarah Hunt-Barron
Jim Kamla
Walter Lee
Karen Lounsbury
Rebecca Mueller
Holly Pae
Nur Tanyel
Kelvin Wu
University College
Michelle Garland
The duties of this assignment include:
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Collaborate with program faculty members in order to regularly review student learning outcomes, associated measures, and necessary action steps for improvement;
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Record and monitor agreed-upon action steps for improvement;
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Coordinate data collection and analysis;
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Review student learning outcomes data with program faculty and relevant program/college administrative leadership;
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Document and submit final Continuous Improvement Blueprint to the Assessment Committee Chair and the Office of Institutional Effectiveness and Compliance by October 1 of each year; and
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Incorporate Assessment Committee feedback as necessary.
The following links provide up-to-date institutional effectiveness and assessment resources.
Association of American Colleges & Universities
Association for Authentic, Experiential, and Evidence-Based Learning
National Institute for Learning Outcomes Assessment
Indiana University and Purdue University Indianapolis Assessment Resources
Goals and Student Learning Outcomes by Program
Table of all Goals and Outcomes by College/School and Program (Accessible Format) 
Undergraduate Programs
- Accounting
- Economics and Finance
- Entrepreneurship and Innovation
- Logistics and Supply Chain Management
- Management: Marketing
Graduate Programs
Reports
These comprehensive reports, submitted to the Commission on Higher Education (CHE) annually, include information about the program, general education and program assessment.
The reports below are in PDF format.
These comprehensive reports, submitted to the Commission on Higher Education (CHE) annually, include information about the program, general education and program assessment.
The reports below are in PDF format.
A General Education Program by definition offers students a common academic experience and stimulates an appetite for life-long education. Mandatory ingredients of this program include the acquisition of college-level skills in communication and reasoning and exposure to the basic areas of knowledge that characterize an educated person. An effective general education program should cultivate an appreciation of cultural as well as intellectual diversity as well as the ongoing cultivation of personal integrity and social responsibility. The conditions necessary for such desired character development are therefore embedded in the USC Upstate General Education program: building skill and knowledge-based foundations for continued learning and living in a complex global society, expanding the breadth of students’ scholarly horizons and integrating information from across disparate disciplines.
General Education Curriculum and Assessment
A General Education Program by definition offers students a common academic experience and stimulates an appetite for life-long education. Mandatory ingredients of this program include the acquisition of college-level skills in communication and reasoning and exposure to the basic areas of knowledge that characterize an educated person. An effective general education program should cultivate an appreciation of cultural as well as intellectual diversity, and the ongoing cultivation of personal integrity and social responsibility. The conditions necessary for such desired character development are therefore embedded in the USC Upstate General Education program: building skill and knowledge-based foundations for living in a complex global society and for continued learning, expanding the breadth of students’ scholarly horizons, and integrating information from across disparate disciplines.
Reporting
The General Education Committee in collaboration with the Office of Institutional Effectiveness and Compliance prepared Continuous Improvement Blueprints for the USC Upstate general education program.
General Education Course Competency Alignment Matrix
During the 2021-2022 academic year, all courses within the general education program will be participating in a realignment with competencies and learning outcomes based on the revised general education outcomes and learning outcomes published in the 2021-2022 Academic Catalog.
2018 Alignment Matrix by Course
2018 Alignment Matrix by Competency
Forms
Competency Alignment Form (for new or existing courses)
Document Retention and Archive Schedule
In order to ensure legal compliance, USC Upstate has generated a schedule all employees are obliged to adhere to. This schedule explains the legal requirements for the keeping or disposing of documents and archives your office might generate.