At NMSU-A, G courses were assessed in both the fall and spring semesters of academic year 2013-14. A total of 73 G course assessment reports were submitted. In the fall, before the institution’s cycle for comprehensive course assessment was established, all instructors were asked to assess a single learning outcome in a single course. Many chose to assess G courses.

In the spring of 2014, 27 G courses were comprehensively assessed. Learning challenges identified in assessment reports were analyzed and classified into trends. In addition, planned improvements to all G courses documented in the 2013-14 academic year were compiled, analyzed, and classified.

During the 2014-15 academic year, the NMSU-A Teaching and Learning Committee will offer support to instructors attempting to develop and implement planned improvements to G courses. A faculty meeting was held on September 19 where the faculty discussed planned improvements to courses and identified areas where support would be most helpful.

In August 2014, the NMSU-A campus voted in favor of creating a Learning Signature Task Force that would work with the General Education Assessment Committee to align NMSU-A institutional learning outcomes with NMHED Core Competencies. With the support of the HLC Academy for the Assessment of Student Learning, NMSU-A is working on establishing a unique Learning Signature and a best practice measure for assessing student achievement. If all goes as planned, results from the first round of Learning Signature assessment, which will assess two of the six institutional learning outcomes, will be compiled for analysis in the spring semester of 2016.

Course-level assessment reports provides the campus with an additional way of measuring student achievement in G courses. Each course will be comprehensively assessed every four-and-a-half years.

Information on the 2013-14 analysis of G courses learning challenges and improvement trends may be found on the following link: NMHED G Course Report AY 13-14