AESS Annual Assessment Process

York College's Administrative, Educational, and Student Support (AESS) assessment process is designed to help units engage in the systematic and ongoing practice of collecting, analyzing and using data to improve operations and services, as defined by the unit mission, goals and outcomes.

Assessment Activities

AESS units engage in an annual process to identify and examine ways to improve the overall student experience by assessing support outcomes and/or student learning outcomes. The AESS assessment process at York is internally driven and designed to:

be meaningful and manageable;
transparent;
lead to data-driven decision-making;
maximize the effective use of institutional resources;
ensure continuous improvement; and
be relevant to the unit.

Assessment is cyclical and activities reoccur to ensure data is used for continuous and sustained improvement of measurable outcomes. In connection with the unit mission and goals, there are six critical activities units will undertake in the assessment process:

Identify outcomes for each goal
Identify activities for each outcome (steps to achieve the outcome)
Identify target (what define sucess %, #, etc.)
Identify measures for each outcome
Collect and organize data
Analyze and interpret data, and identify recommend actions
Identify next steps
Use results to make improvements (“closing the loop")

These specific activities unify assessment practice across AESS units and establishes standards for engaging in continuous improvement.

AESS Annual Assessment Process (September through August)

Examples of AESS Unit Outcomes

The example below is for an administraive unit (Human Resources), Source CUNY Assessment 101 Course

Goal	Outcomes	Activities	Assessment Methods	Targets
Strengthen efforts to attract, recruit, and retain talented, qualified, and diverse faculty and staff	Reduce time to hire new staff	Leverage technology to streamline recruitment and hiring process	Use process tracking logs to analyze time to hire before and after new technology is implemented	Reduce time to hire by 25%
	Increase employee job satisfaction	Provide professional development programs and opportunities	Annual employee climate survey	Employee satisfaction increases by 10%

How it Works

The AESS unit assessment cycle is governed by an annual timeline that requires units to engage in specific assessment activities throughout every year. Units submit assessment information using the York Assessment Management System (YAMS).

Each year, units are required to submit Annual Assessment Plan in the York Assessment Management System (YAMS). The annual plan allows units the flexibility to modify the plan based on assessment findings of the previous year and/or other changes. Each year, units are required to use data to assess at least one goal and two measurable outcomes connected to that goal. Due to additional program requirements, some units (e.g., SEEK, Male Initiative Program) are required to assess all goals every year.
At the end of the academic year, units are to submit an Year-End Annual Assessment Report in YAMS describing their findings and how they plan to use the results. Units describe in detail outcomes assessed, methods used to collect data, target met/not, findings, and how the findings will be used to guide improvement. If applicable, units also share results mapped to student ILO(s). The report provides units with the opportunity to discuss factors that may have impeded or accelerated assessment efforts, celebrate assessment accomplishments and concisely communicate outcomes for the following next year.

The plans and reports are submitted by the unit director/head. They are reviewed and approved by the divisional VP and submitted to committee to be internally published. The AESS Assessment Committee randomly evaluates plans and reports each year and provides feedback to AESS units. The purpose of committee feedback is to ensure quality of assessment.