Rubrics for assessing our distribution requirements are developed based on the AAC&U’s VALUE rubrics, supported by a grant from the AAC&U. They were initially created in 2017, and revised starting in 2023.
We assess 2 DR’s an academic year, which allows us to complete all 8 in a 4-year cycle. The fifth year is reserved for reflection on the process and any meta-assessment and changes taken along the way.
- ME: Modes of Expression (Revised 2023, Assessed 2023-2024)
- Learning Outcome: Students who successfully complete this requirement will demonstrate an understanding of the production of meaning through active engagement with language, visual arts, and/or performance.
- CL: Civic Learning (Revised 2023, Assessed 2023-2024)
- Learning Outcome: Students who successfully complete this requirement will demonstrate an understanding of economic, political, legal, cultural, natural, historical, or social forces that affect public problems or civic issues.
- SP: Scientific Process & Knowledge (Rubric revised in Spring 2024, Assessed 2024-2025)
- Learning Outcome: Students who successfully complete this requirement will demonstrate an understanding of the nature, approaches, and domain of scientific inquiry.
- PD: Power, Privilege & Difference (Rubric revised in Spring 2024, Assessed 2024-2025)
- Learning Outcome: Students who successfully complete this requirement will demonstrate an understanding of the historical and/or contemporary roles of power, privilege, and difference in human society.
- HE: Human Experience
- Learning Outcome: Students who successfully complete this requirement will demonstrate an understanding of how to interpret human experiences as conveyed in texts (including works of visual and performance art, rituals, cultural artifacts and traditions, and/or the written and spoken word).
- SB: Social Behavior & Institutions
- Learning Outcome: Students who successfully complete this requirement will demonstrate an understanding of at least one methodology used to describe, explain, or predict human behavior at the level of the individual, small group, institution, organization, community, or population.
- QR: Quantitative Reasoning
- Learning Outcome: Students who successfully complete this requirement will demonstrate an understanding of how to interpret numeric data and/or their graphical or symbolic representations.
- IP: International & Intercultural Perspectives
- Learning Outcome: Students who successfully complete this requirement will demonstrate an understanding of cultural complexity and difference.