Benefits of Participation
• Improve institutional capacity to assess, confirm and
improve student learning.
• Establish and build a sustained, ongoing commitment
to student learning.
• Develop institutional leaders, mentors and
advocatesfor the assessment and improvement of
student learning.
• Learn and implement best practices
surrounding assessment.
• Interact with a diverse range of institutions, building
a collaborative network for ongoing comparisons of
efforts and results.
• May serve as the Quality Initiative for institutions in
the Open Pathway or as an Action Project for institutions in the AQIP Pathway.
“The interaction with mentors and colleagues from
other schools was very helpful in a number of ways,”
and “the guidance of the mentor was invaluable.”
- Academy participant on the value of the Roundtable
“Offers a wide exposure to different assessment
initiatives, and the opportunity to meet and plan
as a team.”
- Academy participant on the Academy experience
Each year, the Higher Learning Commission accepts
applications from member institutions for two new
cohorts of the Assessment Academy. Below is the
process timeline for the initial events associated with
the Academy experience.
Spring Cohort
Application Period
August to November
Acceptance Notices
Late December
Information & Planning
Early May
Roundtable
Early June
Fall Cohort
Application Period
January to April
Acceptance Notices
Late May
Information & Planning
Early September
Roundtable
Mid October
Specific deadlines relevant to the current application
year and more information about the various
components of the Academy experience are available
on the Academy webpage:
hlcommission.org/academies
Questions?
Email [email protected]
Call 800.621.7440
Assessment Academy
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Academy Events
HLC’s Assessment Academy provides participating
institutions a structured, mentor facilitated program
aimed at advancing and accelerating an institution’s
efforts to assess student learning. The four-year
commitment includes:
Information and Planning Workshop
This two-day workshop begins discussions on the desired goals
and outcomes of participation. Academy institutions are also
provided mentor guidance on constructing an official Academy
team and what to expect from their Academy experience.
Collaborative Approach to
Addressing the Assessment
of Student Learning
Midpoint Roundtable
A three-day event held at the end of Year 2 at which teams
share their progress and challenges as they prepare for the
next phases of their Academy project.
Third-Year Consultation
An on-campus or virtual consultation hosted during Year 3 with
the team’s Primary Mentor offering candid commentary on
the team’s progress. Plans to implement the strategies it has
developed are also discussed.
Year One
$8,000
• Information & Planning Workshop
All Academy teams are given access to the Collaboration
Network, an online resource designed to support an ongoing,
shared learning experience for Academy teams. Twice annually,
teams are asked to report on the progress of their Academy
work in the network, receiving a response to each update
report from their Primary Mentor and one of HLC’s Senior
Scholars. Additionally, Academy teams have the ability to
search the network to learn about strategies being used by
other teams on their Academy Projects.
Academy Roundtable
A three-day event held in Year 1 to facilitate the conversion
of proposed plans into strategic goals for institution- specific
Academy Projects. Academy teams learn about a variety of
assessment topics and are given time to develop strategies for
improving student learning at their institutions.
Academy Membership Fees
• Academy Roundtable
• Collaboration Network Access & Mentor Responses
Year Two
• Collaboration Network Access & Mentor Responses
• Midpoint Roundtable
Year Three
Assessment Inventory
Interested in hosting a mentor-facilitated inventory of
assessment efforts on your campus? An Assessment Inventory
can be requested by Academy institutions (for an additional
fee) to enhance the Academy experience. During the
Assessment Inventory, institutions are given the opportunity
to analyze institutional culture and their capacity to perform
effective assessment. The Assessment Inventory includes
preparatory phone conferences, on-campus meetings with
designated staff groups and a follow-up report covering the
condition of all aspects of assessment on campus.
$6,000
$6,000
• Collaboration Network Access & Mentor Responses
• Third-Year Consultation
Year Four
$6,000
• Collaboration Network Access & Mentor Responses
• Results Forum
Membership fees include attendance at specified events for
institutional teams. Other events and programs available at an
additional cost include:
• Annual Conference programming for
Academy institutions
Results Forum
• Additional Consultations or Presentations on campus
This culminating event is designed to facilitate the sharing
of accomplishments and findings amongst Academy teams
and provide comparisons of promising practices and
benchmarks. The Results Forum is also used as a catalyst for
the development of a sustainability plan to continue a culture
of assessment, post-Academy.
• Continued access to the Collaboration Network
post-Academy