Office of Planning and Assessment
BU’s Office of Planning and Assessment (OPA) works with a diverse group of administrators, faculty, staff, and students to meet the accreditation, assessment, and strategic planning needs of the university.
In collaboration with the campus community, the Office of Planning and Assessment focuses on strengthening BU’s commitment to institutional effectiveness in providing a high quality and affordable education.
OPA is dedicated to:
- Supporting academic and other units in articulating, implementing, and documenting outcomes assessment plans, the data they generate, and the actions that follow from them
- Coordinating, communicating and supporting the implementation of BU’s Assessment Plan
- Providing departments and committees with assessment data for accreditation purposes and with tools for meeting accreditation requirements for assessment
- Communicating external assessment requirements to the campus community and assuring BU’s compliance
- Analyzing and reporting data from standardized assessments to university stakeholders to guide the revision of university strategic planning, initiatives and programs
- Serving as a communication center for outcomes assessment reporting to internal and external audiences, as required
- Providing student testing services for academic placement
- Administering standardized tests, such as the ETS Proficiency Profile and the NSSE, as required
- Providing research and survey development support services for faculty and staff
Articulating BU's Assessment Plan
The Bloomsburg University Assessment Working Group was established October 2012, consisting of 13 members and co-chaired by Dr. Cristina Mathews and Dr. Sheila Dove Jones. The charge is to develop a Bloomsburg University Assessment Plan (handbook) that communicates the purpose(s) of assessment at the university, program, and course levels; means of assessment at each level; appropriate use and reporting of assessment results; and the assessment cycle/reporting timelines.
Members include William Calhoun, Sheila Dove Jones, Doreen Jowi, Angela LaValley, Jeff Long, Steve Markell, Cristina Mathews, Debbie Mucci, Linda Neyer, John Polhill, Pamela Smith, Sharon Solloway, and Caryn Terwilliger.