The purpose of the North Idaho College Outcomes Assessment Plan is twofold: first, to provide information that will assist the college in determining its overall institutional effectiveness; and second, to assess the degree to which the educational outcomes of the college’s instructional programs and support services are being met.

Simply stated, outcomes assessment allows the college the answer the questions, "To what extent are we accomplishing our mission?" and "Are we delivering programs and services that are effective and continuously improving?"

The college’s outcomes assessment efforts will also assist the institution in meeting the Northwest Association of Schools and Colleges accrediting standards which govern institutional planning and effectiveness (Standard 1.B) and educational planning and assessment (Standard 2.B). These standards outline the mandatory compliance that is expected of the college in regard to "systematic evaluation activities" and "regular and continuous assessment of programs."

Kathy Christie, Assistant Vice President for Planning and Assessment, chairs the Outcomes Assessment Committee and works closely with the College’s administrators, division chairs, faculty members, directors and other professional staff for the implementation of the assessment duties.

Institutional Effectiveness

Many community colleges identify institutional effectiveness indicators to help provide a framework for viewing the overall effectiveness of the institution and its mission. To establish institutional effectiveness indicators for use by NIC, the Outcomes Assessment Committee studied indicators currently being used by other community colleges in our region. The committee ultimately decided upon twelve Effectiveness Indicators for NIC. Each indicator has a series of performance measures and numerous assessment activities such as student surveys, alumni surveys, and community surveys providing data related to the performance measures.

Major Assessment Tools