Academic Affairs
Center for Educational Effectiveness
The Center for Educational Effectiveness (CEE) is an intentional consolidation of Institutional Research and Academic Affairs under the oversight of the Provost. We partner with college stakeholders as a consulting resource, facilitating best practices in a number of key areas, including:
- Accreditation (WSCUC)
- Assessment and program review
- Development and deployment of new educational programs
- Educational policy
- Institutional reporting and analysis
Program Review and Assessment
Program review is a customizable, collective inquiry used by curricular and co-curricular departments. It provides an institutionally-supported platform for reflection, conversation, external review, analysis and planning. The ultimate goal of program review is to evaluate programs and make evidence-based decisions for enhancements to our curriculum and pedagogy, with attention to ArtCenter’s mission and the department’s program learning outcomes. The results of the review process will inform and impact planning and budgeting activities at both the program and institutional levels.
At ArtCenter, program review operates on a seven-year cycle, with interim follow-up reports every two years.
Assessment
Assessment at ArtCenter is a faculty-driven, systematic approach to gathering and reviewing evidence of student learning to better understand what our students know, understand, and can do with their knowledge as a result of their educational experiences. Assessment results are used to improve student learning and to inform the department's program review self-study.
Departments have faculty assessment liaisons who participate in a college-wide group focused on sharing assessment practices and training and help to lead program assessment and program review efforts. Faculty also help to guide the college's assessment culture and practices through work with the Center for Innovative Teaching and Learning and the Center for Educational Effectiveness.
All graduate and undergraduate degree-granting and interdisciplinary programs have established Program Learning Outcomes (PLOs). Programs have aligned their PLOs with an identified activity or course used to conduct the assessment and collect data and evidence of student learning during the cycle of assessment (summer, fall, and spring terms). The Office of Institutional Research analyzes each program’s PLO assessment data bi-annually and provides a report on the outcomes of the analysis to each department’s assessment team. The data and analysis reports are shared with additional departmental or program stakeholders at department meetings and reviewed by individuals involved in curricular and programmatic decisions for the program.
Please click here for more information on assessment at ArtCenter (requires login).
Effective with the revised 2013 Handbook of Accreditation, WASC (WSCUC) requires all of its member institutions to define expected levels of student accomplishment in the following five areas, and to assess whether or not their students have attained these expected levels at, or near, graduation:
- Written Communication
- Oral Communication
- Information Literacy
- Critical Thinking
- Quantitative Reasoning
The College engages in the assessment of all five core competencies with all undergraduate degree-granting programs. Analyses were completed in 2015, 2020, and 2024. Institutional level results with comparative data are available in this report.
Accreditation
ArtCenter College of Design is accredited by the WASC Senior College and University Commission (WSCUC). The goal of accreditation is to ensure that education provided by institutions of higher education meets acceptable levels of quality.
Course Evaluations
ArtCenter’s Course Evaluation process is an essential part of ArtCenter’s efforts to offer an excellent education and to recruit and promote good teaching. It provides an opportunity to get feedback from students about the instruction they receive from their faculty in their courses. Course Evaluations are available to faculty and chairs to assist them with course planning, curriculum and pedagogy.
Although completing course evaluations is an optional activity, the information they provide is extremely valuable. Students have until the beginning of Break Week 1 to complete their course evaluations. Individual student responses are confidential.
The course evaluation system is accessible by laptop, tablet, or smartphone, available 24 hours during the course evaluation period.
Institutional Research
The Office of Institutional Research (IR) analyzes, reports and provides leadership for the College on data and reporting for the purposes of promoting an evidence-based decision-making environment. This includes, but is not limited to, reporting to external agencies (mandatory reporting as well as voluntary surveys) and reporting to internal decision-making constituents such as the Board of Trustees.
Additionally, the IR office supports and partners with key departments, such as Enrollment Management, Admissions, the Provost, Financial Aid, Center for the Student Experience and Alumni Relations among other offices and committees and to provide meaningful data and reports to help in strategic decision-making. The office adheres to the Association for Institutional Research's Code of Ethics.
Please click here for the annual calendar for IR.
The Office of Institutional Research together with Academic Affairs is part of the Center for Educational Effectiveness.
Common Public Reports
Graduate Outcomes
ArtCenter is committed to tracking the outcomes of our graduating students. An annual survey is administered to the graduating classes of the previous academic year (Fall, Spring, Summer) to collect data and feedback on employment status, current place of employment, and other career-related activities one-year post-graduation. The Office of Institutional Research also partners with Alumni Relations and Creative Careers to develop a Knowledge Rate (a combination of survey results with publicly available internet-based research), helping to expand the information available on the College's graduates.
A copy of the Graduate Employment Survey instrument may be requested by contacting the Center for Educational Effectiveness (cee@artcenter.edu). Survey participants should read our Informed Consent and Incentive Rules before completing the survey.
Outcomes and data reported for the most recent Knowledge Rate can be found by visiting the College’s At a Glance and Graduate Employment web pages.
For a full list of career and continuing education programs and services available to alumni, please visit the Alumni and Career and Professional Development pages on our website. Both offices are service-oriented and here to support you as a current student, eventually as an alumnus of ArtCenter and throughout your career.
If you have any questions related to the Graduate Employment Survey or the College’s Knowledge Rate, please contact the Center for Educational Effectiveness at cee@artcenter.edu.
Student Academic Policy Committee
ArtCenter’s Student Academic Policy Committee is chartered to review and propose changes to academic policy, which includes but is not limited to, student, enrollment, pedagogical and curricular issues.
The committee is a recommending body made up of representatives of the Faculty Council, the Chairs Council, ArtCenter Student Government, Academic Affairs, Student Affairs, Enrollment Services, Financial Aid, Finance and other staff and/or faculty as necessary for specific issues.
The Provost has final approval of all policies.