Certificate programs are structured combinations of courses that contain a common base of interest from one or more disciplines into an area of concentration (Source: FIU catalog).
A standalone certificate program is available to both degree and non-degree seeking students. Non- degree seeking students must hold the department specified credentials prior to enrollment in the desired standalone certificate program. Continuing education non-credit earning certificate programs are exempt from this definition. Only academic credit earning certificates need to be assessed.
All standalone certificate programs will be held to the high assessment standards that apply to degree-granting programs. As such, standalone certificate programs must create appropriate student learning and program outcomes, as well as design applicable assessment methods to measure these outcomes. These programs will be required to report the results of these outcomes each year, according to their assigned assessment cycle. Standalone certificate programs must maintain enrollment records of all students. An application must be on file with the department, as well as a completed program of study.
Additionally, any certificate program that qualifies for gainful employment and, thus, has a financial aid eligible status must also assess program outcomes. Unlike student learning outcomes that solely focus on measuring student proficiency on specific learning competencies, program outcomes focus on efficiency measures. These include completion rates, enrollment numbers, and other similar measures. Certificate programs will be required to report the results of these outcomes each year, according to their assigned assessment cycles.
Student Learning Outcomes
Student Learning Outcomes measure the major knowledge, skills, and behaviors taught in the framework of the certificate. These outcomes direct the efforts of faculty and program leaders for teaching, services and assessment. The main purpose of SLOs is to directly measure foundational competencies that enhance the quality of education for students and ensure completion of certificate. The results of these measures provide faculty insights on what they can focus on for continuous improvement and to help their students excel. In addition, SLO assessment serves to meet institutional and state assessment requirements as well as regional and discipline specific accreditation requirements.
For certificate programs, SLOs reports assess may include at least three of the following competencies in separate outcomes:
- Critical Thinking – think critically, analytically, and creatively with the skills and ability to problem-solve, assess, compare, contrast, incorporate, and synthesize knowledge and information;
- Written Communication – in writing organize and clearly express knowledge and ideas using proper conventions, mechanics, formats, tone, grammar and syntax that appropriately address the intended audience and are congruent to the discipline or subject matter;
- Oral Communication – verbally organize and clearly express knowledge and ideas using proper conventions, mechanics, formats, tone, grammar and syntax that appropriately address the intended audience and are congruent to the discipline or subject matter; or
- Content/Discipline Knowledge – identify, understand, and utilize foundational and advanced concepts, facts, theories, techniques, and formulas quintessential to the discipline.
Optionally, it is possible to categorize outcomes relating to the technology competency. This competency may be of crucial relevance to disciplines that heavily rely on the use of specialized technologies.
Program Outcomes
Program Outcomes focus on assessing efficiency outcomes that do not directly pertain to student learning for each certificate program. Much like the student learning outcomes, the purpose of these outcomes is to utilize a data-driven approach to continuously improve the quality of the certificate. They serve to meet institutional, regional, and accreditation assessment expectations. These outcomes differ from student learning outcomes in that they measure all of the components that relate to the structure, administration, and support services offered by each degree program. Each certificate program varies in terms of program outcomes according to their mission's priorities.
Assessment of Different Modalities/Delivery Model
Each modality or delivery model requires separate SLOs and POs. The outcomes and methods are expected to be the same or equivalent to the face-to-face delivery of the certificate program. However, data for the results and the improvement strategies driven by these data must relate specifically to the students taught under each modality. Specifically, these modalities include:
- Online Programs offering 50% or more of the required courses online. Both cohort and non-cohort online programs must be assessed. For programs in which students are not in a cohort: Students who are taking 50% or of their courses online would qualify to be included in the sample of students assessed.
- Off-Campus Certificate Programs that offer 50% or more of the required courses in an off-site location such as the FIU at I-75, and Downtown on Brickell. Cohort based off-campus programs must be assessed separately. Only off-campus programs where students typically transition from on-campus i.e., MMC and BBC) to off-campus locations and cannot be separately tracked are excluded from policy.