The Office of Assessment in Trinity College affirms and embodies the Duke University mission to provide a “superior liberal education to undergraduate students… their intellectual growth [and their] development as adults.” The ambitious aspirations of that mission demand proactive, thoughtful, and rigorous study of the impacts of the undergraduate curricula and co-curricula as well as students’ understandings of their own identities and development. The mission of the Office of Assessment in Trinity College is to operationalize Duke’s Strategic Plan by:
- Maintaining a systematic and high-quality program of institutional research for Trinity College and anticipating and preparing for emerging questions of educational practice
- Cultivating thought partnerships and stimulating connections within and between communities of assessment practice
- Offering conceptual and operational guidance to Arts & Sciences departments, programs, and centers in the areas of curriculum and course development and assessment of learning
- Developing and sharing essential data, technology, instrumentation, and learning resources in support of learning outcomes assessment within Trinity College and across Duke
- Upholding our shared responsibilities for diversity, equity, and inclusion in teaching, learning, and assessment, as well as communicating best practices and standards for the ethical conduct of human subjects research
- Supporting Duke’s regular processes for reaffirmation and other forms of external review
Our specific work domains include but are not limited to course evaluation administration, studies of general education learning outcomes, program reviews, advising and academic support services, evidence-guided policy development, faculty-led competitive grants, and compliance certification, QEP development, and QEP assessment.