We are pleased to announce the 2025-27 Assessment for Advancing Equity Learning Community Program. Proposals are due by May 30, 2025, and acceptance will be announced in early June.
Overview:
Curriculum-based assessment offers a powerful lever for advancing equity in the major. This method of self-study shifts focus away from student performance and onto the effectiveness of our course and program designs. By collecting and disaggregating outcomes data, this type of assessment allows us to ask how effective the program is not only on average, but also specifically for students of distinct racial, economic, social, and educational backgrounds. Promoting student success and addressing equity gaps is vital to campus growth, and we hope that units take advantage of this assessment platform that has been put in place.
The goal of this program is to assess student learning at UC San Diego, and to identify and close any equity gaps in learning. As defined in the EVC’s Collective Impact Framework, “Equity gaps for students at UC San Diego refer to differences in engagement and outcomes between groups, with a particular focus on underrepresented students (e.g., ethnic/racial minorities, low-income, first-generation college, women).” In the context of programs and courses, equity gaps may appear as differences in course grades (DFW rates, grade distributions), in-course or in-program retention, time-to-degree, program-level GPA, or other gaps in academic outcome by group. The concept of an equity gap implies that there is a problem with the educational and systemic structures such that these structures are differentially affecting students’ ability to thrive. The work done by this Assessment Learning Community will help ensure that we are dismantling the educational structures that cause these gaps.
We invite faculty to submit proposals to join the Assessment Learning Community to support their assessment efforts. Faculty who participate in the community will receive the following benefits:
