New for 2026:
- Each program is expected to assess SLOs at least every five years. In the PLO-SLO+ILO alignment Google Sheet, a program will be asked to report their planned year of next assessment for each SLO. You can select a year from a drop down menu, ranging from 2026 to 2030.
- On the Google Form, all programs have an option to self-reflect and evaluate their development stage of their assessment practice using a checklist and a rating scale. Training will be provided for self-evaluation.
This FAQ page is intended to support Assessment Coordinators in their program assessment-related activities.
An Assessment Coordinator (AC) is responsible for preparation and submission of the Program Assessment report, required biennially from every UH degree program. To do that, an AC, with the support from the department leaders and the ACSC, is expected to:
- participate in assessment training and offer training/support to program faculty
- coordinate collaborative program assessment work with faculty and other stakeholders
- ensure collaborative interpretation of assessment data and use of assessment results at the program level
The graduate chair, undergraduate chair, curriculum committee chair, assessment specialist, or a senior faculty who understands the curriculum and can lead curriculum discussion are all suitable to serve as an Assessment Coordinator. New faculty or staff members who do not lead curriculum discussions are not suitable to serve as an assessment coordinator.
1. Where do I input my program’s report?
The report will open by October 2026. We continue to use a Google Sheet and a Google Form to collect the assessment report information. The assessment report links were unique to each program. Assessment Coordinators receive the report links in their email from airo@hawaii.edu. Email airo@hawaii.edu if you have any difficulties accessing the report.
2. Deadline?
The 2026 deadline: Friday, November 13, 2026.
Edits allowed until Friday, January 22, 2027.
3. What information is needed to complete the report?
4. Can I see what others are doing? Where are previous reports?
Yes. Go here: Reports: View By Years or View by Program Names
5. Do you have examples or ways to get help?
Yes! We are here to help.
- Training information will be shared in the near future
- Request a consultation session with Yao Hill (yaozhang@hawaii.edu), Alohi Okamura (kayokamu@hawaii.edu), or Rebecca Stotzer (rstotzer@hawaii.edu)
- Review the Program Learning Assessment checklist
- Read the Equity-minded Learning Assessment article and our updated how-to materials with equity-minded assessment considerations
- Look at examples of how programs used their assessment results.
- Read brief descriptions of how programs used assessment results.
- Learn from the Hōpoe Assessment Award winners (Click on the program name to read their 2024 reports)
6. Why do we submit reports? How does the report help my program?
The report assists programs in documenting assessment activities and evidence-based curriculum changes. More than once the we have heard that assessment coordinators left UHM and took assessment files with them. The reports are available in an easily accessible location on our website.
The report keeps the program on track for Program Review. The Program Review process requires a review of the program’s assessment activities and evidence-based curriculum changes. Your program’s assessment reports are automatically submitted as part of the department’s self-study, and they are given to the external reviewers. Note: programs with professional accreditation are exempted from UHM Program Review.
The reports provide evidence for UHM’s accreditation reaffirmation (program-level learning assessment is required)
7. What is done with the reports?
The Assessment and Curriculum Support Center uses the information in several ways. Our Center
- identify and share exemplary assessment practices with the faculty-at-large;
- assist the Committee on Educational Effectiveness in selecting Excellence in Assessment for Improvement: Hōpoe Assessment Award winners;
- identifies issues and concerns that need attention and uses those to guide our office’s program development (e.g., when an analysis of reports reveals the need for more attention to curriculum mapping, the Assessment and Curriculum Support Center offers workshops on that topic);
- summarizes the reports and conveys that summary to the Faculty Senate, Vice Provost for Academic Excellence, and the Western Association of Schools and Colleges (WASC). The summary serves as primary support in Mānoa’s case for re-accreditation and meets reporting requirements set by WASC. See the campus summary reports.
- conveys the reports to the Office of the Vice Provost for Academic Excellence for use as part of Program Review.
Please note that the Faculty Senate’s 2010 resolution on Faculty Governance of Assessment stipulates that program-level learning outcomes assessment not be used for high-stakes decisions.
8. Who can see my report?
All reports will be publicly available.
9. Do we need to submit a report if we didn’t do any assessment during the period specified?
Do I submit a program for newly approved degree programs?
Yes. Please update/answer the appropriate questions in the Google Sheet and Form; in addition, justify why no assessment activities occurred (last question of the Google Form).
10. I don’t have access to my report.
If you do not have access, contact the Assessment and Curriculum Support Center at airo@hawaii.edu.
11. My program doesn’t show up.
If you do not find your program, contact the Assessment and Curriculum Support Center at airo@hawaii.edu.
12. Can I go back and edit, modify, or add to the report?
Yes! You can modify your report until the deadline.
Important: Press “Submit” before leaving the Google Form to save your responses.
The Google Sheet saves automatically.
13. Can I submit the report we gave to our professional accrediting agency?
Sorry, no. However, you can cut and paste the appropriate sections from the accreditation report into your assessment report.
14. Do I have to enter separate reports for EACH degree program? Why?
Yes. The goal of assessment is improved student learning and improved programs. For assessment to achieve its goal, a program needs assessment results that are specific to that program so it can make appropriate adjustments as necessary. Thus, the reports are by degree program.
If similar activities occurred in your degree programs, you may copy and paste responses from one Google Form to another. Then, modify the information as needed. Remember to press “Submit” to save your responses.
Contact the Assessment and Curriculum Support Center to discuss your particular situation.
15. Can I get feedback? When?
Yes. Near the end of the Google Form, you’ll be asked if you want to receive feedback (note: this appears only when the program has conducted assessment activities).
Faculty volunteers will read your report and provide feedback. Typically, feedback is distributed in April.
16. What is the new question on the Google Form for 2026?
On the google form, all programs have an option to self-reflect and evaluate their development stage of their assessment practice using a checklist and a rating scale. Training will be provided for self-evaluation.
Evaluate the developmental stage of your program assessment practice and use your reflection to identify strengths and areas for improvement.
Your evaluation will NOT be public and will NOT be used for judgment or comparison with other programs. We will use it to analyze campus status and to guide our training plan.
Your program will automatically enter into the final review list for the Excellence in Assessment for Improvement: Hōpoe Assessment Award if you score “Full Bloom” on Use Assessment Results and on another three categories.
Use the checklist to guide your evaluation: https://go.hawaii.edu/DyY
Use the following to guide your rating
- ʻAnoʻano (Seed): Did only the necessary practices or not even
- ‘Ōpu‘u (Bud): Completed all the necessary practices and some standard good practices
- Mohala (Bloom): Did all the necessary and standard good practices, and a few aspirational practices
- Hōpoe (Full Bloom): Did all the necessary, standard good practices, and many aspirational practices
The Hōpoe Assessment Award’s review committee will use the same checklist and ratings to make the award decision.
| Mark only one per row | ||||
| ʻAnoʻano (Seed) | ‘Ōpu‘u (Bud) | Mohala (Bloom) | Hōpoe (Full Bloom) | |
| Program Student Learning Outcomes | ||||
| Curriculum Mapping | ||||
| Identify and Collect Evidence of Learning | ||||
| Evaluate the Evidence Fairly and Reliably | ||||
| Interpret and Summarize the Results | ||||
| Use Assessment Results | ||||
| Culturally-Responsive and Equity-minded Assessment Practices | ||||
If you want feedback on a draft report, email airo@hawaii.edu or directly contact Yao Hill (yaozhang@hawaii.edu)