1. Writing Non-Instructional Outcomes
Produced by
Non-Instructional Subcommittee of
Assessment Committee

2. Purpose Statements Purpose Statement should:
identify THE reason for the department’s/division’s/program’s existence;
fall within AC’s mission;
encompass all the key aspects of the department/division/program

3. Brainstorming Opportunity
Purpose - restate the purpose statement:
(What is the primary reason that this division/department/program exists?)

4. Goals
Goals should be:
broad, general expectations for a division/department/program;
based on the purpose for the division/department/program
2 to 3 goals with no more than 4
address the key challenges or problems desired for assessment and resulting improvement and/or growth

5. Brainstorming Opportunity
Identify the biggest challenges or problems for the division/department/program

6. Objectives Types of objectives and definitions: Inputs = resources
Outputs= types, levels and targets of services (may include satisfaction)
Processes = efficiencies or intended accomplishments
Outcomes = specific changes in student’s/client’s knowledge, skill, expertise, attitude or behavior

7. Goal vs. Outcome Goal General expectation of outcome
Can be broad or vague
Outcome Objective
Statement of what someone should be able to do or develop (knowledge, skill, expertise, attitude or behavior)
Should be specific and measurable
Adapted from James Madison University

8. Brainstorming Opportunity
Goals - select 1 or 2 key goals:
(Based on the purpose statement and experiences of the staff, what are the biggest challenges or problems that this division/department/program desires to improve?)

9. Outcome Objectives Outcomes should be: the preferred objective;
seen as the means by which the goal is met
written from the audience’s (e.g. student or client) perspective
at least one outcome per goal
2 to 3 outcomes with no more than 5

10. Assessing Outcomes
All outcomes (objectives) must be assessed periodically but not necessarily at the same time
Use a representative sample for assessment
Adapted from James Madison University

11. Outcomes - Example 1
Outcomes (objectives) should express what the student/client will LEARN, KNOW, OR DO as a result of the intervention – NOT what the instructor or service will do for the student/client.
Typical Outcome: Provide student/client with knowledge about how the library works.
Better Outcome: After taking the Research Methods course, student/client will be able to demonstrate their knowledge of how the library works by finding 10 sources for a research paper in the library.
Adapted from James Madison University

12. Outcomes - Example 2
Outcomes should be REASONABLE. They should reflect learning that the student/client can accomplish as a result of the division/department/program.
Typical Outcome: Students will demonstrate open-mindedness for all cultures by strongly agreeing with all of the items on the Open-Mindedness Inventory (OMI).
Better Outcome: Upon completion of the Study Abroad program, participants will show an increase in open-mindedness through at least a 10-point increase on the Open-Mindedness Inventory (OMI).
Adapted from James Madison University

13. Outcomes - Example 3
Student/client learning should be assessed with an OBSERVABLE, MEASURABLE outcome. Verbs such as “know” and “understand” are not observable.
Typical Outcome: Employees will understand how to make help desk requests.
Better Outcome: After requesting assistance with a technology request, employees seeking assistance with a technology request will indicate that the technology problem was resolved during the time the problem was identified 75% of the time and automatically generate an with an anonymous web survey link.
Adapted from James Madison University

14. Outcomes - Example 4
Outcome should specify the criterion of ACCEPTABLE student/client performance.
Typical Outcome: Students will be able to select a career choice.
Better Outcome: Upon completion of the career and life planning course, students will be able to state their “work personality” as measured by the Work Abilities, Values, and Interests (WAVI) Inventory.
Adapted from James Madison University

15. Outcomes - The ABCDE Method
A = Audience (Who are you assessing?)
B = Behavior (What is expected of the audience?)
C = Conditions (What intervention is required?)
D = Degree (To what degree is the behavior to be reached?)
E = Evaluation (What tool will be used to measure this?)
Recipe for Writing an Outcome Statement =
C + A,B + D,E
Adapted from James Madison University

16. Outcomes - ABCDE Example (Police Dept)
A = Audience (employees)
B = Behavior (will take precautions)
C = Conditions (After mock drills)
D = Degree (decrease by 20% annually)
E = Evaluation (number of reported campus burglaries)
Outcome statement = After mock drills, employees will take precautions, which will result in at least a 20% decrease annually in the number of reported campus burglaries.
Adapted from James Madison University

17. Brainstorming Opportunity
Outcomes:
Fill in each of the following for one outcome of one goal:
A = Audience -
B = Behavior -
C = Conditions -
D = Degree -
E = Evaluation -
Write as a sentence (see recipe):
Outcome Statement =
Adapted from James Madison University

18. Assignment Recommendation: All employees in the division/department/
program should continue to work together to brainstorm and decide on finalized PET form.

19. Assignment
Finalized PET form should be approved through appropriate President’s Cabinet member.

20. Outcomes - ABCDE Example (IST HelpDesk)
A = Audience (employees)
B = Behavior (indicate that the technology problem was resolved during the time the problem was identified)
C = Conditions (After seeking assistance with a technology request)
D = Degree (75%)
E = Evaluation (automatically generate an with an anonymous web survey link)
Outcome statement = After requesting assistance with a technology request, employees seeking assistance with a technology request will indicate that the technology problem was resolved during the time the problem was identified 75% of the time and automatically generate an with an anonymous web survey link.
Adapted from James Madison University

21. Outcomes - ABCDE Example (Student Services)
A = Audience (employees)
B = Behavior (demonstrate mastery of FERPA regulations)
C = Conditions (After training session on FERPA requirements)
D = Degree (80%)
E = Evaluation (on post-test)
Outcome statement = After attending a training session on FERPA requirements, all participating employees will demonstrate mastery of FERPA regulations at 80% on the post-test.
Adapted from James Madison University

22. Outcomes - ABCDE Example (Testing Services)
A = Audience (faculty (FT & PT) requesting testing services)
B = Behavior (will follow identified procedures)
C = Conditions (After reading the website on testing instructions and completing corresponding survey)
D = Degree (60%)
E = Evaluation (based on log of all procedure violations)
Outcome statement = After reading instructions regarding testing from a website and then completing a corresponding survey, 60% of faculty (full-time & part-time) requesting testing services will follow identified procedures based on log of all procedure violations.
Adapted from James Madison University

23. Outcomes - ABCDE Example (Continuing Education)
A = Audience (companies with 25+ employees)
B = Behavior (implement the program addressing generational differences in the workplace)
C = Conditions (After attending a pilot program)
D = Degree (25% of companies)
E = Evaluation (based upon signed Training Agreements.)
Outcome statement = After attending a pilot program, 25% of companies with 25+ employees will implement the program addressing generational differences in the workplace based upon signed Training Agreements.
Adapted from James Madison University

24. Outcomes - ABCDE Example (Business Office)
A = Audience (employees with purchasing privileges)
B = Behavior (will file paperwork in a complete and timely fashion in order that vendors will be paid by due date)
C = Conditions (After receiving procedures instructions)
D = Degree (75% of the time)
E = Evaluation (based upon a transaction log.)
Outcome statement = After receiving procedural instructions, employees with purchasing privileges will file paperwork in a complete and timely fashion so that vendors will be paid by due date 75% of the time based upon a transaction log.
Adapted from James Madison University

25. The End (Finis, Done, etc)