Assessment of Student Learning

Fowler College of Business Works to Make Student Learning Our Highest Priority

The Fowler College of Business is committed to student learning and considers it our highest priority as per the FCB mission statement. To accomplish our mission the FCB has worked diligently to develop a culture of assessment.

Assessment activities occur throughout the college for all programs. The college has clear learning outcomes for its Bachelor of Science in Business Administration (BSBA) program and for the MBA program. Further, student learning outcomes have been identified at the departmental level for each undergraduate major and for specialized masters' programs. Assessment of these departmental programs, both undergraduate and graduate, is undertaken on a regular basis. Co-curricular programs such as Study Abroad and the FCB Honors Program have also identified student learning outcomes.

The success of the college's efforts to accomplish their learning outcomes is measured through a wide variety of course-embedded and demonstration method direct measures. These include questions embedded in exams, assignments, case analyses and standardized tests. Additionally indirect measures such as surveys are routinely used to triangulate the results of the direct assessment measures. Assessment results are shared throughout the college and serve as a driving force for programmatic change.

The FCB's assurance of learning/assessment efforts have been lauded at the university-level (SDSU), the CSU level, and by the AACSB.

The Structure of Assessment Within the Fowler College of Business

Assurance of Learning Assessment efforts are headed by a Director of Assessment. The Director of Assessment chairs the college Program Assurance Committee (PAC) which is comprised of representatives from each department and major program within the college. Departmental representatives in turn chair assessment committees within their own departments.

Assessment Structure

Curriculum Maps

College Level Programs

BSBA Prep & Core Map (Updated Spring 2017)
MBA Curriculum Map (Updated Spring 2017)
EMBA Curriculum Map (Updated Spring 2017)

International Business (Updated Fall 2016)

BAIB Curriculum Map

Accounting (Updated Fall 2015)

Finance (Updated Fall 2016)

Financial Services

Management (Updated Summer 2015)

General Management
- MGT – Required Courses only
- MGT – All Courses
Human Resources (HR)
- MGT/HR – Required Courses only
- MGT – All Courses
Entrepreneurship
- MGT/Entrepreneurship – Required Courses only
- MGT/Entrepreneurship – All Courses

Management Information Systems (Updated Fall 2016)

Marketing (Updated Fall 2018)

General Marketing
- MKTG
Integrated Marketing Communications (IMC)
- MKTG/IMC
Professional Selling & Sales Management (PSSM)
- MKTG/PSSM

Real Estate (Updated Fall 2016)

Rubrics

The Fowler College of Business uses a variety of rubrics to rate and assess student work. Rubrics developed to assess specific DLOs related to Program Learning Goals such as critical thinking and global competency are provided in the FCB Assessment Blackboard Homeroom.

What is a Rubric and how do I make one?

This handy tutorial is ideal for anyone who wants to get started using a rubric to grade. All faculty members are encouraged to share rubrics for specific assignments with their students when the assignment is made. Doing this will help students understand expectations and should improve the quality of student work.

Download the Rubric Primer (pdf)

Communication Skills Rubric

The Fowler Communication Skills rubrics represent the Fowler College of Business' expectations for all of our students, from freshmen through Executive MBAs. Faculty members are encouraged to share these rubrics with their students and use them in evaluating student work.

Download Fowler College of Business Undergraduate Written Communication Skills Rubric (doc)
Download Fowler College of Business Undergraduate Oral Communication Skills Rubric for Individual Presentations (doc)
Download Fowler College of Business Undergraduate Oral Communication Skills Rubric for Group Presentations (doc)
Download Fowler College of Business Graduate Written Communication Skills Rubric (docx)
Download Fowler College of Business Graduate Oral Communications Skills Rubric (docx)

Course-Level Student Learning Outcomes (SLOs)

Each course in the Fowler College of Business (FCB) is part of a program. While course-level student learning outcomes (SLOs) identify what a student will learn in a particular course, program learning goals (PLGs) and degree learning outcomes (DLOs) identify what a student will achieve across the program. PLGS and DLOs can be viewed by clicking on the FCB's various programs (found on the Program Assessment Plans and Reports page).

FCB faculty members can connect their courses to the programs that they are a part of by downloading the Syllabus Insert (docx), which is a handy "cut and paste" for each program that can be easily inserted into a course syllabus. Below, identified by the program or department teaching the course, are lists of course-level student learning outcomes for all individual courses in the FCB.

Business Administration (pdf) (updated May 2018)
Accounting (pdf) (updated January 2017)
Executive MBA (pdf) (updated February 2015)
Finance (pdf) (updated August 2015)
Management Information Systems (pdf) (updated February 2019)
Management (pdf) (updated September 2015)
Marketing (pdf) (updated May 2018)

Assessment Culture

Assessment Day

Speakers

Dr. Marilee Bresciani

Professor of Post Secondary Education, SDSU
Author of five books on assessment including Outcomes-Based Academic and Co-Curricular Program Review: A Compilation of Institutional Good Practices.

Dr. Mary Celsi

Associate Dean, CSU Long Beach, College of Business
"Our successful AACSB experience – Challenges & Successes in Assurance of Learning"
(Download PlenarySessionI-GuestSpeakers.pptx)

Breakout Sessions

AACSB & AOL

Gail Naughton, Former Dean & Mary Celsi, Associate Dean (CSULB)
"What an AACSB team looks for in AOL"
Download AACSB-AOL Handout (docx)

Nik Varaiya & Kathy Krentler in Point/Counterpoint
Download BreakoutSession-PointCounterpoint.pptx
Developing & Using Rubrics – a "Hands-on" Workshop
- Christine Probett, MGT & MIS Departments
- Lois Olson, MKT Department

Best Practices Plenary Session

CBA Assessment Committee Departmental Reps – Panel presentation on best practices and best closing the loop examples from various departments in the CBA.
John Anderson, George Easton, Lois Olson, Amy Randel, Nik Varaiya

College Level Program Assessment

BSBA Program

Kathy Krentler, Director of Undergraduate Programs
Annette Easton, Chair, CBA Undergraduate Committee

MBA Program

Dave Ely, Director of Graduate Programs
Heather Honea, Chair, CBA Graduate Committee

How's our culture?

Reporting Deadlines and Resources

Assessment reports are filed semi-annually, reporting on the programmatic degree learning outcomes (DLOs) that were assessed in the previous semester.

Deadlines for reports are:

May 1: Report of DLOs assessed the previous fall semester
Dec 1: Report of DLOs assessed in the previous spring semester
Use this template for reports.

Resources

SDSU Assessment
AACSB Assessment Resource Center
AACSB Standard 8 (AoL) White Paper - published March 2019

Worksheets

FCB Faculty: This tab contains materials needed for completing a curriculum map or an update to an existing FCB curriculum map.

PAC Mapping

NOTE: If a course is taken by students in more than one program, please complete the worksheet for each program. For ALL undergraduate courses, complete the worksheet for the BSBA program AND for the major(s) that the course falls into.

All worksheets are in docx format unless noted otherwise.

College-Level Programs

Departmental-Level Programs

Accounting

Finance

International Business

International Business Major Mapping Worksheet

Management

Management Information Systems

Marketing

PAC Forms

Fowler College Faculty: Include an appropriate PAC form version with all curriculum proposals.

There are 4 versions of the PAC form. Choose the correct version for the proposal and attach the completed form to the proposal in Curricunet.

All documents below are in docx format unless noted.

Program Assessment Plans and Reports (2011-2017)

Program Assessment Plans and Reports

(Reports posted on this page cover 2011 - 2017, when SDSU used WEAVE for reporting. More recent reports are posted in an FCB Assessment Blackboard Homeroom.)

MBA Program

BSBA

Accounting

Emphasis in Accounting

MSA

Finance

Emphasis in Finance

Financial Services

Emphasis in Financial Services

MSBA in Financial & Tax Planning

General Business

International Business

BA in International Business

Management Information Systems

Emphasis in Information Systems

MSIS

MSCM

Management

Emphasis in General Management

Emphasis in Management Human Resources

Emphasis in Management Entrepreneurship

Marketing

Emphasis in Marketing (General)

Emphasis in Marketing (IMC)

BSBA - Integrated Marketing Communication Goals and Student Learning Outcomes
BSBA - Integrated Marketing Communication Assessment Plan
BSBS - Integreated Marketing Communication Detailed Assessment Report

Emphasis in Marketing (PSSM)

Real Estate

Emphasis in Real Estate

Non-Academic Programs:

Center for Student Success

Assessment Reports Archive, 2007–2011

Annual assessment reports produced as Word documents, between 2007 and 2011 are found below. Between 2012 & 2017 the FCB used WEAVE, an online software, for all assessment reporting purposes. The detailed assessment reports (DARS) produced by WEAVE, reporting all assessment activity during those years, are found under the Program Assessment Plans and Reports tab. Beginning in Fall 2017, the FCB (and the broader SDSU campus) returned to an internal reporting system for assessment. Reports and findings from assessments undertaken beginning Fall 2017 are currently stored in a dedicated FCB Blackboard Homeroom. Contact the FCB Director of Assessment for access.

MBA Program

University Assessment Reports