Program Review in Trinity College
A&S departments and programs are required to submit yearly annual assessment reports, known as the Department Assessment Portfolio, or the DAP. This yearly programmatic assessment aligns with the College’s requirements for periodic program review. Guidance on the submission process can be found on this page. Duke University will seek reaffirmation of accreditation with SACSCOC in 2029 and departments’ work on the DAP contribute to the three years of record that contribute to the reaffirmation process.
submitting your Department Assessment Portfolio (DAP)
Based on consultations with the Dean of Undergraduate Education in Trinity College, the abridged DAP used in the 2023-24 academic year will continue to be the College’s reporting template for the 2024-25 academic year. Click here for the abridged template document.
We recommend submitting the 2024-25 DAP by early summer so that Assessment personnel can provide feedback before the start of the next academic year. Please get in touch if your processes require a later submission date. Assessment staff will share feedback, advice, ideas and more in the months following your submission. We hope this feedback will help our campus partners jump start the next phase of work in the coming fall term.
The format of the Department Assessment Portfolio is a simple questionnaire. Structured Excel workbooks and access credentials to cloud storage are no longer used. However, the topics of inquiry remain the same.
- Student learning outcomes (between two and four) for their department or program and how they represent the educational mission.
- Measurement: How are they collecting information to evaluate these outcomes?
- Interpretation and discussion: How are you making sense of the findings, with whom are they shared?
- Action: How is the department using these insights?
The College requests a report from each of its departments and programs on June 1, representing assessment work from the previous academic year.
A completed DAP can be submitted in one of three ways:
Using the abridged DAP template as a guide, write a narrative written in MS Word formatted as you see fit, and send to assessment@duke.edu.
If you’re new to assessment and desire the precision of a structured grid, fill out our template in Excel and send the completed copy to assessment@duke.edu.
You can submit our Qualtrics web form, but you are advised to develop the content offline before risking a time-out within the web form.
Starting with the 2024-25 academic year, programs that wish to engage in a longer process of program review may find this expanded version of the DAP helpful. It includes new sections to prepare a unit for periodic program evaluation. Most of these sections are not required annually; they are due only upon request from the Dean of Trinity College or the appropriate Divisional Dean. Although they will be completed intermittently, reviewing and revisiting these expectations regularly can help faculty and staff scaffold their assessment work over time. Moreover, the information obtained through these 'program review' sections can help a department or program interpret the findings developed in its annual assessment processes. Each of these sections has corresponding support materials to simplify access to and interpretation of evidence.
- General description of undergraduate program
- Curriculum
- Connections with the co-curriculum
- Connection between undergraduate and graduate programs
- Instructional faculty / Teaching
- Enrollment trends, recruitment, and retention of majors/minors
More information about assessment of Trinity academic departments and programs
Many faculty and staff are involved in educational research, not just the designated assessment liaison or DUS. If you wish to survey your colleagues to gather information about assessment and educational research across the department or program, you can request a copy of this Qualtrics questionnaire for your own adaptation and distribution. Contact assessment@duke.edu with questions.
Curious where to get help? In past years, the Office of University Assessment assigned a staff member to each A&S department to maintain continuity of relationships and process knowledge. These relationships can continue! However, individuals who are new to assessment or don't know what kind of help they need can submit this web form. Our team will make sure your question is routed to the right person or Duke office. For other questions, contact us at assessment@duke.edu.