Mission

The Office of Institutional Effectiveness and Assessment's (IEA) primary mission is the collection of data (from both internal and external sources), and the timely analysis, distribution, and presentation of this information for use in planning, decision-making, assessment and policy formulation at the University.

The Office of Institutional Effectiveness and Assessment is responsible for the following functions at the University of West Georgia:

1. Accreditation
   The Office houses the SACSCOC Institutional Accreditation Liaison and provides leadership and advice to the members of the campus community on the institutional accreditation standards, as well as develops and maintains processes and support materials to assist with ongoing compliance with the standards by using best practices. Also assists programs with specialized accreditation.
2. Data Analysis and Decision Support
   Provides data analysis and insight to support planning and decision making for executive leadership, academic colleges and schools, and administrative units.
3. Institutional Reporting
   Serves as the center for institutional reporting, both mandatory and non-mandatory, and disseminates facts and figures to the university community. IEA is also responsible for ensuring the accuracy of vital University statistics, and for reporting these data to a broad spectrum of information consumers including regulatory entities, management, faculty, private organizations, and the general public.
4. Assessment
   Ensures a culture of continuous improvement at the University by providing leadership and expert assistance to educational programs, including general education, and both academic and student services that support student learning and achievement through the use of best practices in assessment of student learning outcomes. Provides support for assessment activities to effect a culture of assessment and continuous improvement across campus. 
5. Program Review
   The Office manages the program review process by supporting academic programs under review and facilitating the use of relevant, required data and supporting materials and information to facilitate an effective and thorough review process including the identification of actions and decisions during the reviews.
6. Integrated Planning
   Assists leaders across campus with planning efforts to ensure that each unit or service has well-articulated outcomes that are aligned to the UWG strategic plan and key performance indicators.
7. Data Governance
   Collaborates with responsible units across campus regarding the quality and accuracy of data in accordance with policies, state and federal reporting guidelines and national best practice standards.

Goals

The Office of Institutional Effectiveness and Assessment adopted the following two goals as part of its strategic planning process to help carry out the departmental mission and contribute to the 2021-2026 Strategic Plan.

1. Develop interactive dashboards and publish them to the IEA website.
2. Review and find ways to improve the General Education Assessment process.