The following guidelines were established by the OSU faculty Assessment Council to describe appropriate uses of assessment fee money for program outcomes assessment or special assessment projects. The Assessment Council and Office of University Assessment support outcomes assessment by providing funding to academic units to implement their assessment plans and develop new assessments aimed at evaluating student achievement of expected learning outcomes. The Assessment Council may grant exceptions to the guidelines for requests that will provide a clear benefit to an academic unit’s assessment program.

Guidelines for uses of assessment funds:

• Funding may be provided for any item or activity that is clearly and directly related to assessing student achievement of expected learning outcomes. Funding may not be used for general program development or general program reviews.
  
  
• Funding may be provided for external reviewers that will provide specific assessment data related to the department’s outcomes assessment plan. For example, assessment funds may be used to bring in an external reviewer to critique individual student work and provide feedback to students and faculty members about curricular strengths and possible areas for improvement. Funding may not be used for general external program reviews.
  
  
• Funding may be provided for student salaries and benefits if the students are hired to work on assessment projects. Budget justifications should specify the number of students to be employed, the rate of base pay for each student, the percent of time and duration of employment, and the assessment tasks to be completed by the student.
  
  
• Funding may be provided for certification and professional examinations that provide feedback to faculty about curricular strengths and areas for improvement.
  
  
• Funding may be provided for the purchase of survey instruments and for supplies, printing, duplicating, binding, postage, and communications related to conducting student, employer, or alumni surveys.
  
  
• Funding may be used to purchase equipment related to outcomes assessment. Budget requests should explainn why the equipment is needed for assessment. If an equipment item is to be partly used for assessment purposes and partly used for other departmental purposes (e.g., a digital camera to record student portfolios), then part of the cost may be paid with assessment funds.
  
  
• Software purchased with assessment funds must be for assessment purposes only and requests must include a justification. Software that is available through CIS may not be purchased with assessment funds.
  
  
• Travel for faculty must be directly related to or provide direct benefit to an academic unit's assessment plan. For example, assessment funds may be used to support faculty travel to evaluate intern performance or to inteview internship supervisors when these evaluations are part of the academic unit's assessment plan.
  
  
• Travel for students must be directly related to assessment activities. For example, travel to juried exhibits, performances, and contests is allowable when results of participation in these activities provide feedback to facutly about curricular strengths or possible areas for improvement.
  
  
• Students may not be paid to participate in assessment activities, as per Regent’s policy (e.g., assessment funds cannot be used to pay students to take a standardized test or to complete a survey).
  
  
• Faculty or other professional salaries or benefits may not be funded from assessment fees.