Cornell University Division of Planning and Budget

Institutional Assessment Overview

The Office of Institutional Planning and Assessment leads, facilitates, and supports the institutional assessment activities below.

Academic and Administrative Support Reviews involve ongoing evaluation of functions critical to supporting the mission of the university. The primary purpose of such reviews is to ensure the efficient and effective use of resources in the delivery of support services for both short-term and long-term needs. The Office will also lead, facilitate, and/or support planning efforts for improvement in targeted areas of opportunity which periodically arise. Oversight for this ongoing effort is provided by the Institutional Assessment Steering Committee.

Program Review is a process initiated in 1995. Every academic department or program undergoes a thorough self-study approximately every ten years which involves an external review team. This review process is led by the Faculty Committee on Program Review.

Accreditation is the means of self-regulation and peer review adopted by the educational community. The accrediting process is intended to strengthen and sustain the quality and integrity of higher education, making it worthy of public confidence and minimizing the scope of external control. Cornell’s accreditors expect Cornell to assess student learning outcomes and to assess the linkages between the budgeting and the planning processes.