BSU, along with all USM institutions, utilizes the Managing for Results (MFR) Report as its primary internal and external institutional assessment report.  The MFR is required by the University System of Maryland (USM), the Maryland Higher Education Commission (MHEC), the Department of Budget and Management (DBM) and the Maryland General Assembly. 

The MFR contains 28 indicators of institutional effectiveness developed by BSU and USM.  The indicators are directly linked to five of the six Strategic Plan goals.  Benchmarks are provided for each indicator with benchmark attainment evaluated annually (for progress) and every five years (for goal attainment).  The specific indicators are included in the University’s Institutional Effectiveness Indicators listed in Appendix 1.  Before the MFR is submitted, data are discussed with appropriate BSU staff, cabinet members and the President.

The USM Dashboard Indicators provide a “snapshot” overview of the USM and its institutions for the Board of Regents. The USM Dashboard Indicators align with the USM Strategic Plan.  BSU includes the indicators in its institutional effectiveness indicators to create the linkage between the BSU Strategic Plan and the USM plan.  The Board of Regents reviews the indicators annually usually before the legislative session beginning in January.  The President and the Cabinet review the dashboards and discuss action plans in response to questions from the USM.  Information from the dashboards may be included in General Assembly budget analysis. 

The Student Learning Outcomes Assessment Report (SLOAR) provides an overview of the institution’s assessment activities.  The second part of the report documents adherence with COMAR and MSCHE standards for each general education competency.  The following are required elements for each general education competency:  the institution’s definition of the competency, the level at which the competency is measured (institutional, program, course), the assessment approach (es) including direct and indirect measures, assessment results, and improvements.   The BSU General Education Committee (approved in spring 2012) (GEC) and the University Student Learning Assessment Committee (USLAC) review the report and recommend action items to the Provost and Assistant Vice President for Assessment.

The annual USM Closing the Achievement Gap Report (CTG) informs USM of the University’s progress in meeting its achievement gap goal.  In 2009, BSU defined the achievement gap as the difference between the six year graduation rates of Bowie State African-American students and all students in the USM.  The University committed to reducing the achievement gap and set its fall 2010 cohort six year graduation goal at 48 percent – an increase of 12 percentage points from the 2001 cohort.

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