The Office of Institutional Effectiveness would like to thank the campus community for its collective effort at fostering the spirit of continuous improvement and data informed practices. As we progress through the 2025-2026 academic year, be reminded of available resources and support services available at the office as you strive for student success and the accomplishment of the mission of the College. Let’s continue with our resolve to improve the teaching and learning environment using data and assessment to position the College to be in compliance with federal and state regulations.

In this newsletter, you will find information about the following:

• Summary highlights of the retention survey administered by the Office of Institutional Research, a survey result that informs student retention and graduation efforts at the College.
• Information about the core functions of the Office of Assessment and Evaluation, progress made on the Academic Program Review (APR) process, and General Education assessment.
• Progress made on the implementation and use of Insights, and Planning and Self-Study assessment software platforms.
• Assessment Tuesday treats
• Why administrative unit outcome assessment is important and what to consider as you assess

Highlights from the Retention 'Stop Out” Survey

In Fall 2025, the Office of Institutional Research administered their fifth annual Retention Survey (also known as the 'Stop Out Survey'). This survey, first administered in 2021, seeks to understand the reasons students decided not to re-enroll at the College in a systematic manner as opposed to anecdotal evidence. The survey presents students with the opportunity to select the reasons they did not return to the College. The reasons range from personal to academic and environmental.

To be included in the survey population, a student must have been a degree-seeking student enrolled in credit courses in the Spring 2025 semester who did not graduate prior to Fall 2025 but did not register for courses in Fall 2025. The first invitation was sent via email on August 21, 2025, with reminders on August 27th and September 10th. Students who had subsequently enrolled were removed from the reminder emails. The initial invitation went to 3,889 students with 364 students responding for a response rate of 9.4%.

While a larger report will be produced and published on Institutional Research’s webpage later this semester, the top five reasons for students not returning to the College are listed below:

1. I have to work and do not have enough time for class (19.2% of respondents).
2. I can no longer afford to attend CCP (18.4% of respondents).
3. I accomplished what I set out to do at CCP (17.0% of respondents).
4. The course(s) I need are not offered at CCP (17.0% of respondents).
5. Academic policy - e.g., academic probation (16.8% of respondents).

Additionally, 19.8% of respondents indicated that they did not meet with any campus services prior to making their enrollment decision.

For more information on the survey or how Institutional Research can support you, please contact our office at .

Highlights from the Office of Assessment and Evaluation

The Office of Assessment and Evaluation operates in four main areas: 

1. Academic Program Review (APR),
2. General Education assessment,
3. Administrative Unit assessment, and
4. support for Academic Assessment, e.g., CLO and PLO assessment.  

In the 25-26 academic year, the office is working with ten academic degree programs to complete the APR process, a five-year review cycle mandated by the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, that looks at program data such as enrollment and retention as well as assessment practices and initiatives for engaging students and helping them succeed.  

The office is also working closely with the General Education Coordinator, Dr. Jennifer Tront this fall, as we start our Scientific Reasoning (SCRE) pilot and work on continuous improvement for Writing, Research, and Information Literacy (WRI), Technological Competency (TEC), Quantitative Reasoning (QURE), and Oral Communication/Creative Expression (OCCE). 

For Administrative Unit assessment, which includes areas such as Academic Advising, Financial Aid, and Transfer and Articulation, we are transitioning to a new assessment management system called Watermark Planning & Self-Study, which we adopted specifically for non-academic assessment. We are currently working with “early adopters” to get this off the ground! 

Our big lift this fall is the continuing implementation of Insights by eLumen, the assessment management system that we’ve adopted for academic assessment—for assessment of course and program learning outcomes! So far, more than 65% of full-time Liberal Studies faculty have already linked at least one assignment to one CLO. This fall, we are piloting Insights with the other two academic divisions: Business & Technology and Math, Science, and Health Careers, with the goal of having all academic assessment happening with Insights by Fall 2027.  

To invigorate support for assessment at the College, the office launched its Tuesday Treats. This event provides college employees the opportunity to meet with staff of the Office of Assessment and Evaluation and have their assessment questions/concerns addressed while getting a treat. The first event occurred on October 14th. Below is a picture of the treats.

This will be a monthly event. Watch out for the next event in CNews.

Got a question about assessment? Check out our Assessment Handbook! Or contact us at assessment@ccp.edu. 

Why Administrative Unit Assessment?

As we progress with the implementation of the Planning and Self-Study software for administrative unit assessment, we want to provide some context as to why administrative unit outcome assessment is essential and the key components to consider while assessing.

• To assist in determining the extent to which the College is living up to its mission and strategic pillars
• Identify areas in which the unit/division is doing well and areas needing improvement
• To ensure continuous improvement in service delivery to support student success initiatives
• To make use of assessment findings to adopt creative and innovative solutions to address observed gaps in order to improve student success
• Meet Middle States Commission on Higher Education (MSCHE) accreditation expectations

 Key Components of Administrative Unit Assessment

• Unit mission statement
• Unit Goals
• Unit objectives (if applicable)
• Expected unit outcomes that are measurable
• Unit benchmarks (targets)
• Findings
• Action plan based on findings to address observed gaps in assessment
• Resource allocation to support action plan where applicable

For questions, contact the Office of Assessment and Evaluation at assessment@ccp.edu .