The Learning Outcomes Assessment Committee identified a University-wide need for a learning outcomes assessment system. This need was, in part, driven by external accreditation organizations in higher education (e.g., National accreditation through National Council for Accreditation of Teacher Education [NCATE], the Pennsylvania Department of Education [PDE], Middle States Commission on Higher Education [MSCHE], and the Association to Advance Collegiate Schools of Business [AACSB]); this need was also driven by the University’s desire for continuous course and program level improvement.

The Learning Outcomes Assessment Committee met on February 7, 2013 to discuss the learning outcomes assessment needs of the Education Unit, the Haub School of Business, the College of Arts and Sciences, and assessment needs for the General Education Program (GEP). At the end of this meeting, committee members decided to engage a Request for Proposal process and to bring vendors for on-campus presentations.

The following learning outcomes system vendor were contacted and solicited for proposals: 1) Blackboard, 2) Chalk and Wire, 3) Tk20, 4) Taskstream, and 5) Livetext. Committee members reviewed the vendor proposals and decided to ask all vendors to conduct on-campus presentations except for Livetext. Vendor presentations were conducted between April 3, 2013 and April 9, 2013. Vendor evaluation forms were collected during the presentations.

A meeting was held on April 15, 2013 to conduct a debriefing and to select a learning outcomes assessment system. The committee members were given the opportunity to speak to the value of the vendor presentations and whether it presentations increased the knowledge of learning outcomes assessment. Decision criteria that were based on and developed from feedback received during the vendor presentations were used as discussion points. These criteria were 1) address the needs of the Education Unit, Haub School of Business, College of Arts and Sciences, and General Education Program, 2) roles and responsibilities, 3) time it will take to implement the system, 4) training of faculty and teams, 5) cost, and 6) other factors. The committee decided that Taskstream does not meet the needs of the University. Committee members were given the opportunity to discuss the strengths and weaknesses of Chalk and Wire, Blackboard, and Tk2. In addition, committee members were given the opportunity express what they thought was the learning outcomes system that would best meet the need of their college, unit, and the University as a whole. At the conclusion of the meeting, the committee members were all in favor to select Blackboard’s Outcomes Assessment system.