Assessment Plan

Program Educational Objectives

Within the general framework of a Reformed Christian, undergraduate, liberal arts education, as described in Calvin’s Educational Framework, and the Department of Computer Science Mission Statement, alumni of the Calvin University computing programs, five years after graduation, should be:

1. Pursuing vocations in computing in a socially and ethically responsible way, as informed by a Reformed Christian world-view, in order to advance the kingdom of Jesus Christ.
2. Engaging in continuing professional development in order to support life-long learning.
3. Developing mastery of and exhibiting leadership in one or more areas of computing.
4. Functioning well on teams by exhibiting Christian virtues such as servant leadership, humility, encouragement and stewardship.
5. Applying their liberal arts education to effectively function in their personal and professional lives.

Student Learning Outcomes

We demonstrate that graduates of the Calvin University computing programs have the ability to:

1. Analyze a complex computing problem and apply principles of computing and other relevant disciplines to identify solutions.
2. Design, implement, and evaluate a computing-based solution to meet a given set of computing requirements in the context of the program’s discipline.
3. Communicate effectively in a variety of professional contexts.
4. Recognize professional responsibilities and make informed judgments in computing practice based on legal and ethical principles as informed by a Reformed Christian worldview.
5. Function effectively as a member or leader of a team engaged in activities appropriate to the program’s discipline.
6. Apply computer science theory and software development fundamentals to produce computing-based solutions.

In addition to these program outcomes, all courses maintain their own course-level outcomes.

Assessment Plan

To keep pace with the dynamic discipline of computing, the Department of Computer Science assesses its student learning outcomes by doing the following.

1. Internal Review
   • ETS Test – Graduating seniors take the Educational Testing Services (ETS) Major Field Test (MFT) in Computer Science in the Perspectives on Computing course (CS-384), usually during the spring semester of their senior year. The CS-384 instructor provides the test results to the department for use in comparing our programs against other computing programs.
   • Senior Survey – Graduating seniors take a survey to assess their experiences in our department. As with the ETS exam, this is taken in the Perspectives on Computing course (CS 384) and managed by the CS 384 instructor.
   • ACM Curriculum Recommendations – The learning objectives for all courses are compared against the knowledge units specified in the ACM Curriculum Recommendations. This is done each time the ACM publishes a new version of its recommendations.

   • Key Assignments — The department reviews student work each year for the following key assignments:

     • CS 108 major project
     • CS 262 team project
     • CS 384 paper integrating faith and computing
     • CS 396/8 senior project deliverables

     The faculty provide top, bottom, and median solutions to each key assignment along with an evaluation according to the department Grading Rubric. Note that the rhetorical assignments given in CS 262 and CS 384 support the department’s rhetorical assessment program and are reviewed annually as part of the university-wide Rhetoric-Across-the-Curriculum program.

   • Program Educational Objectives and Student Learning Outcomes – The department assesses student achievement with respect to each of the individual objectives and outcomes once every three years.
   • Assessment Plan – The department reviews the assessment plan itself, including the PEOs and SLOs, every three years, ensuring that it remains relevant and effective.
   • Course learning objectives – The department reviews the learning objectives for any course that is being updated. Note that the department reviews the Contemporary Challenges and Enduring Questions (CCEQ) learning objectives for CS 384 every three years as its part of the assessment of the university-wide core curriculum.
   • Advisory Council – The department meets once per semester with its Strategic Partners Council. The department chair coordinates these meetings and provides the results to the department for review.
   • Course Evaluation – Students evaluate courses and faculty instructors as part of the university-wide course-evaluation program. The academic deans manage this activity each semester and provide the results to the department chair and to individual faculty members. The department chair reviews the results with each faculty member and forwards issues to the curriculum or personnel committees as appropriate.
   • Faculty Reappointment – Faculty members undergo periodic reappointment reviews for the university. The academic deans manage this process, in which the department presents the case for (or against) reappointment and the administration adjudicates each case. The department’s statement on scholarship is used to assess the faculty member’s professional activity and research.
2. External Review
   • ABET Accreditation – Every six years, the department undergoes an external review by an evaluation team from the Accreditation Board for Engineering and Technology (ABET) as part of the accreditation process for its BCS program. This process is initiated by the department’s formal request for evaluation to ABET, and the resulting self-study questionnaire and ABET visitation report dictate changes to the department’s processes.

The department chair coordinates these assessment activities, deferring to department committees as appropriate. All program updates are approved and implemented by the department and documented in the department meeting minutes. The department chair also produces an annual state of the department report summarizing these data and reviewing them with the academic dean during a meeting each spring.

Updated in Spring 2026.