General education is the core of the undergraduate experience. It provides a lasting foundation for students' future academic, civil, cultural, economic, and social lives. Additionally, as part of most general education curricula, general education as well as first-year experience programs are becoming virtually universal in colleges and universities; first-year seminars often are integrated into general education programs to promote student retention, engagement, and success. The assessment of these institution-wide efforts is particularly challenging, but many campuses have made substantial progress from which we can learn.<p>In this book, the author draws on her experience with over sixty colleges, universities, and college systems to<ul type="disc"><li>Establish a broad context for general education and first-year experience programs and assessment, and summarize relevant ideas from professional organizations<li>Advise how to develop mission, goal, and outcome statements<li>Explain how to align curricula and pedagogy with learning outcomes, develop alignment questions to be used in assessment projects, and describe how campuses can use course certification to promote alignment<li>Describe approaches for assessment planning, criteria for selecting strategies, and ethical issues to be considered<li>Provide examples of direct and indirect assessment strategies<li>Discuss the infrastructure for general education assessment and offer advice for effective collaboration among faculty and staff</ul><p>Written for college and university administrators, assessment officers, faculty, and staff who support general education and first-year experience programs, this book is a hands-on guide for developing, aligning, and assessing general education programs in meaningful, manageable, and sustainable ways. The author presents a variety of approaches and dozens of examples to help readers understand what other campuses are doing and develop a repertoire of their own methods so they can make informed decisions about their programs.