Program Outcomes and Quality Assessment
As part of Wycliffe College’s ongoing assessment of the effectiveness of our programs, we have developed statements of intended learning outcomes for each of our professional graduate degree programs and streams (MDiv, MDiv-Pioneer, MTS, MTS-Development). In each case, these outcome statements describe the knowledge, capabilities and personal attributes that characterize a typical graduate of the respective programs. They take into account the standards that are set by our accrediting agency, the Association of Theological Schools in the United States and Canada, together with the Degree Level Expectations of the University of Toronto, with whom we conjointly grant the degrees. At the same time, they also give expression to the distinctive emphases of Wycliffe College.
To help with this ongoing process, we gather assessments at various points of how well the intended program outcomes are being achieved in the case of individual students. Most of these are made by instructors and supervisors; some are self-assessments by students themselves. Even though the assessments have to do with student learning, the purpose of the process is to assess program effectiveness rather than student performance. (There is no direct connection, for example, between these assessments and assigned grades.) As with all information collected during a student’s program, this information is subject to provincial Freedom of Information and Protection of Privacy legislation. Access to pertinent assessment information (in cumulative form) is readily granted to a student on request, and appropriate measures are in place to ensure the privacy of the information.