Continuous Academic Improvement
The Indiana Wesleyan University mission statement defines our fundamental goals and aspirations:
"Indiana Wesleyan University is a Christ-centered academic community committed to changing the world by developing students in character, scholarship and leadership."
Our mission permeates everything that we do to include direct and indirect support to our students and administrative operations.
Our primary mission is to develop students who will change the world for Christ. With fulfillment of the mission in mind, the academic process begins with our world-class faculty who develop student learning outcomes and corresponding performance measures for each academic program. The learning outcomes motivate and direct the design of course curriculum including the crafting of learning experiences which may include lectures, laboratory experiments, discussions, group projects, service learning experiences, research projects, term papers, practicums and even internships - whatever best accomplishes the learning outcomes. Part of that planning process is also to define when and how learning outcome assessment data will be collected, analyzed and used for the purpose of program improvement. The ultimate goal is to demonstrate, with outcome-based evidence, that we are accomplishing our mission.
System Diagram
This diagram is interactive and, in the spirit of continuous improvement, grows and changes regularly. Many of the Process rectangles are active. Clicking them will reveal additional sub-processes. This system represents the three fundamental components of continuous improvement: 1) Outcomes/goals (blue), 2) Evidence of performance (green), 3) Strategies and techniques (purple). The blue and the green items are constant while the purple processes are changeable through evidence-based instructional practice research and application.