Office of Institutional Research,
Assessment, and Data Analytics

Wilson Hall, Room 512
371 Wilson Boulevard
Rochester, MI 48309-4486
(location map)
(248) 370-2387
oira@oakland.edu

General Education Assessment

The General Education Assessment Committee (GEAC) is a standing committee appointed by the OU Senate to oversee assessment of general education courses and the overall program.

Questions about gen ed assessment? Contact tollon@oakland.edu.

Overview
OU’s General Education program is reviewed regularly to ensure that courses offered under the Foundations, Explorations, and Integration Knowledge areas are meeting student learning outcomes.

Departments that are interested in offering a course in the General Education program submit an application, along with an assessment plan and a course syllabus.

Currently approved general education courses are listed in the Undergraduate Catalog.
Learning Outcomes

General Education Assessment is focused on evaluating student performance relative to General Education Student Learning Outcomes (GESLOs). Learning outcomes describe what Oakland University expects students to know or be able to do after receiving instruction or engaging in a learning activity. Each of the three broad General Education knowledge areas Foundations, Explorations and Integration includes sub-categories with their own distinct pair of GESLOs.

Additionally, each General Education course is expected to address at least one of four University Learning Outcomes (ULOs). The ULOs are addressed throughout the curriculum: Writing Foundations courses address information literacy, Writing Intensive courses include effective communication, Formal Reasoning courses address critical thinking, and Global Perspective include social awareness

Assessment Schedule

Assessment Schedule
General education courses are assessed on a four-year cycle. The schedule shows when to collect data and when to submit reports for courses in each knowledge area.

Knowledge AreaCollect DataSubmit Report
Arts, Western Civilization2022-20232023-2024
Language and Culture, Global Perspective, Literature2023-20242024-2025
Formal Reasoning, Natural Science and Technology, Social Science, Writing Foundations2024-20252025-2026
Capstone2025-20262026-2027