A Proposed Framework for Assessing Interdisciplinary Programs

The increase in frequency and popularity of interdisciplinary programs at colleges and universities have led to an increased need for successful assessment models for these unique programs. While these programs are beneficial for institutions and students alike, they often involve several different academic departments and have a curriculum that is complicated, among other challenges. These factors make the design and implementation of a cohesive assessment plan difficult. This session at the 2026 AALHE Annual Conference presented a framework for creating an effective assessment plan for interdisciplinary programs that draws upon community-based learning and research best practice models. The resulting framework describes a four-step cycle: connect, assess, adapt, and construct. Utilizing this framework results in an assessment strategy that focuses on communication, relationship building, sustainability, cognizance of faculty workload, and iteration. This model was used as a basis for creating the assessment plan for the University of Rochester’s Latin American, Caribbean, and Latinx studies interdisciplinary major. The program was pulled together from existing courses in the history, Spanish, anthropology, and political science disciplines and was created as a result of faculty and student interest. The two-year process of creating the program used the connect, assess, adapt, construct framework to build and implement an assessment strategy that has successfully completed its first year of implementation and is already engaging in the iterative framework to learn and improve as the program grows.