Co-curricular life plays an important role in the student experience at UW–Madison. Students engage in structured, non-credit activities that highlight, integrate and enhance formal academic learning. As such, assessment planning also includes the identification of the range of co-curricular educational experiences through which students demonstrate learning. Co-curricular units and programs set priorities including strategic outcomes, assess these outcomes and report on progress annually. Examples of these co-curricular experiences include Our Wisconsin (an inclusion education program), AlcoholEdu (an online course about the impact of alcohol), SOAR (Student Orientation, Advising and Registration, a program designed to help students transition to UW–Madison), U Got This! and GetWIse@Home (prevention programs about sexual assault and dating violence), and the Leadership Certificate Program.
In addition, academic departments are encouraged to collaborate with co-curricular programs to identify instances in which students demonstrate learning related to the articulated program-level learning outcomes. Assessment activities designed around these out-of-classroom experiences may be included in the program’s annual assessment report. For example, student leadership activities, student governance work or volunteer opportunities in which students meet intended learning expectations often support academic learning outcomes.
For additional information about co-curricular programs, visit the Division of Student Life website.