The College Portrait (formerly Voluntary System of Accountability) is a university-initiated alternative to both USDE control and US News rankings, developed by American Association of State Colleges and Universities (AASCU) and the National Association of State Universities and Land-Grant Colleges (NASULGC). It has been decided that PASSHE universities will be participating. For more information, see the VSA/College Portrait site.

Participation in the Voluntary System of Accountability's College Portrait will require that the University use and publish scores from one of three standardized tests of general education learning outcomes. The following links provide general information about the three instruments:

• An overview of the three instruments is available from VSA.
• "The Role of Published Tests and Assessments in Higher Education" is a brief paper by MSCHE Vice President Linda Suskie on how to use published tests and assessments to supplement locally developed tests, rubrics, and surveys.
• A recent FIPSE-funded study has found high score reliability and high correlations among these three instruments. Both a summary and the full report are available online. Inside Higher Ed subsequently reported on the study and related issues.

Information about each of the three instruments is available in the following links:

• CAAP (College Assessment of Academic Proficiency) from ACT --
  see the Plan Guide for further details
• CLA (Collegiate Learning Assessment), developed by the Council for Aid to Education -- the brochure summarizes additional information
• ETS Proficiency Profile (formerly MAPP)  from the Educational Testing Service (which administers the SAT) -- there is an extensive User's Guide

We anticipate the first administration of one of these instruments during 2010-11. The university's Outcomes Assessment Committee has recommended use of the ETS Proficiency Profile.