Assessment Day

If you are an undergraduate student enrolled in Spring 2024, you are expected to participate in Assessment Day. If there is an emergency or an extenuating circumstance that prevents you from participating, please send an email to opie@vsu.edu.

Yes. All students are given one assessment.  Occasionally, the assessment is the same, and sometimes it is different.  If you have the same assessment as last year, we will examine your growth or improvement in that particular subject matter.

If any student requires academic accommodations, please contact the Student Accessibility Office at 804-524-5061 or visit Memorial Hall, room 107 or 110, to coordinate your reasonable accommodations. If you have not already done so, you must establish your eligibility to request services at  sao@vsu.edu. Please make the appropriate arrangements in advance, preferably by January 31.

The exam will address one of the following: Written Communication, Quantitative Reasoning, Critical Thinking, or Civic Engagement. You will receive an email or announcement at least 24 hours prior to the exam, which will let you know which exam you will be taking.

All the tests will be given electronically. The assessments for civic engagement and critical thinking are created by Territorium, which is a profitable and private company with over 12 million users worldwide. The professors at VSU designed the assessments for quantitative reasoning and written communication.

There is no need to study for Assessment Day. It is essential to try your best and demonstrate your capabilities. Please answer all questions and put forth your best effort.

There will be a window of time to take the exam. Make sure you have a dependable internet connection and are away from distractions.

No, students are not required to retake the test based on performance. It is not expected that everyone has mastered all the material on the exam.  We expect that a senior may have mastered different skills than a freshman.  We also realize that a STEM major may perform better on a quantitative exam than a non-STEM major.  However, the exams are designed to allow VSU to make informed decisions to enhance the curriculum, improve the overall learning experience, and achieve our institution's goals.

All undergraduate students participate because we need to know that VSU is providing our students with a quality education.  It is almost like the “institutional report card”.

We are also following the guidelines established by the State Council of Higher Education for Virginia (SCHEV).  To learn more, view here.

Assessment results are used to inform program changes and improvements. It will help us gather relevant information about student performance and progress.

Additionally, the results of the institution (not individuals) will be made public on VSU’s website, which is a requirement by the State Council of Higher Education for Virginia (SCHEV).