We have used Watermark's Planning & Self Study for years now and I love how flexible the system is. We use P&SS for our academic program review, our general education review, our strategic planning, and our accreditation report submission. I think the system is easy enough to use that we can allow faculty to log in and enter the data for their IE data. I really appreciate how easy it is to do a year by year comparison on IE results. I think the reporting features of the accreditation self study areas are excellent. We just completed our ten-year reaffirmation of accreditation, and it was a simple process to use the templates provided by Watermark for our compliance certification, our focused report, and our response report. I would definitely recommend P&SS to other institutions.

Two things that come to mind...

1) It would be nice for Watermark's products to "talk" to each other. For instance, when I'm entering faculty data into P&SS, it would be much easier for me to be able to pull that data directly from Faculty Success. Similarly, it would be nice to be able to pull course information from Curriculum Manager into P&SS or Faculty Success.

2) When we download the yearly reports of the academic program reviews from P&SS, if they are printed, the font is so small it is impossible to read. I've tried formatting the reports every way I can think of, but they are not customizable.

P&SS helps me by combining the function of several different software programs into one. Prior to implementing P&SS, we used a homegrown system for academic program review and core review, we used a competitor for accreditation reporting, and we used yet a different one for strategic planning. It has saved lots of time and headaches to combine them into one.

The ability to create and customize self-study templates allows them to be used for a variety of institutional processes. I also like the ease of use/trainability for new users. Each time we set up a new user with a template, it is very simple to implement for the new users. Our faculty and staff have gotten used to utilizing Watermark for several tasks, and the system is now a part of our program review, assessment, and federal reporting practices.

I would like to be able to create templates for reports that will be created on an annual basis without having to keep "empty shells" there or pay for an additional service for these templates to be added.

We complete our annual internal institutional assessment plans within Watermark. We also utilize Watermark Planning and Self-Study for program review, specialized accreditation reporting, and other routine reports.

It's an easy to use software and almost all faculty note that the features are simple to understand that is visually appealing. The structure is most useful to capturing needed information to inform program improvement. The connection to Canvas for extracting and examining student learning evidence is very helpful.

The ability to use rubrics in assessment plans is great, but the same feature would be as helpful in program review. Most features are easy to manage once somewhat familiar with the system.

Our institution needed to connect student learning measurement to action items in seeking improvement in learning as well as alignment to program level learning outcomes. The curriculum mapping feature is great at connecting the program courses to the sites of assessment.

Watermark Planning and Self-Study offers the integration of academic program review, accreditation self-studies, and strategic planning! If you are using multiple programs supplemented with shared folders or spreadsheets, look no further. Watermark Planning and Self-Study is your answer! The tool is easy to use and is intuiative for infrequent users. My favorite feature is the ability to build onto your program reviews year after year. This provides clear documentation of student learning outcomes, measures, actions, changes, adapted student learning outcomes, new measures, new actions, and so on to show a culture of assessment and continual improvement. Watermark is continually upgrading features so challenges are addressed quickly.

The one downside of Watermark Planning and Self-Study is the set-up and implementation. Let me explain, though. I'm an office of one who had a short timeframe for implementation. I was learning and training at the same time. Consider giving your implementation team the time to be familiar with the product before rolling out to the key stakeholders.

Watermark Planning and Self-Study allows us to focus on improvement rather than the mechanics of where and how to save the data related to academic program reviews.

Watermark Planning and Self-Study houses our program learning outcomes, action plans, and correlated data in one place, making it easy to see trends and to document continuous improvement efforts. It has become an integral part of our annual data analysis process. The platform is intuitive and user-friendly. When I do have a question or techical issue, Watermark's support and customer service are top-notch.

If you are new to the Watermark suite of products, there can be a learning curve. However, I have found that the training and support ease any transition.

Watermark Planning and Self-Study serves as a powerful tool in documenting our program learning outcomes and continuous improvement efforts. This serves us in-house in a myriad of ways, but it also facilitates a smooth evidence process for external accreditors.