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MSU Graduates are Effective Communicators 

Graduates use written, spoken, and visual communication to create meaning, build relationships, foster understanding, and persuade. They express their ideas in manners appropriate for their intended audience and for their intended context. Graduates collaborate with others by openly and constructively giving and receiving feedback and use that feedback to revise and improve their own communication. They demonstrate facility in analyzing, interpreting, and understanding sources of information and in constructing persuasive arguments in ways that empower and challenge their own and other’s thinking. 

Student work from the W and US core perspectives are required to incorporate Effective Communicators into their course and assignments.  The following Core perspectives may choose Effective Communicators as a part of their course and assignments:  IA, IH, IN, IS, R.  The Core Curriculum Committee will request student work that has been designed to meet specific criteria for program assessment using a 3-Point Rubric determining whether work is Proficient, Developing, or Beginning.  

Courses integrating the Effective Communicators learning objective are encouraged to address all criteria but must address a minimum of 5 of the 8 criteria and design assignments that can be collected to demonstrate the following:  

Criteria 

Proficient 

Developing 

Beginning 

Criteria not addressed 

Content Development 

Demonstrates depth of understanding, with compelling and well-structured content. 

Develops ideas effectively, though depth or structure may vary in some parts. 

Shows some understanding, but content lacks coherence or development of ideas 

☐ 

Audience and Context Awareness 

Exemplifies nuanced awareness of audience and context, adapting effectively for purpose. 

Demonstrates clear awareness of audience and context, with minor inconsistencies. 

Demonstrates limited awareness of audience and context, with notable gaps. 

☐ 

Feedback Utilization 

Consistently integrates feedback to refine and enhance communication. 

Applies feedback to improve communication, though integration may lack depth. 

Fails to acknowledge or incorporate feedback meaningfully. 

☐ 

Genre and Conventions 

Follows or skillfully adapts genre conventions to enhance impact and clarity. 

Mostly follows genre conventions, with some room for refinement. 

Lacks consistent adherence to genre conventions 

☐ 

Integration of Sources and Evidence 

Uses high-quality, credible, relevant, and well-cited sources to construct well-supported arguments. 

Uses and cites credible sources effectively, with minor lapses in integration or relevance. 

Rarely use credible sources, with little relevance or support for ideas, or rarely acknowledges sources used. 

☐ 

Clarity and Coherence 

Exhibits clear, coherent, and logically organized communication throughout. 

Communicates clearly and logically, though minor areas of inconsistency may exist. 

Lacks clarity or logical organization in significant parts of the communication. 

☐ 

Critical Thinking and Argumentation 

Engages deeply with ideas, presenting well-reasoned and original arguments. 

Presents thoughtful arguments, though reasoning may occasionally lack depth. 

Presents basic arguments with limited originality or depth of reasoning. 

☐ 

Multimodal Communication 

Excels in combining written, oral, and visual communication for maximum impact. 

Effectively uses multiple communication modes, with minor inconsistencies. 

Uses multiple modes of communication, but with significant inconsistencies. 

☐ 

 

Feedback on these rubrics and potential assignments to the Core Curriculum Committee is appreciated for continuous improvement of this assessment process.