While it's true that some assessment is performed "by the institution," there were examples at Alverno where it became broader. For instance, there were at least two points in my curriculum that I was required to be assessed by "external assessors," who were volunteers from local business and institutions. Given a set of criteria (based on the 8 competencies), each assessor was paired with a student. During one, I remember being in a room with students and we simulated a "meeting" involving a task. One assessor watched my performance, took notes, and then met with me to provide feedback.

Also, in several of my classes, our semester-long projects involved outside clients. For instance, in Marketing 101, a not-for-profit agency was our client, and in groups, we each had to create marketing packages to present to the client. Their feedback was incorporated into our overall class success. Or, when learning web pages, I created a web site for an outside client - who gave feedback based on their satisfaction.