This reflective case study uses one public university example to explore the role of student learning outcomes assessment in the improvement of general education programs. These programs are a universal feature of higher education in the United States, requiring learning experiences for all students at an institution—but with little likely commitment from the faculty. Our university's efforts to overcome faculty apathy and resistance, build a responsive assessment system, and direct it toward transformation of our program are instructive beyond the higher education context. We take a participatory, utilization‐focused approach and reflect on what we have learned as it illuminates both the relevance of evaluation concepts to our work in assessment and the contributions from our context to the broader domains of evaluation conceptualization and practice.