Week 2 - Student Affairs Practitioners as Assessment Practitioners

Student Affairs Practitioners as Assessment Practitioners

As the call to demonstrate the value and learning outcomes of programs grows, student affairs practitioners are increasingly finding themselves responsible for comprehensive assessment activities from instrument development to data analysis and reporting. This emphasis on assessment within the realm of student affairs practice is illustrated through a variety of publications and programs including:
“Assessment Tips for Student Affairs Professionals” (Bauer & Hanson) http://www.elcamino.edu/administration/vpsca/docs/assessment/AssessmentTips_StudentAffairs_NASPA.pdf

The Student Learning Imperative: Implications for Student Affairs

(American College Personnel Association) http://www.acpa.nche.edu/sli/sli.htm

Many large universities now have a student affairs assessment office with one or multiple full-time staff and graduate students to oversee and assist with assessment projects including collaborations with other campus entities including Institutional Research and Academic Affairs. Many offices maintain websites with sample instruments, assessment plans and the results of recent student affairs assessment projects as a model and source of information for student assessment practitioners. NASPA’s SAAER Knowledge Community maintains a list of relevant student affairs assessment websites from a variety of institutions. http://www.naspa.org/kc/saaer/websites.cfm

It is necessary for student affairs departments to conduct program reviews that revisit mission statements, demonstrate evidence for achievement of learning outcomes and benchmark their practices against peer institutions. The Council for the Advancement of Standards in Higher Education (CAS) provides guidelines to assist most student affairs departments in their program reviews with emphasis on learning outcomes. Other departments may choose to use standards set by their professional organizations.

NASPA’s Framework for Assessment http://www.uncc.edu/stuaffairsFrameworkBrochure-Feb09.pdf


NASPA’s Student Affairs Assessment, Evaluation and Research Knowledge Community provides information such as an Assessment Framework, Student Affairs Websites, Accreditation Websites and Resources as well as a Listserv to foster networking and disseminate information. The Assessment Framework is particularly useful in allowing practitioners to select training options and to develop in-house training seminars for their colleagues throughout Student Affairs. http://www.naspa.org/kc/saaer/default.cfm

Conferences dedicated to student affairs assessment like the IUPUI Assessment Institute, ACPA’s Assessment In Student Affairs Institute and NASPA’s International Assessment and Retention Conference draw assessment practitioners from around the world to share best practices, research and novel strategies employed at their institutions. These assessment conferences address a wide range of topics in student affairs from creating comprehensive assessment plans to finding time for assessment to issues of retention and graduation. http://www.myacpa.org/pd/assessment/
http://www.assessconf.net/
http://planning.iupui.edu/701.html

Beyond external assessment resources available to practitioners, another suggestion is reaching out to staff, that have experience with qualitative and quantitative research within your Division. Planning a series of internal assessment brownbag sessions would assist staff members whose direct role may not be assessment. Topics which could prove helpful include utilizing survey data, interpreting results, and conducting focus groups. Building partnerships with the College of Education faculty and Institutional Research would be advantageous.

Authors: Dr. Sharon Karackattu, Director, and Jason F. Simon, M. Ed., Graduate Assistant Planning and Assessment Office in Student Development, University of North Texas

Question: What other resources would you suggest to improve assessment activities?