STUDENT AFFAIRS ASSESSMENT A comprehensive, centralized approach

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STUDENT AFFAIRS ASSESSMENT A comprehensive,
centralized approach
Lori Varlotta, Vice President for Student Affairs
January, 2007
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What is Assessment?

• Sacramento States Division of Student Affairs
  sees assessment as an ongoing process primarily
  aimed at one of two things 1) improving
  programs or services, and 2) understanding and
  eventually increasing student learning.
• To reach those goals, the Division must
• Make program objectives and student learning
  outcomes explicit and public
• Set appropriate criteria and high expectations
  systematically gather, analyze, and interpret
  evidence to determine how well programs and
  services matches those expectations and standards
• Use the resulting data to document, explain, and
  improve programs, services, and student learning
  outcomes.

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Expanding the Definition of Student Learning

• At Sacramento State University, the Division of
  Student Affairs defines student learning as a
  comprehensive, holistic, transformative activity
  that integrates academic learning and student
  development, processes that have often been
  considered separate, and even independent of each
  other.
• When we say learning, then, we do not mean
  exclusively or primarily academic instruction,
  the acquisition of disciplinary content, or
  classroom learning.

(quoted directly from Learning Reconsidered A
Campus-wide Focus on the Student Experience)
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Why Do It?

• Assessment will allow us to
• Demonstrate how Student Affairs contributes to
  student learning and student success
• Showcase our strengths
• Identify areas where we can improve
• Strategically align ourselves with
• Chancellors Office Graduation Initiative
• University planning Destination 2010
• WASC requirements to demonstrate the impact of
  Student Affairs on student learning
• Respond to public calls for increased
  accountability

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Other Good Reasons to do Assessment

• The Vice President of Student Affairs holds each
  director responsible for conceptualizing and
  implementing an assessment plan.
• The directors annual evaluation includes
  commentary on assessment.
• Assessment data has supported requests for
  additional staff and/or funding.

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Why this Particular Assessment Approach is So
Exciting

• A true collaboration with departments within and
  outside the Division of Student Affairs
  (Institutional Research, ASI, program units,
  Provost, academic departments)
• Comprehensive and centralized a level of
  consistency throughout Division and uniquely
  designed for each department
• Directly tied to the Chancellors Office
  Graduation Initiative, WASC requirements,
  Strategic Plan, etc.
• Moves beyond student satisfaction to student
  learning

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Role of Institutional Research
Utilizing On Campus Expertise

• To support the vision of the Vice President of
  Student Affairs and assist Student Affairs
  Directors (via on-going consultations, one-on-one
  meetings, survey development and data analyses)
  in developing departmental assessment plans that
  are aligned with Destination 2010 and the WASC
  re-accreditation.

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Six Step Assessment Model

• Mission 2-3 sentences that articulate office
  name, primary purpose, primary activities,
  audience
• Goals top 3-5 planning-type statements
• Program Objectives and Learning Outcomes 3-5
  specific (i.e. measurable) statements
• Measures Direct measures can verify learning
  outcomes, attitudinal change or behavior
  modification. Indirect measures typically
  reflect student satisfaction and/or self-reported
  understandings
• Collection of Data Research instruments (e.g.,
  pre-post tests, surveys, focus groups,
  performances) designed to gather qualitative
  quantitative information
• Closing the Circle Resultant data should be
  used when considering program improvement
  modifications, etc.

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Step 1 Mission

• Mission statement should be an expanded statement
  of either institutional or divisional purpose.

Extract from University Mission Statement
California State University, Sacramento is
dedicated to the life-altering potential of
learning that balances a liberal arts education
with depth of knowledge in a discipline. We are
committed to providing an excellent education to
all eligible applicants who aspire to expand
their knowledge and prepare themselves for
meaningful lives, careers, and service to their
community..
Academic Advising Center Mission The Academic
Advising Center offers new student orientation,
mandatory freshman advising, and advising on
General Education and graduation requirements for
all students. The Center engages students in a
developmental process that helps clarify and
implement individual educational plans consistent
with their skills, interests, and values. Through
individual appointments, group advising sessions,
and presentations the professional staff, faculty
advisors, and student interns help students
understand the universitys academic requirements
as well as its policies and procedures. As a
result, students are better prepared to take
responsibility for their education and persist
towards a timely graduation.
Office Name
Primary Purpose
Primary Activities
Target Audiences
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Step 2 Goals

• Goals are
• Broad statements that describe the overarching
  long-range intended outcomes of an administrative
  unit.
• Usually not measurable and need to be further
  developed as separate distinguishable outcomes
• Primarily used for general planning and are
  used as the starting point to the development and
  refinement of outcomes.
• (From the Administrative Assessment Handbook
  University of Central Florida)

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Examples of Office Goals
Academic Advising Center Goals

• ? Help students clarify and implement individual
  educational plans which are consistent with their
  skills, interests, and values.
• ? Help students gain an understanding of the
  universitys academic requirements as well as its
  policies and procedures
• ? Prepare students to take responsibility for
  their education and persist towards a timely
  graduation

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Step 3 Objectives

• Objectives
• Are specific statements that describe desired
  outcomes derived from the goal statements of the
  unit
• May relate to the operations and processes of the
  unit
• May also relate to intended attitudes or
  behaviors that a student having used the services
  provided by the unit should demonstrate.
• (Administrative Assessment Handbook University
  of Central Florida)

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Examples of Office Objectives
Academic Advising Center Objectives

• Objective 1 New students will have knowledge of
  university General Education, academic
  requirements and resources through comprehensive
  freshman, transfer and parent orientation
  programs.
• Objective 2 All freshmen will participate in a
  three-phase comprehensive, proactive advising and
  major/career exploration program by spring 2007.
• Objective 3 Develop an assessment model by
  December 2006 for the Freshman Advising Program
  to measure the impact of developmental academic
  advising.
• Objective 4 There will be a five percent
  increase in the retention of students who have
  been reinstated as Undeclared majors. These
  students will receive comprehensive advising and
  will achieve good academic standing by the
  following semester after reinstatement.

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Step 4 Measures
Academic Advising Center Measures
Objective 1 Measures Orientation Survey of new
students (pre/post test or post test only) to
immediately assess the impact of orientation
(through both online and traditional sessions) on
students knowledge and understanding of academic
requirements and resources. Objective 2
Measures All advising appointments and sessions
will be tracked through a database. Objective 3
Measures Have 70 percent of the students
participate in a survey that measures the impact
of the advising program and how it affected their
confidence in selecting a major and making
informed decisions. Objective 4 Measures Track
through database and advising sessions. Grades
will be analyzed by the end of the following
semester after reinstatement.
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Step 5 Assessment Data

• Assessment data should highlight all significant
  findings, and indicate the extent to which the
  program/service reached its intended outcomes.

Step 6 Use of Results
The results should explain how the findings from
data will be used to improve the program and/or
increase student learning.
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Suggested Reading

• The National Association of Student Personnel
  Administrators The American College Personnel
  Association. (2004). Learning Reconsidered A
  campus-wide focus on the student experience.
• American College Personnel Association (1994).
  The student learning imperative Implications for
  student affairs. Washington, DC.
• American College Personnel Association. (1996)
  The student learning imperative Implications for
  student affairs on-line. Available
  www.acpa.nche.edu/sli/sli.htm
• American College Personnel Association and
  National Association of Student Personnel
  Administrators (1997). Principles of good
  practice for student affairs on-line.
  Available www.acpa.nche.edu/pgp/principle.htm
• Joint task Force on Student Learning. (1998)
  Powerful partnerships A shared responsibility
  for learning on-line. Available
  www.aahe.org/teaching/tsk_frce.htm
• National Association of Student Personnel
  Administrators (1987). A perspective on student
  affairs. Washington DC.