Assessment

Assessment and Evaluation Applications in Student Affairs

Student Affairs Administrators

Faculty

Students

Other Stakeholders (parents of students, state legislators, state & government agencies, members of the community).

Educate Communicate

Disseminate Results of Assessment Share with appropriate audiences Triangulate info-sharing efforts with largest number constituents Consider who the audience is and the type information to be shared: newsletters, face to face meetings, presentations, campus-wide emails, and institution website.

Formulate ways to use results to make informed decisions to improve student learning experiences

Organize specific report with:

mission

goals

learning outcomes

methods of data collection

results

recommendations and decisions

implementation of revised plan

Possible Pitfalls of Disseminating and Using Results:

senior level leadership sees it first

keep them in the loop

some sharing with the public

results don’t change, but the nature of the presentation does according to the audience

“draft” until final recommendations are made

There should be a balance of student success and institutional priorities reflected in the use of the outcomes.

Tie assessment results to budgeting and funding.

Deadlines should be set for the use process and evaluate the effectiveness of the process.

Potential Pitfalls to Results Use and Dissemination

How and with who results will be shared.

Results from assessments should link to decisions that reinforce initiatives and planning priorities, or the process may lose the organization’s focus on improving student success.

Allocation of resources by leadership to implement decisions.

Process Questions Data Usage Questions Selection of stakeholders, steering committees,

to decide on course of action. Using rubric of planning and evaluation

standards Once agreement among stakeholders, results

can be published on website. Professional Development Plan creates a

common starting point “Train the trainer” models with key faculty

Program review data collected

Professionals learn to use the data

Meta-assessment process

Professional development is evaluated for its effectiveness.

Is the process sustainable over time?

Training schedule presented to college, unit

Work with key leadership to establish a core training team

“Train the trainer model”

Workshop evaluations.

How to contribute to student learning and development

Better understanding of purpose for the organization.

Goals of the organization should be reinforced through decision making.

Financial Aid

Admissions

Residential Life

Why Assessments are necessary in Financial Aid

Enrollment- Necessary for correct information be received

by parents and students to comprehend financial assistance or students will choose to go elsewhere

Budget – If financial aid office does not effectively and astutely distribute funds, students will take their scholarship and aid money to other schools which impacts available funds

Retention – If students are unable to finance their education and do not understand how to navigate through the financial aid process they will not persist.

Communication ◦ High School Students ◦ Applicants ◦ Enrolled Students ◦ Parents

Comprehension ◦ FAFSA ◦ Government Regulations ◦ Application Process

Programs ◦ Literature

Satisfaction ◦ Enrolled students ◦ Graduated students

Service ◦ Timely ◦ Informative ◦ Compassionate

Quantitative ◦ Satisfaction Process Survey

Enrolled Students Graduates

◦ Comprehension Survey ◦ Survey after Freshman Orientation for students and

parents

Qualitative Interview Parents and Students on difficulty Exit interview with graduating seniors on service received and improvements

Why Assessments are necessary in Admissions

Enrollment – Admissions are responsible for recruiting and enrolling students.

Budget –The number of students effects tuition money which influences budgets

Retention – Selecting the right student – who will be successful academically and persist is paramount

Why Student’s Enroll

Why Accepted Students choose to go elsewhere

Marketing tools and College Fair recruitment

Admission Process itself

CAS standards

How enrollment supports institution’s mission

Quantitative survey ◦ for data concerning application numbers vs. acceptance

numbers vs. enrollment numbers. ◦ Retention numbers for year two ◦ Satisfaction on admission process –Likert scale Qualitative Interview or focus group Reasons for choosing institutions Reasons for not choosing institution Suggestions for improving process

Why Assessments are necessary in Residential Life

Enrollment – students could be influenced by

quality of residential halls Budget - if students choose to live off

campus, less money is available for the institution’s budget

Retention – if students successfully transition to campus, the higher their chance of persisting.

Needs

Satisfaction ◦ Physical space

◦ Programming

◦ Food

Safety

Wants

Culture

Mixed Methodology ◦ Quantitative survey effective to survey current

satisfaction of status of Residential Hall

Create survey

Utilize Resident Satisfaction Survey – created by The Association of College and University Housing Officers –International and Educational Benchmarking, Inc.

◦ Qualitative to gauge their unmet needs and suggestions for improvement and new programming

Conducted by RA’s or RD’s

Either through interview, observation, focus groups