Selected Contemporary Assessment Issues E-Book

• Herausgeber: John Wiley & Sons
• Kategorie: Bildung
• Serie: J-B SS Single Issue Student Services
• Sprache: Englisch

Seitenzahl: 212

Veröffentlichungsjahr: 2013

Beschreibung

As demands for accountability escalate, assessment continues toevolve as a central aspect of student affairs administration.Experience clearly indicates that without a robust portfolio ofassessment activities, the services, programs, and activities of astudent affairs division are at risk of being reassigned to otherorganizational units on campus--or, in a tight budgetaryenvironment, being eliminated. This sourcebook reminds student affairs educators of theimportance of developing an assessment program and explores topicsthat will add depth and richness to such a program. From specificmetrics to broad strategies for developing collaborative activitiesinvolving academic and student affairs, it shows how to integratevaluable resources into the assessment process and how to use thatprocess to enhance the student experience. The authors also takethe largest view, offering advice on developing an institutionalculture of assessment and planning future actions that will bestserve students during their collegiate years. This is the 142nd volume of this Jossey-Bass highereducation quarterly series. An indispensable resource for vicepresidents of student affairs, deans of students, studentcounselors, and other student services professionals, NewDirections for Student Services offers guidelines andprograms for aiding students in their total development: emotional,social, physical, and intellectual.

Leseprobe

Table of Contents

Title page

Copyright page

Editor's Notes

Chapter 1: Challenges of Assessment in Student Affairs

The Climate for Assessment in Higher Education

Assessment Challenges in Student Affairs

Using Assessment to Make Management and Policy Decisions

Knowledge Discovery through Data Mining

The Politics of Assessment

Conclusions

Chapter 2: The Role of the Assessment Coordinator in a Division of Student Affairs

Role of Assessment Coordinator

Challenges

Examples of Assessments and Impact of Results

Conclusion

Chapter 3: Using the CAS Standards in Assessment Projects

Determining Quality through the Use of Standards

Examples of Assessment Using CAS Standards

Considerations in Using CAS

Conclusion

Chapter 4: From Classroom to Practice: A Partnership Approach to Assessment

Course Description

Project Description and Examples

Evaluation and Revisions

Considerations for Implementation

Concluding Thoughts

Chapter 5: Collaborating on Assessment of the Undergraduate Student Experience

Student Life Strategic Planning

Retention and Transition Initiatives: A Partnership

Ignite Program

Life of the Mind/Welcome Week

Assessment and Strategic Planning: Successes and Opportunities

Chapter 6: How Assessment Can Advance Efforts to Enhance Undergraduate Student Persistence

Using Assessment to Supplement Research on Student Persistence

Types of Assessment

Seidman's Retention Formula

Summary

Chapter 7: Developing and Using Dashboard Indicators in Student Affairs Assessment

The Origins of Dashboards

What Is a Dashboard?

Dashboards in the Context of Higher Education and Student Affairs

Dashboard Indicators in Higher Education and Student Affairs

Challenges and Opportunities in Using Dashboard Indicators

Conclusion

Chapter 8: Measuring the Second-Year Transformational Experience Program (STEP) at The Ohio State University

Framework of the STEP Program

The STEP Program

Measuring Success

Conclusion

Chapter 9: Developing a Culture of Assessment in Student Affairs

Elements of a Culture of Assessment

Conclusion

Chapter 10: Afterword: Considerations for Future Practice of Assessment and Accountability

Index

Selected Contemporary Assessment Issues

John H. Schuh (ed.)

New Directions for Student Services, no. 142

Elizabeth J. Whitt, Editor-in-Chief

John H. Schuh, Associate Editor

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Editor's Notes

Assessment in student affairs is a topic that has generated increasing interest on the part of practitioners and faculty in graduate preparation programs in recent years, as Sandeen and Barr (2006) have pointed out. While references are made to evaluation and research in the 1937 foundational document The Student Personnel Point of View (National Association of Student Personnel Administrators, 1989), as increasing pressure has been placed on higher education to be accountable to its various stakeholders and to improve, interest in assessment has increased. Lee Upcraft and I were fortunate enough to get in on the ground floor of the assessment movement (1996), and subsequently we published a number of papers and a second book (Schuh, Upcraft, and Associates, 2001) that focused on topics related to assessment in student affairs.

When the third volume on assessment in student affairs with which I was associated was published (2009), I thought the topic had been pretty well exhausted (or maybe that was autobiographical), and I did not think that I would be associated with any more publications that focused on assessment. I was quite wrong in this analysis and have found that, as I have done additional consulting and speaking about assessment, new and, in my judgment, important topics related to assessment in student affairs have emerged. This volume has been developed to explore several of these topics that provide depth to the study and practice of assessment in student affairs. Whether other topics will emerge in the coming years is unknown at the time of this writing. What I am sure of is that the contributors to this volume will continue to study and refine assessment topics, and they will make contributions that will advance their craft.

I selected the topics for this volume based on conversations with student affairs educators and faculty I have encountered since the 2009 volume was published. Certainly my methodology is less than systematic, but these topics seemed to be of interest to practitioners in recent years. In my view, the authors are experts in the subject matter they have contributed. I have heard them discuss their topics at conferences or had conversations with them about their work on a number of occasions and always have been very impressed with their knowledge about assessment in student affairs. I am confident that they have a great deal to contribute to the ongoing discussion about assessment in student affairs, and I am grateful to them for their contributions to this volume.

Gregory S. Blimling frames the volume by discussing contemporary challenges faced by student affairs educators in assessment. Gregory is well placed to lead the conversation. For twenty-two years he was the senior student affairs officer at two institutions, Appalachian State University and Rutgers University, and he has been a leading scholar practitioner in student affairs. Gregory is now a faculty member at Rutgers.

Carolyn H. Livingston and Jonathan D. Zerulik from Emory University describe the role of the assessment coordinator in a division of student affairs. Carolyn serves in that role at Emory, and Jonathan also provides leadership for assessment activities at Emory. They have helped Emory University develop an impressive record of assessment in student affairs.

The Council for the Advancement of Standards in Higher Education (CAS) long has advocated that student affairs educators include assessment as one of their routine activities. In Chapter Three, Laura A. Dean, who is president of CAS and also a faculty member at the University of Georgia, has focused on using the CAS standards in student affairs assessment. Laura has an important message to share about using these standards in assessment.

J. Patrick Biddix has developed a graduate course at the University of Tennessee, Knoxville (UTK), that is designed to prepare graduate students to conduct assessments in student affairs after they become full-time practitioners. He has nurtured relationships with various departments and programs in student affairs as well as other units, such as the graduate college, at UTK that provide sites for his students to hone their assessment skills. The value, of course, of these assessments is that not only do the students sharpen their skills; they also provide useful information for the units that serve as sites. He shares his experiences in Chapter Four.

Chapter Five describes collaborative relationships between academic and student affairs at UTK informed by an ambitious strategic plan. Melissa S. Shivers and Sally J. McMillan describe how they and their divisions work together to enhance the student experience. They acknowledge that the collaboration between academic and student affairs is not always easy, but they also assert, with excellent evidence, that their working together enhances the student experience.

Ann M. Gansemer-Topf has worked in institutional research at Grinnell College and in admissions at Iowa State University. Now a faculty member, Ann describes how assessment can be used to improve retention efforts. In Chapter Six Ann provides details about the role of assessment in efforts designed to improve undergraduate retention efforts.

Dashboard indicators increasingly can be found on websites of institutions of higher education. I thought it would be useful to provide a discussion of how dashboard indicators can be used as an assessment and management tool in student affairs. Joshua J. Mitchell and Andrew J. Ryder have worked with dashboard indicators over the past few years and provide a lucid discussion of them in Chapter Seven.

Lance C. Kennedy-Phillips and I worked together on an assessment project at King Fahd University of Petroleum and Minerals in Dhahran, Saudi Arabia, in October 2012. During our work, he described the role of assessment in the development of a major initiative at Ohio State University. I found his story to be captivating and asked if he would share it in the form of a case study. He and Kellie J. Uhrig generously agreed to do so, and the case is included as Chapter Eight.

What are the characteristics of student affairs organizations that have integrated assessment into their routine practice? I explore that topic in Chapter Nine and provide a dozen characteristics that I think are part of a culture of assessment.

After all the chapters were written, I invited noted assessment expert Marilee J. Bresciani to write an afterword, and she agreed to do so. In her contribution she presents challenges that those engaged in assessment need to consider as their work moves forward.

I trust that this volume will help stimulate ongoing conversations about assessment in student affairs. Best wishes as your important work as student affairs educators contributes to the learning of our students.

John H. Schuh

Editor

References

National Association of Student Personnel Administrators. Points of View. Washington, D.C.: National Association of Student Personnel Administrators, 1989.

Sandeen, A., and Barr, M. J. Critical Issues for Student Affairs. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass, 2006.

Schuh, J. H., and Associates. Assessment Methods for Student Affairs. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass, 2009.

Schuh, J. H., Upcraft, M. L., and Associates. Assessment Practice in Student Affairs: An Applications Manual. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass, 2001.

Upcraft, M. L., and Schuh, J. H. Assessment in Student Affairs. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass, 1996.

John H. Schuh is Distinguished Professor of Educational Leadership and Policy Studies Emeritus at Iowa State University.

1

Challenges of Assessment in Student Affairs

Gregory S. Blimling

This chapter focuses on how the climate of accountability in higher education is compelling student affairs organizations to develop comprehensive assessment programs, the challenges faced in creating those programs, and ways student affairs professionals can meet those challenges.