Leading Assessment for Student Success

Ten Tenets That Change Culture and Practice in Student Affairs

Rosie Phillips Bingham, Daniel Bureau, Amber Garrison Duncan, Rosie Phillips Bingham, Daniel Bureau, Amber Garrison Duncan

• Publisher: Stylus Publishing
• Year: 2015
• ISBN:
  9781620362242
• Topic: Didattica
• Subtopic: Didattica generale

While both committed to providing effective programs and services that help students succeed in college and beyond, and aware of the increasing demands from internal and external stakeholders that every dollar spent benefits students and contributes to the mission of higher education, student affairs professionals have little guidance about how to create and sustain the culture of assessment to achieve these goals. This book provides the practical directions for embedding assessment in the fabric of practice.The authors in this volume – all experienced senior level leaders who have established programs that exemplify a culture of evidence-based practice – identify and explicate ten tenets of practice for leading and implementing a culture of change committed to student learning and sound assessment methods. Grounded in assessment literature, the tenets are:
1.Understand the Why of Assessment
2.Commit to Student Learning as a Primary Focus
3.Lay the Foundation for a Sustainable Assessment Culture
4.Develop Strategies to Engage Staff in a Commitment to Assessment
5.Provide Recognition and Accountability Structures
6.Reaffirm the Importance of Assessment to Anchor Cultural Change
7.Develop Sound Assessment Plans
8.Connect Assessment Plans to Divisional and Institutional Strategic Plans
9.Determine the Appropriate Methods for Assessing Programs and Services
10.Market Data to Leverage Buy-in, and Promote Utility to the Campus CommunityThe basic premise of this book is that the Senior Student Affairs Officer must be the primary leader and spokesperson for this effort, both in setting the tone and keeping all members of the team accountable for implementation and the commitment of their units. The book opens with an overview of history and purpose and language of assessment, relates it to the educational mission of student affairs, and outlines the four elements necessary to start a culture of assessment: commitment, connection, consistency, and communication. In addressing the role of the Senior Student Affairs Officer, subsequent chapters address the process of gaining "buy-in" and the importance understanding the unique culture of the institution; provide guidance on creating an environment of trust, accountability, and transparency; and describe how to lay the foundations to sustainability through consistency and strong interpersonal and collaborative relationships among the staff.The book concludes by summarizing the essential assessment practices and tools that senior leaders need to be aware of – providing examples of assessment cycle templates that can be applied across departments – and outlining how to establish a strategic plan aligned with institutional mission that is linear, predictable and consistent, and aligned with institutional mission; as well as communicating results both externally and internally for the purposes of improvement.

PART ONE

PHILOSOPHICAL
COMMITMENTS

“Until one is committed, there is hesitancy, the chance to draw back, always ineffectiveness. Concerning all acts of initiative and creation, there is one elementary truth the ignorance of which kills countless ideas and splendid plans: that the moment one definitely commits oneself, then providence moves too.”

W. H. Murray, The Scottish Himalayan Expedition, 1951

“Unless commitment is made, there are only promises and hopes—but no plans.”

Peter F. Drucker, The Five Most Important Questions Self-Assessment Tool, 2010

W hat it means to commit to assessment and student learning has evolved in the twenty-first century for all of higher education. As a reminder and as a call to action, the chapters that follow in this section provide background about why assessment is so important today and the necessity for an easy-to-access theoretical framework for student learning. Over and over we hear that senior leaders must demonstrate an unwavering commitment to these two philosophical concepts that can then create the space for culture and practice changes. With these two commitments, senior leaders can center all work on the student and provide a holistic learning experience that leads to greater student success.

1

TENET ONE: UNDERSTAND
THE “WHY” OF ASSESSMENT

Rosie Phillips Bingham and Daniel A. Bureau

SSAO’s Perspective

Rosie Phillips Bingham

Student affairs professionals have always been dedicated and committed to the development of students through programs, services, and interpersonal connections with students. As professionals, we believe we are critical to helping students achieve their goals. We believe that we help students learn skills that are essential for their success in their professional and personal lives.

This has been the student affairs rhetoric. I believe this to be true. But how do I know?

Assessment is critical to measuring the effect student affairs has on student success. How do I prove this to stakeholders: colleagues across the campus, the students we serve, parents, and external constituents ranging from donors to the federal government? How do I know what impact those programs—from short onetime experiences to ongoing learning opportunities—have on student learning, retention, and overall success? How do I know that having a division of student affairs matters in the larger higher education arena?

These questions led me to begin to work on changing the culture in the division of student affairs when I became the senior student affairs officer (SSAO) in 2003. I wanted us to take our culture of providing excellent programs and services and integrate a culture of curiosity. I wanted us to infuse assessment into our work in a way that would give us evidence that our programs contribute to institutional and divisional goals. We need great programs and services that really make a difference. So I decided to use all the research and scholarship that called on student affairs professionals to focus our efforts on learning and student involvement as the vehicle to help students succeed and graduate. I decided to focus on assessment of what we do.

Assessment is a key to understanding that both learning and purposeful involvement are occurring. As a result of assessing our programs, evidence emerges that tells our story in a way that has meaning and impact. Our story can be explained quantitatively in terms of magnitude, not just anecdotally. Our story can be told in a sophisticated, empirical manner or it can be told in a way that makes sense to all. Regardless of the approach we take to telling the story, an essential part of the student affairs storyline is evidence to ensure we make a difference. I embarked on what has been a 10-year effort to infuse assessment into the work of all in our division.

At the University of Memphis we developed the motto “Students learning through engagement and involvement.” We also created a position entitled director of student learning and assessment. Early on, we provided training to staff and took small steps as we began to make assessment a part of the very fabric of life and work in student affairs. We began to see real results in some departments. Some of those results netted bigger financial investments from the university into the work we were doing in the division. Ten years later, I believe that we must continue to answer the “How do I know?” questions. I believe that the case for assessment is increasing throughout the academy. I believe that student affairs divisions that fail to collect meaningful evidence of contributions may be facing extinction. I believe in the why of assessment, and that’s the focus of this chapter.

Always the Struggle: How to Tell the Story

Throughout our history, the field of student affairs has struggled with telling its story in a way that speaks to decision makers; however, this task has always been a part of our work. Reviewing early guiding documents such as The Student Personnel Point of View (1937) indicates that student affairs professionals have long been tasked with “carrying on studies designed to evaluate and improve . . . functions and services” (American Council on Education, 1994, p. 42). In fact, an analysis of guiding documents conducted by Evans and Reason (2001) revealed that an orientation toward empirically grounded initiatives in student affairs work was found in 11 of 13 guiding documents from 1937 to 1999. Some think the empirical approach to work in student affairs is new, but it has long been part of the DNA of our work.

Additionally, the development of the Council for the Advancement of Standards in Higher Education (CAS) in 1979 came from a need to unite student affairs practitioners in a shared pursuit of excellence. By nature, the CAS standards were driven by interassociation collaboration across diverse student affairs functions. Such collaboration was founded on the development of shared and distinctive standards for functional areas within student affairs and higher education. The ability to document how these standards were actualized becomes tantamount to their implementation. As a result, since their inception, the CAS standards have been widely applied for assessment within student affairs (Arminio, 2009).

Many point to Upcraft and Schuh’s 1996 work, Assessment in Student Affairs: A Guide for Practitioners, as the turning point for prioritizing assessment within modern-day student affairs. In fact, the foreword to that text may sound very familiar to you as you read this chapter. Upcraft and Schuh (1996) explained:

For many reasons . . . student affairs needs high quality and comprehensive assessment programs. Unfortunately, among staff in student affairs, assessment is an unknown quantity at best, or at the worst, it is misunderstood and misused. It has been our experience that while everyone in student affairs would agree that assessment is important, too often it is considered a low priority and never conducted in any systematic, comprehensive way. (p. 4)

Almost 20 years later, how far has the needle moved? In some contexts, assessment is a part of the culture of student affairs practice. In others it might be an afterthought or something that is done without much planning or intention. Assessment is inherently intentional and focused on predetermined outcomes for students. Stories upon stories can be told about how our field has not been able to prioritize and integrate assessment in its day-to-day work. Such a reality means that even good intentions have not resulted in assessment being well integrated into the purpose of student affairs for the last 100 years.

Today’s field demands more of professionals and many are not meeting the expectations of modern-day student affairs (Kuk, Cobb, & Forrest, 2007). Assessment has moved beyond a trend and has become a framework for practice rather than an add-on activity (Schuh & Gansemer-Topf, 2010). The field continues to move to a place where assessment is a professional priority and a necessary competency (American College Personnel Association & National Association of Student Personnel Administrators, 2010). There are numerous books, monographs, chapters, and articles written about student affairs assessment. Any review of convention workshop offerings from any functional area of student affairs likely boasts numerous offerings in assessment. Professional associations have affinity groups that come together for the sake of learning about assessment (the American College Personnel Association has a commission; the National Association of Student Personnel Administrators has its Knowledge Community). Finally, a new but emerging association focused primarily on the needs of professionals who conduct student affairs assessment work was established in 2008. Student Affairs Assessment Leaders (SAAL) now has over 400 members. Assessment is our history, our current reality, and essential to our future.

Why Assessment Matters

Some individuals inside and outside of higher education have questioned the importance and criticality of student affairs in the process of students learning course content and obtaining degrees. Answering the question “How critical is student affairs to the higher education enterprise?” has never been more important, and using assessment practices to address that question has become an essential part of modern-day student affairs work (Bresciani, 2010). Assessment practices that have become vital are those that document program and service participation, explain students’ perceptions of the quality of services and programs, and demonstrate the impact of the student affairs function on student learning, retention, and graduation. This chapter explains why assessment matters to student affairs work as well as the differentiation among assessment, research, and evaluation, making the case that assessment matters because it has long been a part of our field’s work and will continue to become more and more important to the future success of student affairs on college and university campuses.

Responding well to questions about the criticality of student affairs to the higher education enterprise is important for two reasons: it provides evidence of both the efficiencies and the effectiveness of our programs but also makes these qualities transparent to stakeholders, most notably the American public. Efficiency in higher education has never been more important, and its influence on student affairs is significant. Most student affairs divisions function with limited resources; therefore, the...

Table of contents

• Cover
• Title
• Copyright
• Contents
• Foreword
• Acknowledgments
• Introduction
• PART ONE: PHILOSOPHICAL COMMITMENTS
• PART TWO: DIVISION LEADERSHIP AND CULTURE
• PART THREE: SOUND ASSESSMENT PRACTICES
• Epilogue: Using the Ten Tenets to Navigate Change
• About the Contributors
• Index
• Also available from Stylus
• Backcover