Uncategorised

If you have not already heard, Student Life Studies has become Student Affairs Planning, Assessment & Research (SAPAR) to reflect more accurately what we do. Here are some of the highlights and resources for you. In a nutshell, SAPAR helps people answer big questions so they can continually improve.

In terms of planning, we are here to help departments, units, and programs plan for the future. That includes assisting with strategic plans, connecting the Division of Student Affairs strategic plan to department plans, and ultimately connect to their assessment plans. We can also help people examine their assessment planning process to ensure purposes, timeframes, and decision-making align with their needs. The Comprehensive Program Review process not only helps departments assess, it helps them plan for their future directions and needs.

Assessment is probably the most common resource we provide. We help department staff and student organizations define an assessment purpose, collect and analyze data, and make tangible recommendations for improvement (which connects back to planning). This includes developing web-based and paper-based assessment instruments, developing and running focus groups, creating rubrics, and much more. We partner with staff and students to move through the entire assessment cycle. We commonly focus on student learning, satisfaction, and needs. In addition to helping people with assessment projects, we also do a fair amount of training and provide resources on our website.

For research, we are looking at bigger picture questions to understand the student experience at Texas A&M. This includes what students are learning in their employment, leadership, or high impact experiences; sense of wellbeing and belonging; and retention of students participating in Student Affairs programs. We partner with the Office of Institutional Effectiveness & Evaluation for campus-wide surveys, such as the New Aggies Student Survey, Student Experience in the Research University, and the Graduating Senior Survey. Based on those surveys, we communicate about issues specific to students and the Division of Student Affairs.

If you would like to learn more about our services, check out our website. From there, you can access our Learning Center for educational resources (blogs, podcasts, training videos and more), review our summary reports, and better understand our services. If you have any questions, please reach out to us. We are always here to help.

October is Careers in Student Affairs month. In honor of that, here are a few reflections about assessment in student affairs.

All student affairs professionals use assessment, even if they don’t think so. Sometimes it is informal—observing how a program is going, thinking about consistent questions or complaints students have, appreciating alumni who let them know how much the support meant to their college career. Other times it is more formal in terms of a survey, focus group, document review, etc. All of that feeds into the how professionals move through their day and take action.

All student affairs professionals should have some working knowledge of assessment, even if assessment is not their day-to-day work. It is a valuable skill and will help them in decision making about programs, services, outcomes, and resources. The profession expects a certain level of skill as described in the ACPA/NASPA Competencies, for example. In addition, having assessment skills serves them well if they want to move up or around in their careers. Not everyone has assessment experience, so it is really valued.

Finally, I appreciate all of the student affairs professionals who influenced my life, my career, and my success. Although most of them did not talk to me about assessment specifically, we had conversations about making decisions using information. I hope that you have professionals in student affairs that have influenced your life and decision to join the profession. Pass that excitement along to others!

Over a decade ago, Elizabeth Whitt wrote an article for About Campus (January-February, 2006), asking “Are ALL of Your Educators Educating?” I still think about that article today (hence, writing a blog about it in 2018). I agree with the opening statement: “Institutions that excel are filled with educators in the curriculum and the cocurriculum who believe student learning is everyone’s business.” I wholeheartedly agree, and I think the article is still relevant today as we talk about student success and retention. It’s great to get students to graduation, but we cannot underestimate what goes on between matriculation and graduation in terms of student learning.

Whitt made 10 recommendations about creating an engaging campus.
1. Focus on student learning. Period.
2. Create and sustain partnerships for learning.
3. Hold all students to high expectations for engagement and learning, in and out of class, on and off campus.
4. Implement a comprehensive set of safety nets and early warning systems.
5. Teach new students what it takes to succeed.
6. Recognize, affirm, and celebrate the educational value of diversity.
7. Invest in programs and people that demonstrate contributions to student learning and success.
8. Use data to inform decisions.
9. Create spaces for learning.
10. Make every residence hall a learning community

I think all of these ideas are invaluable, especially when used in concert with each other. In the article, Whitt provided reflective questions to consider after the explanation of the recommendation. The questions make you think about where we put our resources, how we integrate the curricular and cocurricular, how we communicate across the institution and with students, and more. I believe that every staff member in student affairs, regardless of position, education level, or time at an institution has a role in educating students and contributing to their success. We shouldn’t leave learning, teaching, and education just to the faculty—we have to be partners in student success.

Are you educating to your fullest potential?

I’m fairly sure that we can agree that students (and staff) are over surveyed, particularly using electronic surveys. I think we can also agree that taking really long surveys is annoying, especially if the questions are not that interesting. On the other hand, part of building a culture of assessment involves collecting information from important stakeholders to help you make decisions. How do you balance that?

I facetiously have said to staff, “You only get five questions…make them good.” Okay, I am being serious when I say that, but it’s hard for people to constrain themselves when there are many interesting data points to collect. That’s the conflict: what is interesting vs. what is necessary information for you to be able to improve your practice.

Let’s face it: there are only some many hours in the day to make changes to your program or service in a given time frame. You can’t focus on more than a few things at any given point, nor is anyone asking you to. So, why are you asking a whole lot of questions that are not going to help you do better? Just because you can, doesn’t mean you should.

When you ask a lot of questions on a survey (“a lot” is a relative term), there are a couple of negative consequences. First, you annoy your respondents. People today do not have time, patience, and attention span to complete a survey more than a few minutes long. This is especially true if they do not have a stake in the topic or outcome. Second, related to the first, your audience will stop answering the survey. If respondents see how long a survey is in the first place, they may not take it. If they start answering a survey and get bored/tired/busy, they will stop answering your survey. The result of that is that you do not get all of the feedback you were looking for and your response rate is low.

So, what’s the answer? When you start thinking about assessment you want to do, particularly an online survey, focus yourself. What are, at most, the five most important pieces of information you NEED to know? It may be that, rather than several scale questions, you ask an open-ended question. Or, you may choose to assess one component this year and another one next year. Or, you may set up your sample so some of them see a set of questions and another portion of your sample sees other questions. You have options.

When in doubt, consult with Student Life Studies. We would be happy to help you streamline your questions!

In June, most of the Student Life Studies staff attended the NASPA Assessment and Persistence Conference where student affairs assessment professionals, institutional researchers, faculty, and administrators came together to talk about the pressing student success issues and what we know from assessment to address some of those issues.

As I was reflecting back on what I learned and how I would use that, several key points stuck with me. First, Tia Brown McNair, from AAC&U, spoke about the difference of being “campus ready” and “student ready.” Most campuses think in “campus ready” terms: are students ready to attend our college? They may not have put things in place to be student ready: What has the campus done to prepare for entering students? Do campuses even know about the students who are entering and what their needs are? What policies and practices are in place that could inhibit success? What biases and assumptions do we have as educators about different demographic groups on our campuses? How do we understand and build upon student assets (rather than focusing on a deficit model)? I think we have to continually challenge ourselves and others to disaggregate data and ask ourselves how a policy/plan may impact specific groups (first-generation, low socio-economic status students, transgender students, students with children, etc.).

One of the other key points is that language is important. Are we all speaking the same language? For example, take a moment in your head to define “first-generation college student.” What is your definition? Neither parent received a four year degree? Neither parent earned a four year degree in the United States? Neither parent has any form of higher education? Does it include nuances for biological parents, guardians, other family members? The more you think about the intricacies of today’s family structure, the more it can be confusing. Do incoming students even know that they are first generation (however you choose to define it)? There are also nuances to First Time in College, transfer students, etc., especially if you consider how students may be getting college credit for experiences, such as being in the military. And then there is “non-traditional” student…. The changing demographics on most campuses these days seem to be making the “non-traditional” the traditional. Students may be older, have families, have been in the military, have significant work experience, attending part-time and working full-time, etc. They are not a monolithic group within “non-traditional.” Before we assess, we need to know how our variables and population are defined.

The last key point for today is that data will continue to be a hot topic. Who has it? Who wants it? How do we share it? What are the ethics around it? Does predictive modeling make assumptions about particular individuals that is damaging? Many campuses are trying to figure out how to combine data to provide a comprehensive picture of students, so there can be successful interventions created and decisions made with evidence. We have to be responsible using it so that we are not drawing incorrect conclusions to the detriment of students.

The conference provided a lot of opportunity to consider where we are going in higher education and what data we need to determine appropriate interventions. Next year, the 2019 conference will be combined with several others to provide a broad focus (and specific tracks) focused on student success, first-generation college students, financial well-being, and more. Lots of information to reflect on!

We’ve been talking a lot lately in the Division of Student Affairs about “Telling Our Story.” That’s a good thing, because some people have said it’s the best kept secret on campus. Assessment can really help you tell your story. Obviously, you should be doing assessment so you know how well you do and how you can improve. But, you can use some of that data to also share your successes with your stakeholders.

First, you need to identify who your stakeholders are. They could be students, staff, faculty, parents, donors, community members….the list goes on. Only after you know who they are can you really determine what story to tell. Each of them might want a slightly different story, just like some people like mysteries or science fiction, while others prefer biographies and romance.

What do you want you stakeholders to know or do? You might want them to know you heard their voices. You might want them to know you have made changes based on assessment. You might share results of interest. But, maybe you want your stakeholders to do something. You might want them to share the information with others. You might want them provide funding for particular programs. Regardless, you have the ability to write the story you want supported by accurate assessment results.

Before you start any assessment project, think about what story you want to tell. That will guide your data collection, analysis, and communication. Put those assessment results to good use to tell your important story!

If you need help with that, please contact Student Life Studies at (979) 862-5624 or sls@tamu.edu.

It’s that time, when people create resolutions to improve something in the new year. You might find it easy to set resolutions about eating right, exercising, stopping bad habits…but be lost about what you want to accomplish with your assessment. Don’t worry, you aren’t the only one, and there are a lot of staff who have successfully reached their assessment goals!

After reading an American Psychological Association article about making your New Year’s resolutions stick (https://www.apa.org/topics/behavioral-health/new-year-resolutions), I thought the suggestions could apply to assessment.

1. Start small—Remember, this is not a dissertation. You do not have to evaluate all your programs (or students) all of the time. Pick one part of one program, pick your executive leaders, pick something you know in your heart is working well. Pick something easy and quick.

2. Change one behavior at a time—Similar to starting small, you don’t have to do it all at one time. Don’t get overwhelmed by all of the assessment options, methods, topics, etc. If you have not done assessment before, think of one area that interests you.

3. Talk about it—Share your ideas and questions with others—in your department, your Assessment Team representative, Student Life Studies….Others can help you overcome your struggles and make assessment less intimidating.

4. Don’t beat yourself up—There is no perfect assessment. Don’t give up if your response rate was low, or students were not as positive in their responses as you thought they would be. Resolve to recover—use the information you do have and revise the assessment for next time.

5. Ask for support—Accept help from those who care, especially Student Life Studies. We can help you feel less overwhelmed and isolated. We can help you with the process and how to make healthy changes for your organization and students.

Student Life Studies here to help you set and reach your assessment goals. You don’t have to do it alone; we are with your every step of the way providing guidance and coaching you to success.

Contact Student Life Studies at (979) 862-5624 or sls@tamu.edu.

It’s that time of year when many of us share gifts and gather together as a community in celebration. What does that look like in student affairs assessment?

By doing assessment, you are giving the gift of storytelling and improvement to those you serve (and will serve in the future). You also give yourself the gift of skills and knowledge, as practice makes better. Because assessment doesn’t take place in a vacuum, you can learn and share with others.

In the past several years, several authors have given us valuable texts about the field. (Looking for that special gift for the student affairs professional in your life? Read on.) Gavin Henning and I wrote Student Affairs Assessment: Theory to Practice as a course textbook, but also a how-to guide for every student affairs professional to build capacity. If you need a self-help book to overcome your fear of statistics, you might think about Student Affairs by the Numbers: Quantitative Research and Statistics for Professionals by Rishi Sriram. For those really excited about student learning, Kuh, et al, wrote Using Evidence of Student Learning to Improve Higher Education. While it takes a faculty perspective, it is applicable to student affairs. In addition, Engagement and Employability: Integrating Career Learning through Cocurricular Experiences in Postsecondary Education edited by Adam Peck provides information about what skills employers are looking for and examples of where students can learn them in a variety of functional areas. I’m looking forward to the release of Patrick Biddix’s Research Methods and Applications for Student Affairs in 2018.

Looking for less commitment/reading, and still want to engage with others about assessment? The relatively new Journal of Student Affairs Inquiry is an online, peer-reviewed publication about what’s happening in student affairs assessment. It’s geared toward practitioner scholars who want to contribute to the scholarship in the field. In addition, NASPA’s Assessment, Evaluation, and Research Knowledge Community provides resources and engagement opportunities for those who are interested in assessment (not necessarily working in assessment directly).

Whether you want to give a tangible gift or something more virtual, you are always welcome to join a community of assessment, where giving and receiving is a way of life.