naspa presentation practical tools for building division-wide assessment capacity adrienne dumpe,...
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NASPA PresentationPractical Tools for Building Division-wide
Assessment Capacity
Adrienne Dumpe, Graduate Assistant, VPSAKatie O’Dair, Director of Assessment and Staff DevelopmentRobyn Priest, Associate Director, Office of Health Promotion
Outcomes for Today’s Session
Through participating in this session, participants will be able to: •Identify the steps involved in assessment planning •Discuss the challenges involved in changing the culture of assessment•Begin to develop an action plan for their home institution •Identify practical tools for use at the programmatic, departmental, and divisional level •Connect with other professionals in student affairs who are doing assessment work
The Changing Mandate of Student Affairs: Learning• Responding to a revised, broader
understanding of learning that integrates development
• Mapping and supporting learning inside and outside classrooms
• Engagement of students in active, transformative learning
• Identifying and ameliorating barriers to learning
• Shift from satisfaction to student learning
Keeling and Associates., 2006; Schuh and Gansemer-Topf, 2010
Boston College: Context 2008-2009
• New vice president• New 5-year Strategic Plan• Assessment position created• Committee convened• Division-wide assessment
effort launched• Division-wide inventory
conducted
Strategic Goal #7: Implement a division-wide assessment strategy in order to improve student learning and operational effectiveness.
Boston College 2009: What was the problem?• Lack of understanding and capacity
for assessment • Poorly designed surveys• Survey fatigue • Little knowledge of other
methodologies: focus groups, rubrics, etc.
• Data never used or shared• No coordinated effort to
gather evidence• Not part of our culture
Obstacles
• It’s additional work• We don’t have time• Difficult to coordinate across
11 departments• Lack of expertise within division• Results not shared; benefits
not realized• Fear of negative findings• Don’t know where to start
Provides assessment professional development opportunities
Has an assessment committee
Uses data to inform decisions
Has senior leadership that expects, supports, and encourages assessment
Embeds assessment in annual reports and performance appraisals
√Assessment Checklist
Uses a common assessment language
Provides easy-to-access resources (e.g. data, assessment tools, people, technology)
Identifies measurable learning outcomes
Has a divisional strategic plan/goals
Has a dedicated staff member for assessment
Our Division
Guiding Principals and Actions• Culture change is difficult• Focus on anxiety reduction• Work with experts: Keeling and Associates, CampusLabs• Provide tools
• 10 minute segment at each division meeting
• Asks one department to share an assessment project
• Focus is on process and lessons learned
• Provide a PowerPoint template to keep presentations consistent
• Driven by the regional accreditation process
• Department directors convened to share assessment plans
• Focus on points of confusion or areas where they need help
• Leverage expertise within leadership
Assessment Corner Director Roundtables
• What is your top priority for moving forward on assessment within your division?
• What are your next steps?
• Who needs to be involved?
Taking Action
• The importance of starting small, anxiety reduction
• Build gradually• Accept small wins as legitimate
progress• Consult with experts as needed• Have a champion at the
highest level• It’s okay to not know something
• Be prepared to change course as needed
• Must have buy-in and support from department directors
• Must maintain momentum – assessment is not a fad and is not going away
• Use the data that you collect• Hold people accountable
Lessons Learned
What Worked Well Suggestions for improvement/challenges
Questions?
Katie O’Dair – [email protected] Priest – [email protected] Dumpe – [email protected]
Boston College Assessment Websitewww.bc.edu/offices/vpsa/assessment.html