Academic and Co-Curricular Collaboration A Partnership for Success

1. Academic and Co-Curricular Collaboration A Partnership for Success Sasha Heard, Student Affairs Manager Bonny Nickle, Ed.D, Provost Allied American University

2. Introduction to AAU • Small, private, online university located in Laguna Hills, CA • Associate and Bachelor Degrees • Allied Health • Business Administration • Computer Information Systems • Criminal Justice • General Studies

3. Who we serve • Non-traditional students in an online environment that face multiple barriers to persistence

4. Inquiry Process – Bresciani’s Assessment Cycle Model • What is the Student Affairs department trying to do and why? • What is the department supposed to accomplish? • What do we want students to be able to do and/or know as a result of our department? • How well are we organized to do it? • How well are we doing it?

5. Goals for the Collaboration • Increase inter-departmental collaboration • Reinforce the importance of planning • Ensure alignment with institutional and departmental missions • Reflection within the Student Affairs department on organizational performance and relation to the whole institution

6. Student Affairs Department • Program review prompted AAU to define: • Department Mission and Purpose • Goals • Outcomes

7. Collaborative Process Approach • Development of a collaborative climate • Shared commitment to student success • Communication • Weekly meetings • Clear plan • Deliverables • Milestones • Time lines • Academic Affairs as a resource

8. Looking at Students through a ‘Service Lens’ • A service lens puts the customer at the center of improvement and innovation initiatives, considers the customer experience to be a foundation for analyzing and making enhancements, and assumes the customer is a co-creator of value. • Leveraging Service Blueprinting to Rethink Higher Education: When Students Become ‘Valued Customers,’ Everybody Wins by Amy L. Ostrom, Mary Jo Bitner, and Kevin A. Burkhard Oct. 2011

9. Challenges • Development of a common language • Fear of findings • Trust • How do we add value? • Importance of SLOs for Student Affairs • How do we measure the success of SLOs?

10. Student Affairs Examples • The GOOD • Collaborating with Academics for Attendance Interventions • The BAD • Developing SLOs • The UGLY • Connect department outcomes to ILOs

11. Implementation of Suggestions from Program Review • Developing ‘human touch’ through a synchronous program by standardizing delivery platforms • Increased collaboration with: • Academics • Institutional Research for SLOs • Assessment Cycle

12. Collaboration Outcomes • Shared interventions between faculty and student affairs • Sharing of information regarding student persistence • Completed program review • Development of AAU Co-Curricular Program Review Process & schedule • Meaningful departmental assessment • Mutual support for student success

13. Transferable Assets • Select departments for collaboration with care • Determine methodology for project • Mutual commitment to support and success • Agree to build an environment of trust and to work through challenges • Build a common language • Create a shared vision

14. Contact Information • Bonny Nickle, Ed.D • Provost, Academic Affairs • bnickle@allied.edu • 888-384-0849 ext. 8745 • Sasha Heard • Manager, Student Affairs Department • sheard@allied.edu • 888-712-2733 ext. 5616