Administrative and Support Service Unit Assessment

1. Administrative and Support Service Unit Assessment Southern Methodist University January 25th, 2006 J. Joseph Hoey, Ed.D. Director of Assessment, Georgia Institute of Technology

2. Background • Founding Director of Office of Assessment at Georgia Tech, 1998 • SACS Evaluator: UT Austin, Florida Atlantic, Univ. of TN, Univ. of Southern Miss., Auburn Univ., Miss. State Univ., Wake Tech (QEP) • SACS invited workshop presenter since 1999 • SACS Institute presenter • Co-author of new SACS Handbook for IE • IE/Assessment consultant: Univ. of AL, Florida State, Clemson, Univ. of Miami, Creighton Univ., NC State Univ.

3. SACS Principles of Accreditation: Program Assessment • Comprehensive Standard 3.3.1: “The institution identifies expected outcomes for its educational programs and its administrative and educational support services; assesses whether it achieves these outcomes; and provides evidence of improvement based on analysis of those results.” • Comprehensive Standard 3.4.1: “The institution demonstrates that each educational program for which academic credit is awarded (a) is approved by the faculty and the administration, and (b) establishes and evaluates program and learning outcomes.”

4. Shifting our Focus in Planning: Administrative and Student Services • Above all: It’s about servant leadership; how do we facilitate the success of our employees, each unit, and the institution? • Focus on core activities: work processes, primary functions. • Key suggestion: flow chart the office or unit work processes first. • Identify the customers or end users of those core work processes, functions and activities. • When possible, phrase goals and objectives in terms of what the end user should experience.

5. Shifting our Focus in Planning: Administrative and Student Services • Unit objectives are the most important results or outcomes that should occur as a result of the unit’s activities. • May include customer, key process, professional development, and efficiency objectives. • May be broken down into four areas: • What the critical work processes of the unit are and how they should function; • What the customer or end user will experience; • How human resources are to be improved; and • What efficiencies will result.

6. Administrative and Student Services: Elements of a Unit Assessment Report • Unit purposes • Linkage to University and Division strategic goals • Operational objectives • Student learning objectives (Student Services only) • Strategies and procedures • Assessment methods/measures and criterion levels of service or achievement • Assessment results • Dissemination and discussion • Actions: Use of results, (potential budgetary implications for next cycle)

7. Statement of Purpose: Example For a Controller’s Office: “Support the institution’s mission by providing timely, accurate fiscal operations for both staff and students. Protect the financial integrity of the institution, safeguard assets, and insure compliance with regulatory authorities while supporting the needs of staff and students relating to procurement of supplies and services, payroll, and student accounts.”

8. Operational Objectives: Example For an Office of Information Technology: • Students, faculty and staff members will be able to use the most technologically advanced voice and data communications at the lowest cost possible. • Clients will experience prompt and efficient response to problems and service issues. • Client feedback will be used to continuously improve information technology service operations.

9. Assessment Measures: Example For a Physical Plant: • Operational Objective: • Building maintenance and repairs will be completed in a manner that is timely, promotes building longevity, and satisfies the customer. • Potential Measures: • Elapsed time between request and response; • Proportion of projects consistent with institutional maintenance priorities; • Customer satisfaction.

10. Assessment Procedures: Example For a Campus Bookstore: • The bookstore will participate in the annual student satisfaction survey that contains items on student satisfaction with bookstore products and services. • Two focus groups of student clients will be conducted annually in March to discuss and interpret student satisfaction survey results.

11. Criterion Levels of Service: Example Example for a Physical Plant: • Expected Impact: Maintenance and repairs are completed in a manner that is timely, promotes building longevity, and satisfies the customer. • Measure: Elapsed time between request and response. • Criterion Level: 95% of requests are scheduled within 2 days; 90% are completed on schedule. Notes: • Criterion levels of service, achievement or performance should be selected so as to motivate continuous improvement. • Thus, criterion levels need to be realistic for the specific unit, while still permitting room to grow (e.g., stretch goals). • Unit-wide discussion will help establish realistic levels.

12. Implementation Plan: Example For an Admissions Office: • Annual CIRP Freshman Survey coordinated by Student Affairs, administered by Student Orientation with results released to the Director of Admissions. • Biannual Student Satisfaction Inventory Survey coordinated by the Institutional Research Office which will release results to the Director of Admissions. • Survey results will be circulated annually to admissions staff and discussed at length at annual retreat. Results will be used to refine strategic and annual plans as well as the Administrative Unit Assessment Plan. • All assessment processes will be monitored by the Director of Admissions or designee who will report to the Vice President for Student Services at least annually through the Outcomes Assessment Plan.

13. Describing Unit Assessment Results, Actions, and Impact: Example For a Controller’s Office: • Low ratings from institutional staff survey respondents on the accessibility of budget and expenditure information were discussed by office staff. • Discussion resulted in the installation of a reengineered process for generating budget and expenditure reports to departments and units at the beginning of the calendar year. • User satisfaction with this process has risen 45% to 80% of respondents being satisfied in the most recent survey.

14. Temerlin Advertising Institute • Purpose: developing culturally aware students (behavioral) • Objective: complete endowment of $10 million (operational, no time indication, no link to stated purpose) • Criteria for success: amount of money collected with next year (no indication of % of $10 million that will be sufficient to call success) • Problem: mismatch between stated purpose and objective; no way currently to use this to gauge performance against stated purpose.

15. Meadows, Division of Art: Facilities, Capital Resources, Technology • Purpose: provide superior facilities, open environment, and adequate technology • Objectives: Ensure appropriate facilities, equipment and environment; students should reflect knowledge of equipment and procedures • Assessment procedure: area heads review equipment and environment within set time frame and competitive position; Technical staff and faculty report on student training (no criteria for adequacy given) • Results: Generally stated in all 3 areas • Actions: Concrete actions listed in 2 of 3 areas

16. Meadows, Office of Financial Aid • Purposes: recruit and retain students by providing merit-based funds; support current students • Objectives: provide accurate information, maximize effectiveness of aid packaging, monitor student progress for degree completion, resolve individual cases • Procedure: evaluate yield rate; evaluate impact of inflation and rising costs; review grade reports; review individual cases. Note: no criteria or targets given • Yield rate not stated; impact target not stated; student success evaluated, but no % given • Actions for 1b and 2a not stated in measurable terms.

17. BBA Student Services, Cox School of Business • Expanded statement of purpose: no information on what the Student Service Office actually does • Objectives: meeting recruiting targets; maintaining perceived quality of career and academic counseling, criterion of 80% satisfied • Measures: recruiting success; Educational Benchmarks (EBI). • Results: most criteria met. • Discussion: Quantitative, benchmarked goals. Question: what information does this process give the Office that allows it to continuously improve?

18. Cox School of Business: Marketing & Communications Office • Statement of purpose: provide communications services, cultivate media contacts, raise rankings (focused!) • Objectives: flow from statement of purpose • Measures: audits of processes; media contacts and inquiries quantified through tracking systems; rankings monitored (no criterion levels mentioned) • Results: mixture of measures and actions; contacts quantified • Actions: Clear demonstration of “closing the loop” and taking actions to work towards goals.