Assessment 101: Learning the Basics

1. Assessment 101:Learning the Basics Emily Langdon, Ph.D. Coordinator of Assessment, Research and Evaluation, Division of Student Affairs

2. Learning Outcomes for Today: Participants will be able to define assessment within the context of higher education; Participants will be able to describe the assessment planning cycle used by the Division of Student Affairs at UC Merced; Participants will be able identify the assessment template used to plan their department projects for the coming academic year.

3. What philosophy underpins assessment? • Mission of entire institution is to educate • Holistic, integrated approach – all contribute • academic Institutional Mission & Strategic Academic Vision • co-curricular (Student Affairs) • administration

4. What philosophy underpins assessment? • Focus on explicitly and transparently articulated goalsand intended outcomes • For student learning, student success, and supporting services • Across entire institution • At all levels & aligned across this hierarchy

5. What philosophy underpins assessment? Institution Student Affairs Admin Program Program Program courses courses courses Library

6. What philosophy underpins assessment? Institution SA / Co-curricular unit SA / Co-curricular unit SA / Co-curricular unit Admin programming programming programming

7. What is Assessment? • The systematic collection, review, and use of information about educational programs undertaken for the purpose of improving student learning and development. • The word ‘assess’ comes from the Latin verb ‘assidere’ meaning ‘to sit with’. (Palomba, C.A., & Banta, T.W. (1999). Assessment essentials: Planning, implementing, and improving assessment in higher education. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass.)

8. What Assessment Is Not… • Not performance evaluation • Not testing • Not research, which traditionally tests theories while assessment informs practice. • Not summative, it’s formative • Not focused on individual or personal, it’s focused on department and divisional level

9. Why do Assessment? • Survival: Demonstrating contribution to UCM mission • Quality: Ensuring programs and services are high quality • Policy Development: Providing information to inform policies • Politics:Responding to external questions of accountability • Affordability: Prioritizing in tight fiscal environment Upcraft and Schuh, 1996 • Mission: Research Universities value systematic inquiry

10. For campuses, assessment is… A systematic, collective, and collaborative process of • Defining outcomes for or asking questions about student learning and student success, • Gathering evidence, • Interpreting it, and • Using it to IMPROVE students’ learning and development and success Barbara Wright, Vice President, WASC, 2010

11. Assessment Cycle

12. Our Assessment Planning Cycle in SA

13. SA Assessment Template • Mission Statement • Annual Planning Goals • Program Objectives • Student Learning Outcomes • Measures • Reliable Results • Results Summary • Conclusions

14. Mission Statements • Mission is related to VISION, which comes first… • MISSION tells us WHAT YOU DO whereas VISION tells us what you want to become • We assess what we CURRENTLY do, not what we want to become… so vision is less critical in Assessment Cycle.

15. Mission & Vision Statements MISSION The Division of Student Affairs cultivates student intellectual and personal development by promoting engagement in teaching and learning, academic success, and integration into the Penn State community. VISION We strive to provide the highest quality educational programs and services that challenge and support Penn State students as they become active and responsible members of their communities.

16. Mission Statement Student Affairs at UC Merced recruits and develops dedicated students and staff who are committed to lifelong learning. In keeping with the university's Principles of Community, we cultivate a campus environment characterized by respect for human dignity and diversity. Toward these aims, Student Affairs promotes an enriched learning environment, often collaborating with faculty and units campus wide, to provide students with opportunities to realize their intellectual, physical, social and emotional potential.

17. Goal Statements • Broad statements that describe the overarching long-range outcomes of an administrative unit • Are usually not measurable and need to be further developed as separate distinguishable outcomes • Are primarily used for general planning and are used as the starting point to the development and refinement of outcomes (CSU, Sacramento )

18. Annual Planning Goals • At UC Merced, are identified in Year End Reports submitted in June to VC. • Linked to Strategic Plan imperatives when Division is in a planning cycle. • Should be at departmental level, could be collaborative in nature.

19. Program Objectives • Program Objectives help staff identify how a program, workshop, activity or service can be modified or improved (CSU, Sacramento) • e.g. Eighty percent of transfer students attending the summer orientation program will report “satisfied” or “very satisfied” with the sessions conducted in July, 2012.

20. Student Learning Outcomes • Student Learning Outcomes reveal the changes in attitudes, aptitudes or behaviors that a student user can describe or demonstrate after utilizing a service or program. (CSU, Sacramento) • e.g. First year participants in the Emerging Leaders Program will report “above average” leadership abilities 10% higher than non-participant peers after their first year of college.

21. Divisional Student Learning Outcomes • Civic Responsibility • Communication Skills • Confidence in One’s Abilities • Leadership and Teamwork • Sense of Self and Impact on Others • Appreciating Human Differences • Life-long Learning and Personal Wellness

22. How do we know we are successfully contributing to student learning? Great job!

23. Measures • Program Objective: Eighty percent of transfer students attending the summer orientation program will report “satisfied” or “very satisfied” with the sessions conducted in July, 2012. • Program Objective Measure: Summer Orientation exit survey with likert-scale questions about participant’s satisfaction with each component of the session.

24. Measures of SLO • Student Learning Outcome: First year participants in the Emerging Leaders Program will report “above average” leadership abilities 10% higher after completion of the year-long program. • Student Learning Outcome Measure: All first year students complete the First Year survey in October and a follow up survey in April which includes a self-report of leadership abilities.

25. Results • The results should highlight all significant findings and indicate the extent to which the program/service reached the intended outcomes. • Results from Transfer O participant survey Student Services Satisfied 92% Academic Advising Satisfied 87% Timing of Session Satisfied 72%

26. Results from SLO Percentage who report “Above Average” in response to their current abilities First Year Survey, October Emerging Leaders Non-Participants Leadership Ability 84 82 Follow up Survey, April Emerging Leaders Non-Participants Leadership Ability 95 84

27. Conclusions • An effective conclusion ‘closes the loop’ by implementing change on the basis of results. • Identify relevant implications of the data collection methods. • Specific actions should be provided since the goal is continued improvement. • Changes might address improvements to the assessment process in addition to services and programming.

28. “Closing the Loop” • Shout it from the rooftops • Revisit goals and objectives with results in mind – apply your findings • Allocate your resources accordingly • Tweak “unmet” objectives

29. Assessment in Student Affairs • Divisional Strategic Planning • 2007-2012 • Next plan to be launched in 2013… • Annual assessment planning and reporting • 2011-12 A Reports due June 22, 2012 • 2012-13 A Plans due September 4, 2012 • Program Review • Has your unit been through PR yet? • When are you up?

30. The A Team • Vernette Doty, Campus Life • Kristin Hlubik, Wellness • Viola Kinsman, Enrollment Management ALSO… • Laura Martin, Campus Assessment Coordinator

31. Next Steps with Assessment II. Writing and Assessing Outcomes • July 11, 3-4:30 pm in KL 362 III. Surveys: Design Tips for Data Collection • July 18, 3-4:30 pm in KL 362 IV. Rubrics • July 25, 3-4:30 pm in KL 362 V. Drop in Assessment Planning • August 1 & 8, 3-4:30 pm in KL 362

32. What are your Questions?