ASSESSMENT  Are you having an impact?  How do you know?  Are the programs and services you work on getting better?  How do you know?

What is Assessment?  Assessment is any effort to gather, analyze, and interpret evidence which describes institutional, divisional, or agency effectiveness.  Evaluation is any effort to use assessment evidence to improve... effectiveness. --(Upcraft and Schuh, 1998)

What is Assessment?  Outcomes Assessment Outcomes assessment illustrates the effectiveness of a program in relation to program goals. Outcomes Assessment

What is Assessment?  Outcomes Assessment Outcomes assessment illustrates the effectiveness of a program in relation to program goals. With its focus on student learning, outcomes assessment indicates the extent to which students can demonstrate knowledge, skills, and behaviors that are consistent with program goals. Outcomes Assessment

What is Assessment?  Outcomes Assessment Outcomes assessment illustrates the effectiveness of a program in relation to program goals. With its focus on student learning, outcomes assessment indicates the extent to which students can demonstrate knowledge, skills, and behaviors that are consistent with program goals. Like teaching, the purpose of assessment is to ensure that students are learning what you intend for them to learn. Outcomes Assessment

What is Assessment?  Outcomes Assessment Outcomes assessment illustrates the effectiveness of a program in relation to program goals. With its focus on student learning, outcomes assessment indicates the extent to which students can demonstrate knowledge, skills, and behaviors that are consistent with program goals. Like teaching, the purpose of assessment is to ensure that students are learning what you intend for them to learn. Outcomes Assessment

What is Assessment? Assessment is a PROCESS, not an EVENT.

Assessment Cycle

What is Assessment? Assessment is a PROCESS, not an EVENT.

What Assessment Does  Establishes a baseline  Establishes that what we have done works  Raises doubts, undermines certainty  Motivates learning

Why Do Assessment?  Impact (Effectiveness)  Improvement  => Accountability

Levels of Assessment  Program  Department  Division  Institutional  State  Country

Measurement Methods  Evidence of Learning – Two Types:  Direct – methods of collecting information that require the students to display their knowledge and skill.  Indirect – methods that ask students or someone else to reflect on the student learning rather than asking the student to directly demonstrate his/her learning. Marilee Bresciani, North Carolina State, Palomba & Banta, 1999

Comprehensive Assessment Model  Tracking data  Needs assessment  Student/client satisfaction  Campus or student culture  Outcomes  Comparable institutions – best practice  Nationally accepted standards (i.e. CAS)

Typical Components of Assessment Plans  Mission  Objectives  Outcomes  Evaluation Methods  With criteria and by outcome  Implementation of Assessment  Who is responsible for what?  Timeline  Results  By outcome  Decisions and Recommendations

Organizing Assessment for Advisors  Defined Mission  Goals  Learning Outcomes: what knowledge should be gained by working with you?  Metrics  Who are you serving? What are their interests and needs?  Demographic data  Volume (seasonal?)  Services offered/utilized

Example Learning Outcome Description & Methodology Outcome Undeclared students will declare a major in a timely manner Process Used to Develop the Outcome Performance (Strategy) Student Voice Survey was sent to 4500 students who had declared their major, to determine what resources were the most helpful in their decision to choose a major. Based on 333 responses (7.25% return rate), CASA advisors were the second most helpful resource for choosing a major, after taking classes. Encourage regular advisor meetings via s, facilitate Exploring Majors Fair, Major Madness workshops, refer to Career Center. Provide resources to make exploration easier, including Academic and Career Horizons, CSU mymajors.com, Create Your Story and several other methods detailed on our website. Assessment Method(s) Track the number of student entering each semester and how many declare majors within 45 credits. Additionally, track admittance into competitive majors. Expected Performance Level The percentage of incoming first year undeclared students that declare a major by 45 credits continues to increase (90% in Fall 2010 compared to 89% in Fall 2009) and (89% in Spring 2011 compared to 87% in Spring 2010). Fall 2011 will equal 90% or higher. ·Student success rate for declaring competitive majors remains comparable to former years: Undeclared with a Business/Applied Business Interest : After Fall 2010, 40% and after Spring 2010, 22% declared business; Undeclared with Arts and Humanities/Communication interest: After Fall 2010, 40% and after SP10, 35% declared a major within this interest area, with the majority being either art or journalism and technical communication major; Undeclared with an Physical & Mathematical Sciences/Engineering interest: After Fall 2010, 7.7% and after Spring 2010, 14% declared engineering. Maintain or improve these levels.

How do you use the information?  Presenting the information:  What are the important things to gather?  How do you stay credible?  “Is there an opportunity to take it to the faculty?” Dissemination strategies  How do you adapt your program? Learning Outcomes do change over time! Results can lead to changes in goals or outcomes or both, especially unexpected results.

Resources  CAS for Academic Advising

Resources  Institutional Research  The Operational Data Store (ODS) Security Forms to get access  Student Voice Work with Dave McKelfresh if Student Affairs or Kim Bender if Academic Affairshttp://studentvoice.com/  PRISM – CSU’s online file cabinet of annual assessment plans – lots of outcomes to look at, best practices!  SAN (comments made in AriesWeb) Work with Mike Brake to get the info you need back out

What can I do today?  Mission and Goals!  Track who you are seeing and what services are offered  Data available to me  Tracking my effort  Analysis

Data Available to Me  Program of Study (Major/Concentration)  Race/ethnicity  Gender  Residency  First Generation  Pell  Student Type/Class/Level  Academic Standing, GPA, Credits  Enrolled in which semesters?  Special attention populations  Precipitous Grade Change, 0.0 GPA, Students with a “U” at midterm

Tracking my effort  Appointments by purpose  Contacts by type  Referrals by Office  Advisor/Advisee Load  Attendance at events

Analysis  Description of Population QuantitativeQualitative Knowledge Retention Persistence/Progression Graduation Term GPA and Cumulative GPA Bottlenecks Milestones Satisfaction with Services Focus groups News stories Success stories