1. Assessing Administrative and Educational Support Services
Southwest Texas Junior College August 2006 by Mary Frances Gibbons

2. First Decisions Institution must:
Determine which units are organizational and which units are instructional support
Consider the participation of the outsourced services (bookstore, food services, janitorial services) Institution still responsible for these.
Begin with a clear timeline for all groups

3. Assessing Organizational and Instructional Support Services
Organizational services provide services that maintain the institution and are essential to its operations, but do not impact directly the institution’s instructional programs. Examples: Accounting Office, Office of the Registrar, Physical Plant Department, etc.

4. Assessing Organizational and Instructional Support Services
Educational support services are those that, while not primarily instructional in nature, contribute directly to student learning or instruction. Examples: Academic Advising Center, Library, and Information Technology. Each focuses on services that relate directly to students and often are part of the institution’s overall learning environment or process.

5. Unit Assessments
Units identify the services they wish to assess; assessment may lead to improving processes
Examples: --Administrative and academic units will receive their monthly accounting reports during the first five business days of the month (Accounting Office)
--Students will have their transcript requests filled in two business days (Admissions Office)

6. Unit Assessments
Unit assessment objectives describe what client will do after receiving the service
Examples: --Students will be able to use library’s reference services efficiently (to use three different databases correctly) (Library)
--ESL students will be able to communicate easily with their reading tutors (Tutoring Center)

7. Unit Assessment
Follow a systematic process for assessing unit services
Document both the process and the use of results for implementing change

8. Unit Documentation Report
May include: 1. Institution’s mission statement and goals and the relationship of unit’s role to these 2. Unit’s service objectives 3. Means of assessment and criteria for success for service assessed 4. Summary of data collected from assessment 5. Use of results

9. Reasons Why Your Group Should Participate in Assessment
Satisfy regional accrediting agencies
Continuous Quality Improvement (CQI): As part of an overall process of improving services
State Mandates
Competition: To attract students by providing better institutional services

10. Suggested Steps for Assessing Your Services
Formulating Unit Assessment Plan: 1. Establish linkage to institution’s statement of purpose. Identify which portion of the Expanded Statement of Institutional Purpose (college’s mission statement and goals) your group supports. 2. Establish your group’s mission statement --List the services you provide --Identify the recipient of those services
3. Formulate organizational/instructional support objectives for your group 4. Identify your group’s means of assessment and criteria for success

11. Suggested Steps for Assessing Your Processes, cont’d.
Moving from Planning to Implementation and Use of Results
5. Conduct assessment activities
--Collect and analyze the results
6. Document and demonstrate use of results for service improvement

12. Step 1—Establish a Linkage to the Institution’s Statement of Purpose
Identify which portion of the Expanded Statement of Institutional Purpose your unit supports

13. Career Center (Example)
Institutional Mission/Goal Reference: (Goal 6) … The College will continue to develop leadership and to instill in its students a sense of justice, moral courage, and tolerance for the views of others…improve admissions, academic, career, and placement counseling.
Unit Mission Statement: …to assist students in transition from academia to the world of work by preparing students for life after graduation…The Career Center offers services that include: career counseling; three classes for academic credit, workshops, and seminars on career-related subjects; assistance with resume writing and interviewing; and opportunities for part-time jobs, internships, and full-time jobs.

14. Institutional Missions Statements:
What’s Found
Institutional Missions Statements:
Most often these provide no place where organizational/educational support units can show they support the purpose of the institution

15. Step 2—Establish a Unit Mission Statement
Column 1
Describe the services your unit provides and identify the recipients of those services (the clients for whom you provide these services).
Evaluate this mission statement annually for appropriate changes.

16. Preparing Unit Assessment Plans
What is the Focus of the Assessment Effort? To Improve services

17. Step 3—Formulating Intended Organizational/Educational Support Objectives/Outcomes
Column 2
Answers Question: How does your unit know you are accomplishing your purpose and improving your services?

18. The 2-3 Chosen Objectives are the Key to the Assessment Plan
Related to the Services the Unit provides (linkage to Unit Mission Statement)
Focus of your Assessment Plans
Statements indicate those areas for which you want more information
Will lead to improvement of unit services
Within control of unit

19. Formulating Organizational/Instructional Support Objectives
Organizational and instructional support objectives
Refer to:
Currently existing services
Rather than:
Administrative Planning Activities— Future Actions

20. Step 4—Means of Assessment and Criteria for Success
Column 3
Answers Questions: What will provide your unit with information concerning accomplishment of the objective? What level of success will be sought?

21. Types of Attitudinal Assessment
Standardized: Noel Levitz (institution can add questions appropriate to its mission and goals)
Locally Developed: Alumni surveys, graduating students, employers, points-of-contact surveys

22. Primary and Secondary Criteria for Success in Unit Assessment
Primary: The minimum overall rating or score (response your unit would identify if your services are functioning as you feel they should)
Secondary: The minimum item or scale-score rating (response within the primary or overall measure below which your unit would want to investigate to determine how to improve services)

23. Step 5: Analyze Results
Review the results of your primary and secondary assessment means
Analyze your assessment results to determine what you might want to change in your approach to achieve your goals
Special note: Include a second means of assessment only if it seems appropriate

24. Step 6—Assessment Report
Document your results in your Assessment Report.
Remember: Documentation is key! If you don’t write it down, then it never happened.

25. Implement Changes to Reflect Results
Goal—to improve, not to prove!
Implement changes in your approach that address your assessment findings
Assessment process requires annual evaluation