Assessing Current Institutional Practices: The ALFI Toolkit PLA with a Purpose Symposium Columbus, Ohio April 29, 2014

2 Serving Adult Learners Adult-Learning Focused Institutions (ALFI) Project Origins CAEL’s 1999 Benchmarking Study of six high-performing, adult-serving colleges and universities  Best Practices in Adult Learning, a CAEL book  Study findings distilled into Principles of Effectiveness for Serving Adult Learners

3 CAEL’s ALFI Project CAEL’s Principles of Effectiveness for Serving Adult Learners 1.Outreach 2.Life & Career Planning 3.Financing 4.Assessment of Learning Outcomes 5.Teaching-Learning Process 6.Student Support Systems 7.Technology 8.Strategic Partnerships 9.Transitions

4 All of the Principles The Principles of Effectiveness are:  Integrated – they work together  Indivisible – they form a whole  Imperative – not just “a good idea”

5 The ALFI Assessment Toolkit The ALFI Assessment Tools (2 surveys)  Institutional Self-Assessment Survey (CAEL & NCHEMS) is for adult degree program administrators and faculty.  Adult Learner Inventory (CAEL & Noel-Levitz) is an adult student survey based on ALFI.

6 ISAS Institutional Self-Assessment Survey (ISAS)  The ISAS is a survey that is completed by administrators, faculty, and staff and offers an opportunity for dialogue across departments about adult learners.  It provides the framework to reflectively examine how resources, structures, and practices impact the success of adult learners.

7 ISAS Survey Categories  Institutional Background  Mission, Leadership, and Organizational Structure  Tuition and Financial Aid  Teaching and Learning  Faculty Recruitment and Development  Student Services  Key Constituencies

8 Completing the ISAS  Approximately 50 items  One survey is submitted; completed by an institutional team

9 ISAS Items The ISAS: The Institutional Self-Assessment Survey  Sample Item:  To what extent does your institution partner with other organizations (community-based organizations, employers, other post-secondary providers) to deliver student support services:  Not at all  Not very much  Somewhat  A great deal  Almost always (provide examples on supplementary page)

 Survey to capture the experience of adult students in undergraduate programs  Developed through a partnership between CAEL and Noel-Levitz  ALI focuses on eight of the nine CAEL ALFI Principles (Strategic Partnerships principle is not covered because students are unlikely to know about this area)  Version for four-year institutions and a version for two- year community colleges; same items with text adjustments  Structure of the instrument follows the Noel-Levitz model with students indicating both the level of importance and the level of satisfaction for each item  Items rated on a 1-7 scale (1 is low; 7 is high) 10 The ALI

 47 items rated for importance and satisfaction  10 optional items defined by the institution, rated for importance and satisfaction  2 summary items – overall satisfaction and likelihood student will recommend to other adult students  18 standard demographic items (gender, age, employment, class load, etc.)  2 optional demographic items (one major/program and one other 11 ALI Items

 Importance scores  How important is it for your program to meet this expectation?  Satisfaction scores  How satisfied are you that your program is meeting this expectation?  Performance gap scores  The discrepancy between the expectation (importance score) and the reality (satisfaction score). 12 ALI Scores

13 The ALFI Report Provides:  Comparative data:  External: Your team’s and your students’ ratings vs. students and teams at other institutions that have used the ALFI Assessment Tools  Internal: The institution’s perspective vs. adult learner perspective for each scale

An evaluation of performance based on an external evaluator’s “grades” 14 ALFI Is Not:

15 Using the Tools How Institutions Have Used the Tools  Identifying and marketing strengths  Setting priorities for strategic planning  Preparation for accreditation review  Internal program review  Development of strategic plans  Aligning resources to best meet the needs of adult learners

16 Using the Tools How Institutions Have Used the Tools (cont’d.)  Baseline data for future assessments  Including data in annual report  Creating recruitment messages  Facilitating discussion & debate  Helping with market niche reporting Focusing attention on adult learner needs and issues

 Universities/Adult-Student-Services/ALFI-Assessment- Tools   To Learn More about Using ALFI 17

18 Questions?