NASPA Presentation Practical Tools for Building Division-wide Assessment Capacity Adrienne Dumpe, Graduate Assistant, VPSA Katie O’Dair, Director of Assessment and Staff Development Robyn Priest, Associate Director, Office of Health Promotion

Agenda Outcomes Context Timeline and Toolkit Taking action Lessons learned Questions

Outcomes for Today’s Session Through participating in this session, participants will be able to: Identify the steps involved in assessment planning Discuss the challenges involved in changing the culture of assessment Begin to develop an action plan for their home institution Identify practical tools for use at the programmatic, departmental, and divisional level Connect with other professionals in student affairs who are doing assessment work

The Changing Mandate of Student Affairs: Learning Responding to a revised, broader understanding of learning that integrates development Mapping and supporting learning inside and outside classrooms Engagement of students in active, transformative learning Identifying and ameliorating barriers to learning Shift from satisfaction to student learning Keeling and Associates., 2006; Schuh and Gansemer-Topf, 2010

Boston College: Context New vice president New 5-year Strategic Plan Assessment position created Committee convened Division-wide assessment effort launched Division-wide inventory conducted Strategic Goal #7: Implement a division- wide assessment strategy in order to improve student learning and operational effectiveness.

Boston College 2009: What was the problem? Lack of understanding and capacity for assessment Poorly designed surveys Survey fatigue Little knowledge of other methodologies: focus groups, rubrics, etc. Data never used or shared No coordinated effort to gather evidence Not part of our culture

Obstacles It’s additional work We don’t have time Difficult to coordinate across 11 departments Lack of expertise within division Results not shared; benefits not realized Fear of negative findings Don’t know where to start

 Provides assessment professional development opportunities  Has an assessment committee  Uses data to inform decisions  Has senior leadership that expects, supports, and encourages assessment  Embeds assessment in annual reports and performance appraisals √ Assessment Checklist  Uses a common assessment language  Provides easy-to-access resources (e.g. data, assessment tools, people, technology)  Identifies measurable learning outcomes  Has a divisional strategic plan/goals  Has a dedicated staff member for assessment Our Division

Guiding Principals and Actions Culture change is difficult Focus on anxiety reduction Work with experts: Keeling and Associates, CampusLabs Provide tools

What did we do? ? ?

Celebrating Assessment!

10 minute segment at each division meeting Asks one department to share an assessment project Focus is on process and lessons learned Provide a PowerPoint template to keep presentations consistent Driven by the regional accreditation process Department directors convened to share assessment plans Focus on points of confusion or areas where they need help Leverage expertise within leadership Assessment Corner Director Roundtables

What is your top priority for moving forward on assessment within your division? What are your next steps? Who needs to be involved? Taking Action

The importance of starting small, anxiety reduction Build gradually Accept small wins as legitimate progress Consult with experts as needed Have a champion at the highest level It’s okay to not know something Be prepared to change course as needed Must have buy-in and support from department directors Must maintain momentum – assessment is not a fad and is not going away Use the data that you collect Hold people accountable Lessons Learned What Worked Well Suggestions for improvement/challenges

Questions? Katie O’Dair – Robyn Priest – Adrienne Dumpe – Boston College Assessment Website