Student Affairs Assessment Council Wednesday, October 28, 2015

Benchmarking is the “continuous systematic process for evaluating products, services, and work processes of organizations that are recognized as representing best practices for the purposes of organizational improvement.” -Spendolini, 1992

 Justify programs/services within student affairs  Improve quality  Demonstrate affordability  Develop strategic plans  Formulate policy  Aid in making decisions

 Internal: making comparisons within an organization  Competitive: examines performance against peer or competitor organizations  Functional: looking at high performing processes across the industry  Generic: looks at organizations outside of one’s field/industry

Best practices are typically the finest examples of process, program delivery, or methods in a given area that produce the highest known quality outcomes. -Palomba & Banta, 1999

 Usually determined by those meeting and exceeding a list of criteria  Can also be referred to as performance indicators  Can also be referred to as benchmarks  Can also be referred to as standards  Whatever you choose for the benchmarking project you undertake—define your term and be transparent.

 An indicator is “a relevant, easily calculable statistic that reflects the overall condition of an enterprise.” –Ewell, 1997  Easily calculable = easily calculable across institutions  Note that learning/developmental outcomes generally cannot be evaluated by performance indicators such as retention rates, graduation rates, and faculty-to-student ratio.  Indicators do not inform anyone as to the cause of the value found in the program—nor do they indicate how to improve.  USE indicators as measures, but we must incorporate student learning/development outcomes

 Comparative  Data intended to be public (for better or worse)  Intended to learn about what you can improve

 Are you going to share the information publicly? If so, with whom?  Are you benchmarking services and processes or student learning and development?  Is there national data that can help benchmarking data be more legitimate? Examples include:  NSSE  College & University Counseling Center Directors Data Bank  EBI surveys  American College Health Association Survey  National Association of Colleges & Employers Career Services surveys  Which institutions allow you to compare yourself in a meaningful manner?

 University of Connecticut  University of Pittsburgh  Syracuse University  Temple University  University of Chicago  George Mason University  University of Birmingham  University of South Florida  University of Houston

 Define the problem  Make sure benchmarking is appropriate  Determine what to benchmark  Choose who should be involved in the benchmarking project  Select comparable organizations  Determine what information will be collected  Determine how the information will be collected  Analyze the data  Take action  Assess the action taken

 In student affairs, problems can be identified through:  Student use studies  Student satisfaction studies  Student needs studies  Reviews  Change in resources  Realignments/reorganizations  Change in law, policy, procedure  Crisis or emergency situations  Feedback from various constituents

 Ask yourself: Can information from other organizations help my organization and help me achieve my outcome?  Must do preliminary investigation; you’ll need to find out if other organizations have been successful in whatever you are researching.

 Remember:  Product, service or process  Product = educational program

 People directly affected by process should be involved from the very beginning  Process should involve staff (or students) who deal directly with the problem  If staff (or students) are involved from the beginning, there will be greater ownership of the results and a greater likelihood that solutions will be implemented.

 In general, use peer institutions  Can also use:  Programs, services, processes which are similar to your own  Reputations for quality programs, services, or products  Valid information to offer  Hearsay v. Evidence  Reliable information to offer  Can’t always just look at websites; need to ask for data/assessment results  Leadership which values benchmarking  Don’t forget…help other institutions out! You may be calling them in a year for info.  It is important to note that despite comparable characteristics (institution size, academic functions) student affairs divisions may be VERY different. Try, as much as possible, to compare oranges to oranges.

 Determine what information is needed to improve the program, service or process  Develop a format/protocol which provides a framework within which information can be gathered

 Telephone interviews  Personal meetings/site visits  Surveys  Document/publication review  Archival information

 Code = look for themes  Be sure to ask yourself....  “what didn’t they tell us…and why?”  Be sure to address the problem identified initially  Include specific recommendations AND solutions

 Easiest action = those that save resources, or require little to no additional resources  More difficult action = when significant resources are required to solve the problem  Discuss this with leadership PRIOR to benchmarking process. If no resources are available, then what?

 Did the action taken actually solve the problem?

 Needs to be done correctly, or not at all  Process should involve those who are directly affected  Process should have support and commitment of the leadership of the organization  Use organizations that are comparable, willing to participate, and can offer reliable/valid information

 Benchmarking_Resources/CASE_Benchmarking_Toolkit/Alumni_Relations_Bench marking_Template.html Benchmarking_Resources/CASE_Benchmarking_Toolkit/Alumni_Relations_Bench marking_Template.html  case-studies-of-practice-in-student-support.pdf?sfvrsn=18 case-studies-of-practice-in-student-support.pdf?sfvrsn=18  of-Benchmarking-Reports-in-Higher-Education-Membership.pdf of-Benchmarking-Reports-in-Higher-Education-Membership.pdf

 Alstete, J. W. (1995). Benchmarking in higher education: Adapting best practices to improve quality. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass.  Ewell, P. T. (1997b). Identifying indicators of curricular quality. In G. J. Gaff, L. J. Ratfcliff and Associates, Handbook of the undergraduate curriculum: A comprehensive guide to purposes, structures, practices, and change. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass.  Palomba, C. A., and Banta, T. W. (1999). Assessment essentials: Planning, implementing, and improving assessment in higher education. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass.  Spendolini, M. J. (1992). The benchmarking book. New York: Amacom.  Upcraft, M. L., & Schuh, J. H. (1996). Assessment in student affairs: A guide for practitioners. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass.