1. USC Greek Life New Member Assessment
Micki Estuesta, Lindsey Fogleman, Lauren Ford, Jonathan Wang

2. Agenda
Introduction
Activity
Methods
Insight & Analysis

3. Learning Objectives
Students will understand the purpose and significance for assessment in USC Greek Life
Students will recognize the methods implemented
Students can provide insight and analysis to support Greek Life assessment

4. Introduction
Background, Mission, Research Question

5. USC Background Founded in 1880 in Los Angeles, California
Enrolls over 37,000 students; 17,500 Undergrads
Mission:
To develop human beings and society as a whole through the cultivation and enrichment of the human spirit
High quality extracurricular activities support the mission

6. USC Greek Life Background
Office of Fraternity and Sorority Leadership Development
Established in 1887
Largest student organization on campus
3,500 students; 60 chapters
Mission: Cultivate a fraternity and sorority community of excellence with a particular focus on the areas of outstanding achievement, meaningful faculty partnerships, inclusive interfraternalism, committed civic responsibility and service, and responsible decision-making that demands the highest standards of ethics and integrity from all of its members and organizations

7. FSLD Goals
Create opportunities for student involvement in order to enhance personal and leadership development through:
participation in self-governance through Greek chapters, honor societies, and/or one of six Greek governance councils and/or through
student employment experiences.
Provide opportunities for faculty-student interaction with our Greek community.
Provide training and resources for recruitment of quality members to our Greek community.

8. FSLD Goals
Help our Greek students achieve high academic standards by adhering to USC’s comprehensive list of expectations for Greek-letter organizations. Reduce risk through workshops, pre-event reviews, and by working with Inter/National organizations.
Provide targeted leadership opportunities through the sophomore and junior Leadership Circles.
Involve parents and advisors in efforts to enhance the Greek community.
Create mechanisms for collaborations between the six Greek councils.

9. FSLD Members Highlights Risks Hold higher GPA than the all campus GPA
Volunteer over 30,000 community service hours
Fundraised over $250,000
Hazing
Alcohol & Drugs
Ethics & responsibility

10. Purpose and Signifigance
In order to ensure the growth of quality student leaders, the Office of Fraternity and Sorority Leadership Development is interested in assessing the new member recruitment process.
Why/how students choose a specific fraternity/sorority
Why students participate in the recruitment process but do not join
Whether or not students participating in the recruitment process are fulfilling desired learning objectives
The impact of the recruitment process on greek-affiliated student leaders

11. Methods
Sampling, Methods, Validity and Reliability

12. Methods Mixed-Methods Study Qualitative Methods Quantitative Methods
Document Analysis
Interviews and Focus Groups
Quantitative Methods
Survey Research
Reliability and Validity

13. Sampling Institutional data from USC
Greek-affiliated student data from USC Fraternity and Sorority Leadership Development
Probability sampling for surveys

14. Document Analysis USC Institutional Documents
USC Fraternity and Sorority Leadership Development recruitment documents
Peer Institution Documents
Protocol for Analysis

15. Interviews and Focus Groups
Staff and Administrator Interviews
Senior Focus Groups
Review how Greek students experienced their USC career
Interview guide
Focus Group protocol – AFA Sample Focus Group Guide

16. Research Survey Post-Recruitment Survey Second Semester Survey
Identify all students who experienced the recruitment process
Second Semester Survey
Understand the new member education process
Developed from tested and validated national research surveys - CSCF
Data will be used for institutional-wide assessment and best practices

17. Reliability and Validity
Transparency
Data triangulation and member checking
Psychometrically tested instruments

18. Analysis
Results of both surveys will be analyzed by FSLD professional & student staff
Quantitative and qualitative information will be reviewed to determine progress made on student learning outcomes
Analyze the experience of the student and whether it can be enhanced- want to create a culture of change
The results of both the post-recruitment and post-initiation surveys will be analyzed by FSLD professional and student staff and changes will be proposed to enhance the experience of the students going through the recruitment process, as well as the new members in their first semester of involvement. The quantitative and qualitative information collected from the surveys will be closely reviewed for student progress made on learning outcomes.
Using the rubric created for this study, the data will be analyzed against a predetermined set of criteria and scoring scale that assesses students level of development in correspondence with the mission statement and learning outcomes of the FSLD (Bresciani, Zelna, & Anderson, 2004).

19. Rubric
Rubric
Once data has been collected, a checklist with a simple set of criteria and rating done as a yes or no, may be created if there is a significantly large amount of information collected in the survey. This will make the large amount of data more manageable and it will be quick to use (Bresciani et al., 2004). Furthermore, coding will be used to analyze the qualitative information collected in this assessment.

20. Analysis of Qualitative Data
Examples of survey questions:
What is the best thing that your fraternity/sorority has done for you?
What would you have liked your fraternity/sorority to do that would have made it a better experience?
We invite you to comment below on any aspect of Greek life, life on the USC campus, or your personal experience.  
After an initial review of the available qualitative data, themes will be picked out of the information and a list of codes will be created; those codes will then be applied to the data to separate all of the information into a theme so it can be applied later to assessing a specific learning outcome or student experience (Bresciani et al., 2004).

21. Insight
Assessing more than just student satisfaction, also assessing how well learning outcomes are being met
Currently, there is no assessment of this process being completed
Seek to improve the process of recruitment and initiation
Want to provide information that can help inform decisions
By completing this assessment, the FSLD seeks to learn about the experience of the students in the recruitment and initiation process of joining a fraternity or sorority. This assessment seeks to understand more than just student satisfaction, it will also be assessing how well the learning outcomes of FSLD are being met.
Currently there is no form of assessment for this important component for the process of becoming involved with one of these organizations. The FSLD will be contributing to building a culture of continuous improvement in which accountability, learning and improvement will be achievable goals for the office to pursue (Bresciani et al., 2004).
The information that they learn through this data collection can be used to improve the process of recruitment and the new member initiation process. This information will also be used to inform decisions made by students in leadership roles within the sororities and fraternities surrounding their process of recruitment and initiation.
The analyzed data can also be shared with members of the university in senior leadership roles to help enforce the positive learning outcomes and social development acquired by students involved in fraternities and sororities.

22. Distribution Binders to FSLD staff and key stakeholders
Summarized handouts for staff and leadership
Summarized handouts for student leadership team
Share expectations for recruitment and initiation with the new interested students
Information will also be shared with inquiring peer institutions interested in completing a similar assessment
After analysis of the data collected, binders and handouts will be created to assist with disseminating information out to the key players in the process of creating change. All of the raw data as well as the complete analyzed information will be distributed to staff in the FSLD, as well as senior leadership within the university that are major stakeholders in the office.
Handouts that summarize key points and areas where changes will be made with the data supporting the decision will be created to distribute to staff and leadership outside of the FSLD that have an interest in the information collected.
These handouts will also be modified and distributed to students in leadership roles in the fraternities and sororities so they can work towards enhancing the experience of the students taking part in recruitment and initiation.
Information about expectations for recruitment and initiation can be set and shared with the new students choosing to take part in the recruitment process based on the analyzed information and the changes that are being sought.
Facts and figures from this assessment will also be available to peer institutions seeking to complete a similar evaluation.

23. Future Assessments Senior leadership focus groups
Longitudinal tracking
Collaboration- a student learning outcome
Development of Diversity not addressed
In future years while continuing this assessment, it would be ideal to add several one-on-one interviews of students that have just gone through the recruitment process or the initiation process to be able to gather more detailed and descriptive qualitative information about their experience.
To further analyze the learning outcomes for the FSLD, we would also like to conduct senior leadership focus groups in the spring semester. This future assessment project will help to analyze whether the students involved in fraternities and sororities are fully achieving the learning outcomes sought by the FSLD by the end of their involvement with the organization. Analysis of the information collected in this assessment can use the same rubric created for the current assessment project.
Collaboration between the different Greek councils was not addressed in this assessment although it is a learning outcome of the FSLD. Future chapter evaluations will address this outcome since it cannot be addressed on an individual level.
Finally, development in diversity is not currently included as a learning outcome from the FSLD. We hope to later focus on incorporating diversity into the learning outcomes.

24. References
AFA Association of Fraternity/Sorority Advisors. (2006, January). AFA coalition assessment project. Retrieved from
Bresciani, M.J., Zelna, C. L., & Anderson, J. A. (2004). Assessing student learning and development: A handbook for practitioners. Washington, DC: National Association of Student Personnel Administrators (NASPA).
Schuh, J. H. & Associates (2009). Assessment Methods for Student Affairs. San Francisco, CA: John Wiley & Sons, Inc.
Strayhorn, T. L., & Colvin, A. J. (2006). Assessing student learning and development in fraternity and student affairs. Oracle: The Research Journal of the Association of Fraternity Advisors, 2(2). Retrieved from