1. What is the Answer?? Larry Dietz, PhD Doug Fraser, Student Voice
Cheryl Presley, PhD
Rosemary Simmons, PhD
Gertrude Stein Story

2. Collaboration and Partnership in Successful Assessment:
Everybody Wins

3. Goal of Assessment To improve learning and retention of our students
To improve the quality of services delivered to our students
To move assessment from a model of “reactive response” to “student centered response”

4. Cross Campus Strategies- Why?
The success and ‘health’ of any given environment really requires a buy-in by all members of that environment.
There are physical, financial, and personnel challenges that make thinking about learning outcomes and student success in a more holistic manner, almost impossible
There are real physical barriers, time barriers and commitment barriers to starting the dialogue between and among agencies and departments on campuses as well as the apparent competing goals from agency to department.
Funding issues are also first and foremost in peoples minds. State appropriations and revenue streams are relatively small compared to the needs of the campus as a whole. Accountability is seen sometimes as a means to point fingers rather than to improve the culture in addition to being an add on to already overloaded faculty and staff efforts.

5. Ideally How Would it Be?
Everyone would have, first and foremost in their mind, quality improvement of their programs so that students benefited
Assessment would be looked upon as an opportunity to ‘make things even better’
We would be fearless and honest with each other and reduce over lap…thereby, free up funds, free up competition, free up personnel

6. Cross Campus Design-Objectives
Provide ‘real time’ information, enhancing ability to respond and act
Develop outcomes for services and programs
Increase student engagement and learning
Provide stronger programs that have relentlessly studied themselves
Improve communication and collaboration among departments
Enhance accountability and increase the ability to respond

7. How Did We Think About It?
Student Affairs is a very large unit within the SIUC system
Each department is headed by a director in charge of many staff and budget $$
Essential, since there is a mix of funding sources (state, federal, fees) that those with fewer funding sources have equal opportunity to come to the assessment table.

8. What Steps Did We Take?
Demonstration helps understand the process, but really not the details of the technology

9. Step 1 Demonstration of the program Demystify the process
Meet with each of the Directors or their designees
Prepare surveys that were part of the tool kit (it helps to have them printed in hard copy so that folks can read them)
Have them bring surveys that they currently use.

10. Step 2
Error is entered into the results from poorly constructed items without focus on the purpose of the assessment
Review items and purpose of the assessment with the directors
Determine the type of survey:
Needs Assessment
Satisfaction
Outcome

11. Step 3 Match their needs with the correct instrument
Determine how to draw their sample to enhance the reliability and validity of the results
Determine the time line when they want to do the assessment
Determine whether the methodology is PDA or On-line Web based
“Hang” the instrument with Student Voice

12. Step 4
Let it happen
Having one person who coordinates all of this relieves directors of the tasks that are time consuming and they can move forward with business as usual

13. What is StudentVoice?
Created by students, we only work in Higher Education…
Technology
Resources
Consultation
Gertrude Stein Story
StudentVoice makes data easy to collect, interpret, share, integrate, and organize.

14. Data Collection: PDA
Randomly intercept students at busy campus locations
Position PDAs at points of service
Use multiple PDAs after a campus event or program
Access data immediately after PDA is hot synced
Gertrude Stein Story

15. Data Collection: Online
Send an invitation with a link
Post a survey on an existing website
Data is available in real-time once a survey is submitted
Gertrude Stein Story

16. Campus Assessment Portal
Central, secure access point for projects
Simple analysis tools
Export Capabilities
Assessment Toolkits
Gertrude Stein Story

17. Making the Process Easy
StudentVoice can provide assistance at any stage during the project lifecycle.
Establishing measurable goals and objectives
Questionnaire design
Exposure to best practice(s) and “toolkits”
Training on mobile and web data collection
Determining sample size
Gauging response rates
Technical support
Reacting to data
Using analysis tools
Incorporating data into reports and presentations
Preparation
Data Collection
Gertrude Stein Story
Results

19. SIUC Counseling Center
Learning Outcomes Survey

20. Difficulties with past assessment experiences
Finding time to design and create instrument
Administration of instrument
Counselors forget to give them to clients
Waiting room chaotic if pre-appointment
Cuts into session time
Post-appointment, counselors forget
Small response rate if mailed, plus costly
Finding time to Enter and Analyze data
Creating Reports

21. Theoretical Frame for Learning Outcomes
Desired outcomes of Youth Skill Development Programs – knowledge, attitude, skills, and behaviors
Personal/Social Competence
Health/Physical Competence
Cognitive/Creative Competence
Career/Vocational Competence
Citizenship Competence
Aspects of Self – connections, confidence, and character (K. J. Pittman, 1997)

22. Theoretical Frame for Learning Outcomes
Learning Reconsidered(2004); 2 (2006)
Cognitive Complexity
Knowledge Acquisition, Integration, Application
Humanitarianism
Civic Engagement
Interpersonal and Intrapersonal Competence
Practical Competence
Persistence and Academic Achievement

23. Launching of Survey Creating items based on theoretical frame
24 Items created
Demographic items reflective of current agency data, plus type of service
Submitting information to StudentVoice
Items, Demographics, & Method
Reviewing and Approving survey
Gathering client s
Sending with link to web-based survey

24. Response Rate 217 emails sent 80 responses in first 10 days of survey
2nd two weeks later
111 responses total
(51.2% response rate for completed surveys)
(56.7% began survey or 123 clients)

25. Result Highlights Presentation of Data
Frequency, Graph, Cross Tab
Strength of Services (Strongly Agree/Agree)
<85%, 5 items
<80%, 2 items
<75%, 7 items
<70%, 3 items
<65%, 3 items
Areas for Improvement (Disagree/Strongly Disagree)
41 – 52 %, 4 items

26. Use of Data Review with my staff
Problem solve on how to increase our effectiveness for the four items needing improvement
Share success with administrators
Annual Report
Special Reports regarding student learning, retention, satisfaction, etc.