The Role of Student Affairs in Student Learning Assessment
The Role of Student Affairs in Student Learning Assessment
The Role of Student Affairs in Student Learning Assessment
December 2010
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Oc c a s i o n a l Pa p e r # 7
lear ningoutcomesassessment.org
National Institute for Learning Outcomes Assessment | 1
Contents
Abstract . . . 3
Foreword . . . 4
The Role of Student Affairs in Student
Learning Assessment . . . 5
The Evolving Role of the Contributions of
Student Affairs to Student Learning . . . 5
The Student Affairs Role in the Assessment
of Student Learning: Contributions and
Challenges . . . 6
Linking Assessment to Institutional
Mission and Purpose. . . 6
Understanding the Broader Environment
...7
Bridging Accountability and Continuous
Improvement . . . 7
Developing and Maintaining
Collaborative Partnerships . . . 8
Sharing Expertise . . . 9
Valuing and Providing Leadership . . . 10
Devoting Resources to Assessment . . . 10
Designing and Completing Activities for
Sustainable Assessment . . . 11
Implementing Assessment Plans . . . 11
Asking Toughor TougherQuestions
. . . 12
Conclusion . . . 12
References . . . 13
Endnote: Historical Review. . . 15
NILOA
National Advisory Panel . . . 21
Mission . . . 21
Occasional Paper Series . . . 21
About NILOA . . . 22
Staff . . . 22
Sponsors . . . 22
The ideas and information contained in this
publication are those of the authors and do
not necessarily reflect the views of Carnegie
Corporation of New York, Lumina Foundation for Education, or The Teagle Foundation.
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Abstract
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Foreword
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This paper highlights the substantive contributions that student affairs can
make to campus-wide student learning outcomes assessment efforts and
identifies factors that may prevent student affairs professionals from making
such contributions. Following a brief description of the evolution of the
student affairs understanding of and role in the student learning experience,
the paper focuses on the role of student affairs in assessing student learning
outlining the challenges in doing so and suggesting how these challenges can
be turned into opportunities to promote higher levels of student achievement.
to the center of students learning at college. Second, student affairs practice in assessing and evaluating student experiences, at least conceptually,
has moved from evaluating students use of and participation in services
and programs to measuring how programs and experiences contribute to
students learninga topic further elaborated in the papers endnote. The
balance of this paper outlines the present role of student affairs in assessing
student learning and describes how student affairs professionals can realize
their potential for making significant contributions in campus-wide student
learning outcomes assessment.
Colleges and universities are being asked to disclose more and more about
academic results and are responding in kind. Most now realize that it
will be impossible to sit out the latest round of pressure for accountability with the hope that it will eventually go away (p. 6).
External stakeholders can benefit from knowing that student learning,
consistent with institutional mission and purpose, occurs both in and outside
the classroom. Student affairs practitionerswith their knowledge about
student learningmust take the lead in documenting how their services
enhance student learning outside the classroom and how their services
support academic-specific and institution-wide assessment efforts (Seagraves
& Dean, 2010).
tution, discovered that student attrition was greater between the second
and third year of college than between the first and second year. To better
understand the second-year student experience and the factors that may
have contributed to student attrition, staff members from Grinnells student
affairs and institutional research offices conducted focus groups (GansemerTopf, Stern, & Benjamin, 2007). The results from this study led to the
development of a second-year student retreat designed to address many of
the challenges identified by the student participants. Initiatives such as these
can both improve campus programs as well as positively impact the overall
accountability measures of persistence and graduation.
It is important to find
opportunities where faculty and
student affairs can work together
in assessing student learning so
that the students total learning
experience can be understood
for both accountability and
improvement purposes.
Student learning is not the result of discrete experiences but rather the
product of many different kinds of experiences in and outside the classroom
over an extended period of time. Indeed students social and extracurricular
involvements have important implications for what is learned in college
(Pascarella & Terenzini, 2005, p. 120). Thus, assessment activities should
be designed to discover how various combinations of experiences both in
and outside the classroom impact student learning.
Outcomes assessment, as Kuh and Banta (2000) have suggested, may be
one area where academic affairs and student affairs can contribute equally.
Student affairs staff have expertise in the area of student development and
student learning as well as understanding of student characteristics, values,
and outside-of-class experiences. Whereas faculty naturally focus on students
within their academic departments, student affairs professionals serve a
broader range of students. While faculty assess learning within an academic
discipline, student affairs can assess learning that results from participating in
a club or organization, from living in a residence hall or fraternity or sorority,
or from participating in a leadership development program. Compiling and
synthesizing the results from these various assessments can provide useful
information to the institution, the student, and the public through a broader
perspective on the entire student learning experience.
Sharing Expertise
The expertise of student affairs professionals is often underutilized in
campus-wide assessments. Many student affairs professionalsthrough
educational preparation and training in graduate school or through professional developmentare very knowledgeable about how students learn and
develop throughout college and about the type and scope of experiences that
can enhance students learning and development (Sandeen & Barr, 2006).
Moreover, through their assessment work as well as through their daily interaction with students, student affairs practitioners become campus experts
on student characteristics, interests, and attitudes. Student affairs professionals working in counseling, disability services, and student judicial offices
are able to observe student behavior patterns and can be among the first on
campus to note changes in such patterns. Student affairs professionals are
also well positioned to help the institution reach a deeper understanding of
the student learning experience through the interpretation of local data in
the context of findings from national surveys such as the National Survey
of Student Engagement (NSSE) (see http://nsse.iub.edu/html/about.cfm)
or the Cooperative Institutional Research Program (CIRP) (see http://www.
heri.ucla.edu/abtcirp.php). Although student affairs professionals may
engage in these assessment activities, they unfortunately often lack the means
to communicate their results to the broader university community; they
must find mechanisms through which they can communicate their knowledge of student learning and the results of their efforts to enhance student
learning.
On some campuses, administrators and faculty members invite the involvement of members of their student affairs division to participate in interpreting assessment results with an eye toward modifying institutional policies
and practices. The University of Maine at Farmington (UMF) provides a
good example of how changes resulted from the careful analysisby the
collaboration of academic affairs and student affairsof the UMF student
experience (Kuh, Kinzie, Schuh, Whitt, & Associates, 2005/2010). As a
result of this study, which is ongoing, UMF expanded its annual spring
celebration of student research projects to include a showcase of works by
students in fine arts when the study revealed that the important contributions of these students had been overlooked.
Student affairs staff members need to have more than programs, activities,
and experiences they think would contribute to student learning. They need
to have the empirical evidence to be confident that these programs, activities,
and experiences actually do contribute to student learning. This is the point
in student affairs practice where assessment is vital.
Conclusion
Concluding this paper where it began, we note the progress that student
affairs practitioners have made in incorporating student learning outcomes
assessment into their professional practice. Through their knowledge of
student characteristics and attitudes, through their ability to design services
aligned with the academic mission of the institution, and with their understanding of student learning outside the classroom, student affairs practitioners bring a distinctive, informed perspective to their institutions assessment
program. On too many campuses, however, for various reasons, these potentials and such contributions have not been valued or utilized. Fully understanding and documenting what and how students learn both in and outside
of class requires collaboration between the two groups on campus who know
the most about studentsfaculty and student affairs professionals. We are
confident that student affairs practitioners are ready, willing, and prepared to
embrace these challenges in a manner consistent with their fields historical
trajectory and will continue to make progress in assessing how student affairs
activities and the out-of-class experience contribute to student learning.
References
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intellect curiosity challenge create achievement connection self-reflection educate action under stand communicate listen learn access qualit
innovation success ingenuity intellect curiosity challenge knowledge accountability connection under stand communicate listen learn access qualit
innovation success ingenuity self-reflection educate action under stand intellect knowledge accountability connection self-reflection educate actio
under stand communicate curiosity challenge create achievement connection self-reflection curiosity challenge create achievement connection sel
reflection knowledge accountability connection self-reflection educate action under stand communicate listen learn access quality innovation succes
ingenuity intellect curiosity challenge educate innovation success ingenuity intellect curiosity challenge create achievement knowledge accountabilit
connection self-reflection educate action under stand communicate curiosity challenge create achievement connection self-reflection under stan
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Endnote
Charlene Nunley
Program Director
Doctoral Program in Community College
Policy and Administration
University of Maryland University College
Randy Swing
Executive Director
Association for Institutional Research
Carol Geary Schneider
President
Association of American Colleges and
Universities
Belle Wheelan
President
Southern Association of Colleges and Schools
George Wright
President
Prairie View A&M University
Ex-Officio Members
Paul Lingenfelter
President
State Higher Education Executive Officers
George Mehaffy
Vice President
Academic Leadership and Change
American Association of State Colleges and
Universities
Margaret Miller
Professor
University of Virginia
David Shulenburger
Vice President
Association of Public and Land-Grant
Universities
Joni Finney
Practice Professor
University of Pennsylvania
Susan Johnston
Executive Vice President
Association of Governing Boards
NILOA Mission
Peter Ewell
Vice President
National Center for Higher Education
Management Systems
Stanley Ikenberry
President Emeritus and Regent Professor
University of Illinois
George Kuh
Director, National Institute for Learning
Outcomes Assessment
Adjunct Professor, University of Illinois
Indiana University Chancellors Professor
Emeritus
About NILOA
www.learningoutcomesassessment.org
NILOA Sponsors
Carnegie Corporation of New York
Lumina Foundation for Education
The Teagle Foundation
Produced by Creative Services | Public Affairs at the University of Illinois for NILOA. 10.032
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