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Why Do We Assess and Evaluate?
The Division of Student Affairs at Longwood University
assesses student learning and evaluates programs for many reasons. Student
Affairs administrators employ assessment and evaluation to better understand the
needs of a constantly changing student population. In addition, assessment and
evaluation are used to foster student learning, such as identity and skill
development. Assessment and evaluation are also used to improve the quality and
affordability of programs and services. Furthermore, assessment helps Student
Affairs administrators develop effective university policies and procedures,
contribute to strategic planning, and demonstrate to external constituents their
commitment to continually change to meet various student development needs and
learning styles. In short, we use assessment and evaluation to determine and
reinforce what we do well and improve what we do not.
What is the Difference between Assessment and
Evaluation?
Evaluation appraises the strengths and weaknesses of programs, policies,
personnel, products, and organizations to improve their effectiveness.
Assessment is an on-going process aimed at improving
student learning, programs, and services that involves a process of 1) publicly
sharing expectations, 2) defining criteria and standards for quality, 3)
gathering, analyzing, and interpreting evidence about how well performance
matches the criteria, and 4) using the results to documents, explain, and
improve performance.
The Division of Student Affairs at Longwood University uses
both evaluation and assessment to guide our work.
Evaluation is to determine significance or worth or judge the effectiveness of
educational programs. Assessment is to determine a rate or amount and is used as
an activity to measure student learning and other human characteristics.
CAS Standards: A Matter of Strategic Planning
The Division of Student Affairs uses national standards for practice in
Student Affairs created by the Council for the Advancement of Standards in
Higher Education (CAS). CAS collaborates with specific professional associations
to create national best practice guidelines in each area. We use these best
practices as one way to judge our work.
Residential and Commuter Life 2004-05 CAS Action Plan
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CAS Studies:
1991,
2000-2001
Learning Plans: A Formative Assessment of Student
Learning Outcomes
"Sure, the students like your programs and services, but what evidence do
you have that what you are doing is making a difference?" (Terenzini and
Upcraft, p.217)
This quote by P. T. Terenzini and M.L. Upcraft illustrates why Longwood’s
Division of Student Affairs uses learning as a critical feedback mechanism. Each
department engages in a 7-step Learning Plan process to 1) define our philosophy
toward learning, 2) incorporate Longwood’s six student development goals,
3) outline desired learning outcomes, 4) design activities and interactions that
encourage achievement of the learning outcomes, 5) assess whether or not the
learning occurred, 6) examine the results, and 7) plan future actions based on
the results. Learning Plans and their outcomes also serve to provide evidence of
what should be done to improve delivery and to modify planning.
Upcraft, M. L., & Schuh, J.H. (1996).
Assessment in Student Affairs: A Guide for Practitioners, Jossey-Bass
Publishers, San Francisco, CA.
Student Affairs Learning Plan Assessment
2002-2003 RCL Assessment
- Executive Summary
- Student Position Learning Outcome
Assessments
- Resident Assistants
- Community Advisors
- Desk Aides
- Desk Supervisors
- RHA and Hall Council
- Office Managers and Assistants
- RA Programming Assessments
Participation numbers
The Division of Student Affairs at Longwood University is committed to
sustaining an environment that offers a comprehensive array of student learning
opportunities. Student Affairs values tracking participation numbers at its
programs because this information helps student affairs professionals and the
students with whom they work with decide how to provide quality educational and
entertainment programming that meets the needs of the Longwood student.
Customer Service
The Division of Student Affairs at Longwood University is committed to
providing first rate customer service to its students. Student Affairs desires
to assess and continually improve customer service because a student that has
had an excellent experience with a particular department will be more willing to
direct their peers to take advantage of the services of that department and will
use the services again.
Training Evaluations
The Division of Student Affairs at Longwood University is committed to
providing effective and professional training for our student and professional
staff. By assessing current training practices, such as content, applicability,
and ease of use, student affairs professionals can consistently improve the
effectiveness student and professional staff training.
- RA Training - Participant Evaluations
Fall
2002
Program Evaluations
The Division of Student Affairs is committed to evaluating the effectiveness
of department sponsored programs. The information gathered about learning,
effectiveness of presenter, and content will help the department review the
aspects of the program should continue and the areas need to be reevaluated.
- Commuter Life Surveys
- Commuter Student Satisfaction
-
January 2003 (In progress/results
pending)
- April 2003 (Administered April
2003)
- Residential and Services Assessment
- Residential Assessment
- Services Assessment
- Desk Assessment
Satisfaction
The Division of Student Affairs is committed to evaluating the various
services that we provide to our constituents as a measure of effectiveness. What
our primary stakeholders, students, report has value in the evaluation of
individual services and is a critical part of the feedback mechanism.
Content area specific evaluations
The departments within the Division of Student Affairs use a variety of
content area-specific assessment and evaluation tools such as surveys by
Educational Benchmarking, Inc,, the National College Health Assessment, and
others. These tools allow the department to compare their areas with national
standards developed for their department’s content area. The results of the
assessment and evaluation will assist the department in program changes and/or
improvements.
Educational Benchmarking (ACUHO-I Housing and
Resident Satisfaction Surveys)
1999-2000
-
Preface
-
Introduction
- Select 6 analysis
- Institutional Analysis
- Question Analysis
- Longitudinal Analysis
Job Performance Evaluations
- Compiled Scores (REC Evaluations of RA
Performance)
- Compiled Scores (RA Evaluations of REC
Performance)
Facilities Reports
- Residence Hall Incident Statistics
- Residence Hall Damage Reports
Assessment Instruments
-
RA
Program Assessment Form
- Commuter Satisfaction Survey
- Performance Evaluations
- REC Evaluations of RA Performance
- RA Evaluations of REC Performance
- Training Evaluations
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