Running head: ASSESSMENT IN STUDENT AFFAIRS 1

Assessment in Student Affairs

Didar Zhakanbayev

Pennsylvania State University

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Assessment in student affairs

As time passes, the importance of assessment and evaluation in student affairs field is

growing relatively. Success for students, programs and institutions can greatly be achieved by the

help of good assessment and evaluation practices. By clearly defined learning outcomes, well-

founded methodology, and up to date data, assessment can make a huge difference. (NASPA)

Recently, I have applied for an internship at the office of global programs. I was

interested in working there because that office works mainly with international students. I was a

member of one group called FiGE, and was able to be involved in various student activities

organized by that office. I should say that it was a unique experience and confidently say that it

was, indeed part of learning. Almost each time at the end of events that I attended our

coordinator used to take a small survey. The first semester I didnt pay much attention to it. But

now I see that all that collected data is carefully analyzed with a purpose to make those events

more useful so that students could benefit from that, and work towards improvement. I believe if

I had chance to see the practical side of it, that would help a lot to learn how to do an effective

assessment.

When making an assessment plan the very first step is to set our learning outcomes. To do

that we need to answer a simple question why?. Answering that question will help us to

come up with necessary objectives. Step two will be designing. That includes who will be the

intended audience for result, who will be a participant, what type of methods and tools are used,

location and logistics of timing. The tools that are commonly used would be surveys, focus

groups, interviews, observation, case studies, etc. These tools will help us to collect data and

analyze afterwards. Finally, we can use and share the results found. The results can show us what
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and why is it important and what actions should be taken or what resources are necessary.

(Kimberley Yousey Elsener, 2010)

The ASK standards provide a framework for the assessment knowledge and skills in which

student affairs professionals need to be proficient in order to foster learning. These standards look for an

articulation of areas of content knowledge, skill and dispositions that student affairs professionals need in

order to perform as practitioner-scholars to assess the degree to which students are mastering the learning

and development outcomes we intend as professionals. Consistent with language used in the context of

educational accountability, these areas of knowledge and skill are termed content standards. Phrased

conversationally, content standards describe what you need to know. That is, what do student affairs

professionals need to know in order to do assessment? (ASK Standards)

There are 13 Assessment Skills and Knowledge (ASK) Standards developed in consultation

with student affairs professionals from across the Association. These are some of those standards:

Assessment Design; Articulating learning and Development Outcomes; Selection of Data Collection and

Management Methods; Assessment Instruments; Benchmarking; Program Review and Evaluation;

Politics of Assessment.

Now I would like to mention about a couple of areas identified in ASK standards related

to the politics of assessment.

Standard A: Ability to Determine Political Risks That May Apply to Assessment Results

and the Audiences Likely to Be Adversely Affected by Findings. Assessment Coordinators have

to know how effectively share bad or uncomfortable results. Because those results may lead to

consequences such as budget cuts or shut down of programs in case they are found unsuccessful.

Assessment Coordinators must have broad view and understanding of who and how among

stakeholders are impacted by result. It is also very important to collaborate with staff in projects
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in terms of setting goals, timeline, requirements, reporting needs. That helps to make everything

transparent and leads to improvement.

Standard C: Ability to Identify the Context/Institutional Factors That Shape the Need for

the Assessment. Every institution has different context for instance, ones may be public, the

others private, ones may have two-year associate degree program, the others four-year bachelors

program, some might have leadership changes in the institution, whereas others might have

stability and so on. For student affairs division, the context may involve demonstrating how

student affairs contribute to the institutional vision, mission and values. As Upcraft and Schuh

(2002) stated, Assessment needs might change drastically as a result of new leadership that

requires different evidence of effectiveness, sees new problems, or devalues old problems (pp.

18-19). Hence why whatever the context is, the Assessment Coordinator has to understand the

impact of environment on the assessment agenda. Because higher education and institutions are

dynamic; priorities of the institution may change when leadership changes.

Standard D: Ability to Report Assessment Findings with an Awareness of the Political

Context for Those Results Such as Who Receives the Results, the Format in Which the Result

Should Be Reported, and Timing of the Reporting. Assessment Coordinator needs to pay

attention to how and when results are communicated. In addition to that Assessment Coordinator

needs to know the purpose, the intended audience, and the potential action to be taken based on

the information even before the data are collected. He/she should also be skilled in data

presentation such as types of reports, graphical representation, summary or detailed, presentation

best practices. (Yousey-Elsener, Bentrim, & Henning)

References:
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ASK Standards [Brochure]. (2006). Retrieved from

http://www.northwestern.edu/studentaffairs/assessment/resources/assessment-

resources/assets/acap-ask-brochure1.pdf

Assessment and Evaluation in Student Affairs | NASPA. (n.d.). Retrieved from

https://www.naspa.org/focus-areas/assessment-and-evaluation

Upcraft, M. L., &Schuh, J. H. (2002). Assessment vs. research: Why we should care about the

difference. About Campus, 7(1), 16-20.

Yousey-Elsener, K. (n.d.). Assessment in Student Affairs. Lecture. Retrieved from

http://www.myacpa.org/sites/default/files/CAE-Assessment_In_Student_Affairs.pdf

Yousey-Elsener, K., Bentrim, E. M., & Henning, G. W. (2015). Tenet Nine: Navigating Politics

Coordinating student affairs divisional assessment: A practical guide. Sterling, VA:

Stylus.