Student Services Assessment

Assessment that Results in Student Achievement

As a function of the Vice President’s office, assessment activities are coordinated by the Student Affairs Cabinet (SAC) and specifically by the SAC Assessment Leadership Team. The Assessment Leadership Team is an expanded group consisting of the Vice President for Student Services, their direct reports, and assessment/data specialists in the division. Monthly meetings provide the infrastructure for conducting assessment initiatives that facilitate continuous improvement in student learning and departmental effectiveness.

Focus Areas for Assessment

SAC has three focus areas for assessment: institutional, divisional, and departmental.

Departmental

Student Services departmental assessment is coordinated by the lead administrator in each unit designated by their title of Director or Dean. Each department has a clear foundation in an established mission, identified service populations, and stated outcomes that addressed by the department’s own annual system of assessment and improvement. Departments take turns presenting their findings along with any changes in operational functions from the prior year at quarterly divisional meetings. As a part of these annual department update presentations, the website Mission, Functions, and Outcome Reports are updated. SAC members provide review and support to the departments at each point in the process.

Divisional

The divisional assessment tool is called the Assessment Dashboard. In 2017, SAC unveiled this series of webpages to illustrate the collective healthy operations of division. SAC spent two years of self-study and planning to determine 9 different data points that help demonstrate that our commitment to student success, support and engagement is producing desired results. The SAC Assessment Team dedicates its November and May meetings to institutionally reflect on the Dashboard measures. At each meeting, we take a snapshot of our dynamic and changing Dashboard measures and record our SAC members’ analysis in our Dashboard Archive. When looked at over time, the Dashboard Archive shows change and continuous improvement as a result of our assessment initiatives.

Institutional

Student Services contributes to institutional mission fulfillment through participation in the campus’ Accreditation Steering Committee. Two representatives from our SAC Assessment Team serve on this committee and assure that that assessment work in the division aligns with college mission and core themes. These representatives also promote the assessment work of the division to be used in the college Mission Fulfillment Report and for narrative examples use in periodic accreditation reports.

Participating Departments

1. Admissions
2. Advising
3. Center for Leadership & Service
4. Counseling Center
5. Financial Aid and Student Employment
6. High School Programs
7. Multicultural Affairs/Intercultural Center
8. Registration and Records
9. TRiO Student Support & Retention Services
10. Veterans Services
11. Women’s Programs/Work First Services

Student Services Assessment Approach

These are the values that guide our work in assessment.

Strength-Based

Our departments are strong and our Student Services Division has been recognized by multiple organizations as a best practice institution (Achieving the Dream, Seattle University Student Development Administration Program, and the Washington State Student Services Commission’s publication Student Services in Community Colleges: A Practitioner’s Guide). This excellence is important to maintain. Departments should continue to undertake meaningful program review annually that assures each area has a current: robust mission, student demographic analysis, functional analysis, and department goals.

Need-Based

Our assessment is primarily focused on our institution, division, and department priorities. Need-based assessment will provide relevant results, engage the interest of our researchers, and build buy-in with participants.

Transparent

Assessment is done in order to share with our institutional partners and the field of Student Affairs, not for program improvement only. Data from our assessment activities belongs to everyone and everyone owns the product of our efforts. We intend to engage in assessment that is shared internally with our campus and externally for the betterment of our profession.

Collaborative

Our assessment should be done no less collaboratively than the other work of our division. Division-wide and institutional assessment practices will be conducted by the members of our division who are most interested in conducting meaningful research, willing, and curious about our needs.

Directed

Our meaningful contributions to HC Core Themes require us to be much more intentional and strategic about our assessment activities. Student Services focuses our assessment practices to support data needs for mission fulfillment, College Core Themes, Student Learning Outcomes, and specific Student Services Initiatives.

Student Feedback Survey

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