Student Affairs Assessment Council
Wednesday, October 28, 2015
Benchmarking is the “continuous systematic process for
evaluating products, services, and work processes of
organizations that are recognized as representing best
practices for the purposes of organizational improvement.”
-Spendolini, 1992
 Justify programs/services within student affairs
 Improve quality
 Demonstrate affordability
 Develop strategic plans
 Formulate policy
 Aid in making decisions
 Internal: making comparisons within an organization
 Competitive: examines performance against peer or
competitor organizations
 Functional: looking at high performing processes across the
industry
 Generic: looks at organizations outside of one’s field/industry
Best practices are typically the finest examples of
process, program delivery, or methods in a given
area that produce the highest known quality
outcomes.
-Palomba & Banta, 1999
 Usually determined by those meeting and exceeding a list of criteria
 Can also be referred to as performance indicators
 Can also be referred to as benchmarks
 Can also be referred to as standards
 Whatever you choose for the benchmarking project you undertake—define your
term and be transparent.
 An indicator is “a relevant, easily calculable statistic that reflects the overall
condition of an enterprise.” –Ewell, 1997
 Easily calculable = easily calculable across institutions
 Note that learning/developmental outcomes generally cannot be evaluated by
performance indicators such as retention rates, graduation rates, and faculty-to-student
ratio.
 Indicators do not inform anyone as to the cause of the value found in the program—nor do
they indicate how to improve.
 USE indicators as measures, but we must incorporate student learning/development
outcomes
 Comparative
 Data intended to be public (for better or worse)
 Intended to learn about what you can improve
 Are you going to share the information publicly? If so, with whom?
 Are you benchmarking services and processes or student learning and
development?
 Is there national data that can help benchmarking data be more legitimate?
Examples include:
 NSSE
 College & University Counseling Center Directors Data Bank
 EBI surveys
 American College Health Association Survey
 National Association of Colleges & Employers Career Services surveys
 Which institutions allow you to compare yourself in a meaningful manner?
 University of Connecticut
 University of Pittsburgh
 Syracuse University
 Temple University
 University of Illinois @ Chicago
 George Mason University
 University of Alabama @ Birmingham
 University of South Florida
 University of Houston
 Define the problem
 Make sure benchmarking is appropriate
 Determine what to benchmark
 Choose who should be involved in the benchmarking project
 Select comparable organizations
 Determine what information will be collected
 Determine how the information will be collected
 Analyze the data
 Take action
 Assess the action taken
 In student affairs, problems can be identified through:
 Student use studies
 Student satisfaction studies
 Student needs studies
 Reviews
 Change in resources
 Realignments/reorganizations
 Change in law, policy, procedure
 Crisis or emergency situations
 Feedback from various constituents
 Ask yourself:
Can information from other organizations help my organization
and help me achieve my outcome?
 Must do preliminary investigation; you’ll need to find out if other organizations
have been successful in whatever you are researching.
 Remember:
 Product, service or process
 Product = educational program
 People directly affected by process should be involved from the very
beginning
 Process should involve staff (or students) who deal directly with the
problem
 If staff (or students) are involved from the beginning, there will be
greater ownership of the results and a greater likelihood that
solutions will be implemented.
 In general, use peer institutions
 Can also use:
 Programs, services, processes which are similar to your own
 Reputations for quality programs, services, or products
 Valid information to offer
 Hearsay v. Evidence
 Reliable information to offer
 Can’t always just look at websites; need to ask for data/assessment results
 Leadership which values benchmarking
 Don’t forget…help other institutions out! You may be calling them in a year for info.
 It is important to note that despite comparable characteristics (institution size,
academic functions) student affairs divisions may be VERY different. Try, as much as
possible, to compare oranges to oranges.
 Determine what information is needed to improve the program, service or process
 Develop a format/protocol which provides a framework within which information
can be gathered
 Telephone interviews
 Personal meetings/site visits
 Surveys
 Document/publication review
 Archival information
 Code = look for themes
 Be sure to ask yourself....
 “what didn’t they tell us…and why?”
 Be sure to address the problem identified initially
 Include specific recommendations AND solutions
 Easiest action = those that save resources, or require little to no additional
resources
 More difficult action = when significant resources are required to solve the
problem
 Discuss this with leadership PRIOR to benchmarking process. If no resources are
available, then what?
 Did the action taken actually solve the problem?
 Needs to be done correctly, or not at all
 Process should involve those who are directly affected
 Process should have support and commitment of the leadership of the organization
 Use organizations that are comparable, willing to participate, and can offer
reliable/valid information
 http://www.case.org/Samples_Research_and_Tools/Benchmarking_and_Research/
Benchmarking_Resources/CASE_Benchmarking_Toolkit/Alumni_Relations_Bench
marking_Template.html
 http://www.enhancementthemes.ac.uk/docs/case-studies/uk-and-international-
case-studies-of-practice-in-student-support.pdf?sfvrsn=18
 http://www.planning.salford.ac.uk/__data/assets/pdf_file/0020/20657/Examples-
of-Benchmarking-Reports-in-Higher-Education-Membership.pdf
 Alstete, J. W. (1995). Benchmarking in higher education: Adapting best practices to improve quality.
San Francisco: Jossey-Bass.
 Ewell, P. T. (1997b). Identifying indicators of curricular quality. In G. J. Gaff, L. J. Ratfcliff and
Associates, Handbook of the undergraduate curriculum: A comprehensive guide to purposes,
structures, practices, and change. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass.
 Palomba, C. A., and Banta, T. W. (1999). Assessment essentials: Planning, implementing, and
improving assessment in higher education. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass.
 Spendolini, M. J. (1992). The benchmarking book. New York: Amacom.
 Upcraft, M. L., & Schuh, J. H. (1996). Assessment in student affairs: A guide for practitioners. San
Francisco: Jossey-Bass.