Strategies to Create,
Measure, and Document
Program Effectiveness in
Student Services
Angela Caballero de Cordero, Ph.D.
SLO Coordinator, Allan Hancock College
Alan Keys, Ph.D.
Psychology Professor/Faculty Research Coordinator,
Sacramento City College
Richard Erlich, M.Ed.
Counselor/Transfer Center Director, Sacramento City College
Strengthening Student Success, San
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Developing and Assessing
Student Learning
Outcomes within Student
Services
Alan Keys, Ph.D.
Psychology Professor/Faculty Research Coordinator,
Sacramento City College
Richard Erlich, M.Ed.
Counselor/Transfer Center Director,
Sacramento City College
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Student Services SLO Development
at SCC: Session Goals
Participants will be able to…
Describe foundation elements of Student
Services engagement in SLO development
and assessment at SCC
Demonstrate an understanding of the Ruth
Stiehl method of SLO development and
it’s application to Student Services
Discuss the integration of Student
Services in college SLO processes
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Foundation for Student Services
SLO Development at SCC
 College commitment to collaboration
between Student Services and
Instruction on SLO development
 Student Service and Instructional
perspectives integrated in institutional
SLO philosophy
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SCC’s SLO Philosophy Statement
– Guiding Principles
 SLO assessment is developed and implemented
by faculty and student service professionals
and is driven by educational values.
 The ability of SLO assessment to inform faculty
and students of the impact college programs and
services have… is enhanced when substantive
connections are made between Student
Services and Instruction.
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SCC’s SLO Philosophy Statement
– Student Engagement
A commitment to SLO assessment at the
course, program, and student services
levels serves to empower students… in
the process of charting their educational
and personal development paths.
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SCC’s SLO Philosophy Statement
– Student Development
SLO assessment can demonstrate our
capacities for fulfilling our mission by
assessing student development and the
skills, knowledge, competencies, beliefs,
and attitudes that students cultivate as a
result of both Student Service and
Instructional efforts.
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Parallel Paths of SLO
Development at SCC
 Student Services SLO development at Division
and Unit level – Stiehl Method
 Instructional SLO development at course &
program level – Intradepartmental process
 General Education Learning Outcome
development – Integration of instruction &
Student Services
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SLO development in Student
Services -Stiehl Process Overview
Learning Element Identification
Major theme development
SLO creation
Assessment plan design
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Step 1. Identify Learning Elements
Organize groups (2-5 participants)
based on participant’s department
Provide block paper & “Post-It Notes”
to each group
Brainstorm the “prompt” and answer
on Post-It Notes.
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Trigger Prompt
Upon completing service
interventions with students,
students will be able to know and
do…
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Step 2. SLO (Theme) identification
Members share their responses –
Allow adequate time (20 - 30 mins)
Sort individual responses into
major themes
Participants name the major
themes and transfer to block paper
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Step 3. Create SLO Statements
Identify each response (i.e. “PostIt” note) as an element of learning
within the major theme
Develop statement that summarizes
each theme’s learning elements
– Utilize Blooms taxonomy
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DSP & S Example
 Major Theme IdentifiedSelf Advocacy
 Learning Elements (excerpts)–
Students should be able to…
–
Access campus resources
–
Understand and use accommodations
–
Assess accommodations and their usefulness
–
Complete Service Request Form
–
Pick up and deliver accommodation form to instructors
–
Schedule testing accommodations
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Self Advocacy SLO Statement
Develop and apply self
advocacy skills for school,
personal life, and work
world
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Preliminary Assessment Plan for
Self Advocacy SLO
Assess with specific measures of
student behaviors
Assess if student…
– Completes Service Request Form
– Picks up and delivers accommodation form to instructors
– Schedules testing accommodations
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Parallel Paths Converge
Student Services developed SLOs using
Ruth Stiehl’s method
Instruction developed Course & Program
SLOs via intradepartmental collaborations
GE Learning Outcomes integrated
Student Services and Instructional
processes
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GE Learning Outcome
Development Process at SCC
Specific Aims (excerpts)
Reflect collective vision of a true “General
Education” for AA/AS degree earners
Clarify expectations and purpose of student
service experiences
Consider diverse paths of students to
achieve goals
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GE Learning Outcome
Development Process at SCC
Steps in GELO development
GE “theme” development:
– College-wide workshops with Instruction,
Student Services, & student collaboration
GE “learning element” development
– Task group development of specific SLOs for
each of 7 GELO “theme” areas
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GELO Theme Areas
Communication
Quantitative Reasoning
Depth & Breadth of Understanding
Cultural Competency
Information Competency
Critical Thinking
Life Skills and Personal Development
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Student Services & GE SLO Alignment
Student Services SLOs
1) Identify and effectively use programs, services, computer
technology, and resources for college entry, successful
progression through college, and transition from college to the
community.
2) Demonstrate the skills necessary to use a variety of
information tools to locate and retrieve information in various
formats for a variety of academic, personal, professional or
vocational purposes.
General Education SLO Areas
Information Competency
3) Apply principles and skills that contribute to life-long
Life Skills and
learning such as confidence in academic abilities, perseverance,
Development
discipline, questioning attitudes and interpersonal and social
effectiveness.
4) Take responsibility for taking care of self to be successful in
professional, personal, and social environments.
5) Develop and apply self advocacy skills for school, personal
life, and work world.
6) Develop successful study strategies in order to acquire,
evaluate, generalize, and apply new information.
7) Engage in academic and vocational planning, choose and
implement a plan for an academic major and career choices,
and evaluate progress towards accomplishing their goals.
8) Demonstrate that they’ve created supportive social networks
with family, faculty, and peers that facilitate adjustment and a
sense of belonging to the college community.
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Student Services SLOs
9) Identify and analyze problems; creatively propose,
analyze, implement, and evaluate solutions to problems.
General Education SLO Areas
Critical Thinking
10) Demonstrate an understanding of the way personal
attitudes, values, perceptions and beliefs affect and
sometimes obstruct competent reasoning.
11) Develop communication and leadership skills for
successful transition and adjustment into the work world
or the university.
12) Create and deliver appropriate and effective oral
messages for a variety of situations, using presentation
aids when appropriate.
13) Develop and utilize effective communication skills in
building and maintaining multicultural interpersonal
relationships.
14) Demonstrate respect, appreciation, and acceptance
for multicultural differences
15) Evaluate the role of culture in identity construction.
16) Critically reflect and evaluate moral and ethical
responsibilities as a world citizen, building a larger
consciousness and purpose beyond self.
Communication
Cultural Competency
Depth and Breadth
of Understanding
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Conclusions
Stiehl method of SLO development is
effective at producing meaningful and
measurable SLOs for a variety of Student
Service areas
Stiehl method demystifies the SLO process,
facilitates a focus on student learning, and
stimulates collaboration in Student Services
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Conclusions - continued
Integration of Student Services
perspective in all levels of SLO
development is critical for creating an
effective and meaningful SLO process
Student Service SLO development and
college GELO efforts converged with
well-aligned overlap between their
Themes
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References
Stiehl, R., & Lewchuk, L. (2002). The Outcomes Primer:
Reconstructing the College Curriculum (2nd ed.),
Corvallis, OR: The Learning Organization.
Stiehl, R., & Lewchuk, L. (2005). The Mapping Primer: Tools
for Reconstructing the College Curriculum. Corvallis, OR:
The Learning Organization.
Sacramento City College SLO Assessment and Faculty
Research Resource Site. http://web.scc.losrios.edu/slo.
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