CAS Standards
Program Review and
Division-wide Assessment
With thanks to the generosity of
Deborah A. Garrett
Vice Chancellor for Student Affairs
Arkansas State University - Beebe
Carole S. Henry, ACUHO-I CAS Liaison
Executive Director of Housing & Residence Life
Old Dominion University
Doug Lange, CAS Secretary
Dean of Student Affairs
Ai The Art Institute of Tennessee-Nashville
Agenda
Overview of CAS and program review
Preparation for a review
Self Study and Process
Developing an Action Plan
Assessing Student Learning Outcomes
CAS Resources
CAS Overview
Founded in 1979 (ACUHO-I charter member) in
response to efforts to establish specialized
accreditation for student affairs preparation
programs
CAS is a consortium of prof. association members
(100,000+) in higher education who work
collaboratively to promulgate standards & guidelines
CAS Overview
 Focus on quality programs & services for
students
 Promulgate standards and guidelines for
practice and preparation
 Promote assessment in educational practice
 Promote quality assurance within higher
education
WHAT IS PROGRAM REVIEW NOT?
 it is not an evaluation of an individual staff
member
 an evaluation of an individual student
 a vehicle for punishment
WHAT IS PROGRAM REVIEW?
 Formal, collaborative process for systematic
review and evaluation
 Tied closely to mission, goals, and specified
outcomes of a given department
 Provides a snapshot of where a department is now
 Identifies progress toward department priorities &
university strategic planning
 Assesses strengths and weaknesses
 Makes recommendations for program
improvement
ELEMENTS OF PROGRAM REVIEW
A. Collect, analyze data/evidence about a
program
B. Compare results to some standard for
purpose of evaluating services provided:
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effectiveness
efficiency
impact
quality
C. Tied to continuous improvement
CAS Self Assessment Components
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mission
program
leadership
organization and management
human resources
financial resources
facilities, technology, and equipment
legal responsibilities
equity and access
campus and external relations
diversity
ethics
assessment and evaluation
CAS Self Assessment Guides
Purpose and Organization
Outcomes relevant to student learning and
development that must be identified and
assessed:
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knowledge acquisition
cognitive complexity
intrapersonal development
interpersonal competence
humanitarianism and civic engagement’
practical competence
Key Questions for CAS Components
Mission
 How does the unit uniquely contribute to and advance the
Division’s goals, objectives, & strategic initiatives?
Program
 What are the Unit’s core programs and services?
 Describe any key collaborative relationships (within and
beyond Student Affairs) in which the department is
involved. Please explain how these partnerships:
 What lines of communication exist for students’ input to be
included in the mission/purpose of the dept.?
Key Questions for CAS Components
Leadership
 What leadership practices are used to establish and
promote the unit’s values, short and long term directions,
and performance expectations?
 How does unit leadership promote a work culture that
encourages staff empowerment, innovation, risk taking to
effectively meet needs of students?
 Philosophy of decision-making?
 How does planning take place?
Key Questions continued
Organization and Management
 Explain the unit’s organizational structure, including
reporting relationships, distribution of
responsibilities/authority, lines of communication, and use
of management and/or work teams.
 What criterion does the unit use to accurately determine the
correct number of personnel that are needed to effectively
fulfill the mission and meet the needs of those it serves?
Key Questions continued
Human Resources
 What strategies are used to recruit, hire, and retain staff?
 How are staff performance expectations established,
effectively communicated, and understood? How is staff
performance evaluated? How is staff being trained and
developed?
Financial Resources
 Please provide a financial overview of the unit,
 What is the funding model for the unit? What resource
changes have occurred over the past five years and what
are the anticipated changes for the future?
 How are budget allocation/reallocation decisions made in
the unit?
Key Questions continued
Facilities, Technology, and Equipment
 How effectively do current facilities/space and
equipment support the work of the unit?
 How has technology been integrated into the program,
service, and operating functions of the unit? How has
the unit kept pace with the development of hardware,
software, maintenance, and training support? What are
the projected technology needs for the future?
 How effectively do the unit’s current facilities, space,
and equipment support its operations?
Key Questions continued
Legal Responsibilities
 How is staff trained to ensure that they are knowledgeable
about the laws and regulations, and professional ethics that
apply to their respective job responsibilities?
 What processes are in place for managing risks
Equity and Access
 How is non-discriminatory, fair, and equitable treatment of
staff and constituents ensured?
Campus and External Relationships
 What collaborative relationships exist with campus
colleagues?
 What short and long-term goals have been established to
strengthen these types of relationships?
Key Questions continued
Diversity
 How does the unit advance the University and Division’s
diversity agenda specific to:
 program/service offerings
 recruiting, hiring, retaining, and promoting staff
 student learning and development
 outreach and engagement activities
 campus and work environments
Ethics
 What is the unit’s policy/strategy for managing student/client and
staff member confidentiality issues? How are they informed of
these practices?
Key Questions continued
Assessment and Evaluation
 Provide a description of the unit’s assessment and evaluation
activities.
 How are student needs assessed and considered in the
development and delivery of programs and services?
 How is benchmark data used to stay current with peers?
Basic Steps:
Self-Assessment Process
A. Establish the process, identify a team and
train them.
B. Understand CAS Standards and
Guidelines.
C. Determine data sources, compile and
review evidence.
 Gather & analyze pertinent qualitative and
quantitative data
D. Judge performance.
E. Complete the assessment process.
Step B: Understand
CAS Standards and Guidelines
CAS functional area standards and guidelines – basic
statements that should be achievable by a program
 STANDARD (Bold type; Verbs MUST or SHALL)
Sample: HLRP staff members must provide a variety
of educational opportunities that promote academic
success and the achievement of learning and student
development outcomes.
 GUIDELINE (Regular type; Verbs SHOULD or MAY)
Sample: HLRP should provide an environment that
assists residents to remain in good academic
standing, earn higher GPA’s, and be retained.
Step C: Compile and Review
Documentary Evidence for Your Area
 Recruitment and marketing materials
 Participation policies and procedures
 Results reports; participant evaluation summaries
 Program documents
 brochures, catalogs
 institutional administrative documents
 organization charts
 financial statements
 Research, assessment, evaluation data
 needs assessments, follow-up studies
 assessment outcomes reports
 Staff activity reports
 Student activity reports
Step D: Judging Performance
Assessment criterion measures specific to your
part of the review
ND
Not Done
1
Not met
2
Minimally
Met
3
4
Well
Met
Fully
Met
NR
Using this scale, consider each criterion statement
and decide the extent to which each criterion
measure has been met by the program or service
Step D: Judging Performance continued
 Each criterion measure focuses on a
particular aspect of the standard, allowing
raters to express more detailed and specific
judgments
 In most instances, there are multiple criteria
for each standard
Judging Performance Exercise
Page 31: Review must statements
Diversity Criterion Measures
 Rate 11.1, 11.2, 11.3, 11.4 independently
 Review in group.
Formulating an Action Plan
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
Answer overview questions
Identify areas of program strength (Work form A)
Identify areas of program weakness (Work form A)
Describe practices requiring follow up (Work form A)
Summarize actions required for the program to meet the
standards (Work form B)
6. Summarize program enhancement activities (Work form C)
7. Write program action plan
CAS: Work Form A
Assessment, Ratings, and Significant Items
CAS
Work Form A
Assessment, Ratings, and Significant Items
INSTRUCTIONS:
This work form should be completed following individual ratings of the participants. For each of the 13 Parts, identify (circle) the criterion
measure item number(s) in the column labeled for which there is a substantial rating discrepancy (two or more ratings apart). Items not circled
should reflect consensus among judges that practice in that area is satisfactory. Items where judgment variance occurs need to be discussed
thoroughly by team members. Follow this action by determining which practices (criterion measures) can be designated as “excellent” or
“unsatisfactory” and record them in the Step One column. In Step Two, list the items requiring follow-up action including any criterion measure
rated as being unsatisfactory by any reviewer.
Step One
Part
Items
Excellent
1. Mission
1.1a
1.4
1.1b
1.5
1.1c
1.6
1.2
1.3
2. Program
2.1
2.4.3
2.4.8
2.4.1
3
2.6
2.8d
2.11
2.2
2.4.4
2.4.9
2.4.1
4
2.7
2.8e
2.12
2.3
2.4.5
2.4.1
0
2.4.1
5
2.8a
2.8f
2.13
2.4.1
2.4.6
2.4.1
1
2.4.1
6
2.8b
2.9
2.4.2
2.4.7
2.4.1
2
2.5
2.8c
2.10
Unsatisfactory
CAS: Work Form A continued
Step Two: List item number(s) for each Part determined to merit
follow-up and describe the practice weaknesses that require attention
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
CAS Work Form B: Follow Up Actions
INSTRUCTIONS:
The purpose of this work form is to begin the planning for action to be
taken on practices judged to merit follow-up (See Step 1, Work Form
A). In Step Three, transfer short descriptions of the practices requiring
follow-up and detail these items using the table format provided.
Step Three: Describe the current practice that requires change and actions
to initiate the change
Practice
Description
Corrective Action
Sought
Task Assigned To Timeline Due
Dates
CAS Work Form C:Summary Action Plan
Step Four:
This form concludes the self-assessment process and calls for
action to be taken as a consequence of study results. Write a
brief action plan statement in the spaces below for each Part
in which action is required.
Part 1: Mission
Part 2: Program
Part 3: Leadership
Part 4: Human Resources
Part 5: Ethics
Student Outcomes Assessment
What is the effect of our work on students?
 How are they different as a result of
interacting with our programs and services?
 How do we demonstrate their learning?
 How do we know?
 How can we show that the outcome was due to
our programs, etc.?
Plan for Assessing Student
Learning Outcomes
Review/revise mission
Identify major services, programs, activities
Specify desired student outcomes
Identify information needed to show student
learning
Identify existing and new data needed
Develop process for measuring outcomes
Identify ways to use findings to
change/improve
CAS Resources
www.cas.edu
CAS Statement of Shared Ethical Principles
CAS Characteristics of Individual Excellence
CAS Professional Standards, 2009 edition
 Prologue & Context with “How to” information
Self-Assessment Guides SAG’s- tools to help conduct
self-assessment activities
Frameworks for Assessing Learning and Development
Outcomes (FALDO’s) –contain information for measuring
learning outcomes
CD of Self Assessment Guides includes all 38 functional
area SAG’s and Standards; also includes an e-learning
course on conducting self assessment & a power point
presentation that can be modified by user.
Program Review Timeline
Self Study (January – April)
 Program review committees
students
faculty
staff
 Determine adequacy of evidence
 Collect more data?
 Conduct focus group?
Timeline (continued)
Report Findings
 Report of findings and recommendations
w/emphasis on how unit can improve and contribute
more fully.
Timeline (continued)
External Review/Site Visit (October)
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Two or three external reviewers
Write preliminary report based on Self Study
Campus visit
External Review Team Report
Timeline (continued)
Writing the Unit Program Review Report
(November/December)
 Prepare final report (generally same individuals as
self study team)
 Share with unit director (ifs/he is not on team) to
correct any factual errors
 Report to VP, Division Program Review Team, Unit
Director, Supervisor
Timeline (continued)
Develop the Unit Action Plan (November –
December)
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Proposed actions
Implementation strategies
Person(s) responsible
Appropriate timelines and identify resources
Include in annual goal-setting