March 23, 2011
INSTITUTIONAL SUPPORT
SERVICE AREA OUTCOMES
Today’s Outcomes
By the end of today’s workshop,
participants will be able to . . .
 Revise and/or finalize SAOs within their
areas
 Discover and articulate commonalities
to use for Institutional Support Core
 Discuss a finalized broad Core and
drafted sub-core elements with their
staff
 (if time today) discuss practical
assessment tools with their staff
Without Outcomes Assessment:
When assessment is absent, recurring
crisis-management usually takes its
place ... episodic events of laborious,
broad data-gathering in response to a
criticism or mandate … culminating in
the usual hastily written (hopefully
credible) report that is soon filed and
forgotten.
---from Nutshell Notes, The University of Colorado at Denver, v. 4, n.
With Outcomes Assessment
In contrast, outcomes assessment
continuously gathers essential data in
ways that address clearly formulated
hypotheses. More importantly, this
assessment creates a system of
routinely utilized knowledge that can
be easily built upon.
Assessment prevents crises.
---from Nutshell Notes, The University of Colorado at Denver, v. 4, n.
What are Outcomes?
 Goals are what we plan to do or
accomplish.
 Outcomes are what we expect will
happen when we do what we planned
(what should happen as a result of
what we do).
Outcomes should ...
 describe stakeholder behaviors that
staff would accept as evidence that
the support area is performing its
function.
 Offer who will do what and when
(WWW)
Outcomes are ...
 Brief statements of results
 Describe behaviors of stakeholders
 Refer to results of processes
 Used to assess effectiveness and
provide improvement information
Activity 1
Which is a goal and which is an
outcome?
 Increase student voice in the decision-
making model by establishing a
student government association.
 Students will participate more in
college-wide committees/councils,
task forces, and focus groups.
Activity 1
Which is a goal and which is an
outcome?
 Faculty, staff, and students will have
access to electronic resources from
off-campus locations.
 Increase access to LRS resources;
implement remote user access to
electronic resources.
Activity 1
Which is a goal and which is an
outcome?
 Office of Research and Planning will
provide planning, assessment, and
evaluation services to meet the needs
of the College.
 Faculty, administrators, and staff will
use information to make decisions or
assess the effectiveness of their area.
Activity 2
Create an outcome statement
that would provide ‘evidence’
that demonstrates achievement
of the following goals
(remember to state the WWW):
Write an outcome
statement for the goal:
 Peace, order, and safety on the
campus will be promoted by
deterring and preventing criminal
activity.
Write an outcome
statement for the goal:
 Provide safe, clean, maintained
and visually attractive buildings
and grounds to be enjoyed by
students, faculty, and staff.
Write an outcome
statement for the goal:
 Expand outcomes assessment to
all areas of the College.
Activity 3
Get in small groups to discuss the draft
outcomes your areas have created.
 Does the outcome state what stakeholders
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should be able to do as a result of what your
area does?
Does the outcome state the WWW?
Is the outcome action-oriented?
Would the outcome be clear to someone
outside of your area?
Is the outcome measureable?
Institutional Support
Core Outcomes
Definition: The collective expression of
the results of our individual
institutional support service efforts to
facilitate student learning.
Resources
 SAOs
 Core Competencies
 Strategic Plan
Activity 4
 What does support service mean in
your area?
Activity 4
 What do we want our institution to
be known for in terms of serving our
‘client’ (defined as students, faculty,
staff, community)?
Assessment
INSTITUTIONAL SUPPORT
SERVICE AREA OUTCOMES
Start with specific
criteria and methodology:
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What data will be used?
How will data be gathered?
When?
Who is responsible?
How will data be analyzed?
What standard defines success?
Example
Outcome: Faculty, staff, and students will
feel safe when they are on campus.





What? Faculty, staff, and student opinions
How? Customer Satisfaction Survey
When? Annually in the Spring
Who? Police Chief and Staff, R&P office
How analyzed? Calculate, by group, the
percentages of respondent responses
 Standard of success? 90% report feeling
safe
Example
Outcome: Instructional and non-instructional College
units will complete program review and 3-year plans,
using data from outcomes assessment, by May of
each year.
 What? Reviews and plans
 How? Research & Planning tracking system and
assessment committee rubric
 When? Annually by May
 Who? Deans/Directors as appropriate, R&P,
assessment committee
 How analyzed? Count the number of units who
have completed the plans and reviews; evaluate
quality based on rubric
 Standards of success? 100% complete on time,
quality outlined in rubric
Summarize & Analyze Data
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What did you find out?
Were the criteria met?
What problems need addressing?
What successes were identified?
Create an Action Plan &
Implement Changes
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What changes need to be made?
What additional data are needed?
What resources are needed?
What actions do you plan to take?
Who is responsible?
Identify & Assess Impact
 How has your area improved the
quality or quantity of what you do as a
result of your changes/action plan?
Assessment Tips:
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Keep it simple
Focus on essentials you can address
Use existing data as much as possible
Collect only information you will use
Incorporate assessment procedures
into routine operations of the area
Homework
 Finalize SAOs
 Discuss Institutional Support Core
with your area (present, brainstorm,
revise)
 Brainstorm possible assessment
tools with your area