Creating a S.I.M.P.L.E. &
Comprehensive
Assessment Plan for
Residence Life and Housing
Dr. Mike Fulford
Emory University
Student Affairs Assessment Conference
October 11-12, 2010
Why do we need an
assessment plan?
► Scarcity
of resources
► Need to know that resources are effectively
impacting students, staff, facilities, and
customers
► Helps professionals tap into the power of
evidence based decision making
► Provides a mechanism for supervising staff
What is Assessment?
According the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools (SACS):
Accreditation by the Commission on Colleges signifies that the institution
(1) has a mission appropriate to higher education, (2) has resources,
programs, and services sufficient to accomplish and sustain that
mission, and (3) maintains clearly specified educational objectives that
are consistent with its mission and appropriate to the degrees it offers,
and. . .
►
that indicate whether it is successful in achieving its stated
objectives. (Principles of Accreditation, 2008)
►
The systematic process of determining educational objectives,
gathering, using, and analyzing information about student learning
outcomes to make decisions about programs, individual student
progress, or accountability (Erwin, T.D. (1991). Assessing student
learning and development )
Evidence Based Decision Making
► An
evidence based decision process consists
of several logical steps that help shape your
thinking, information gathering, analysis
and course of action. (The Lewis Group,
2004)
► Utilize quantifiable data to determine the
direction of your program using anecdotal
information as a complement
What a Comprehensive Assessment
Plan can do for your Organization?
► Turn
everyone’s heads in a direction
► Identify issues to your major decision makers for
future changes and initiatives
► Lay a foundation for your program
► Help you attain funding through internal or
external sources
► Help you stop doing things that are costly, but
ineffective
► Examples?
The S.I.M.P.L.E. Part
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
Start with a picture of where you want to be
Identify the learning outcomes for your
organization’s initiatives
Make sure they are measurable outcomes (how
will you know it’s effective)
Plan your initiatives for the year and build in
your methods of measurement
Live the plan
Evaluate your initiatives and use the evidence to
make better decisions
Start with a picture of where you
want to be?
1.
2.
3.
What will your organization and the students you
impact look like at the end of your determined
cycle (1 year, 5 years, 10 years)
Think of some specific images that bring
definition to your vision of the future (i.e.
residents feel like they are part of a community)
Incorporate visions that you have control over
and also include things that may be a stretch for
your department or staff
Identify the Learning Outcomes for
Your Organization’s Initiatives
1.
2.
3.
4.
Outcomes in its simplest form are the results of
your assessment. These are the things that
make up the details of your picture of the future
They are your “expected impact”
They can be process oriented (i.e.- completed
the renovation of a new learning center)
They can be knowledge or skill based (i.e.students will understand the importance of
networking with other students)
Make Sure They are Measurable
Outcomes
1.
2.
3.
4.
How will you know your initiatives are effective?
Your outcomes need to be something you can
measure (i.e.- Yes or No, benchmarks, %
changes, defined increase or decrease)
You need to be able to easily define this
measurement tool (i.e.- survey, database
information, budget information, etc.)
For example, can you really measure “Improve
collaboration between department A &
department B?”
Plan your Initiatives for the Year &
include Methods of Measurement
1.
2.
3.
4.
This is what we do well- we like to plan new
things
This is what we don’t do well- evaluate all the
new things to see if they are effective
Your initiatives are developed from your
outcomes/expected impact
When you initially plan them, go ahead and write
the outcomes down as a guide and use them to
create an evaluation or measurement tool
Live the Plan
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
This is the hardest part of any assessment plan
First, make a list of all your meetings
Second, can you incorporate a discussion about these initiatives and
plans into any or all of these meetings?
Ideas- use one on one meetings and let the plan drive those
meetings
Set up a regular planning meeting (monthly or bi-weekly) that is for
discussion of long term goals and outcomes– not an information
meeting
Overdo it in the beginning- this helps get the machine running and
allows you opportunities for slowdown during the year
Bloom’s Taxonomy- determine what level you want them engaged in
your expected learning/process outcomes
Evaluate your Initiatives and use the
Evidence to Make Better Decisions
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
Identify points of contact where you can collect
data (quantitative or qualitative)
Identify times when you want to collect data
Make evaluations something you can realistically
compile
Use a program like SPSS to produce simple
statistics and charts
Use a planning retreat early in the summer to
review the previous year’s data and USE THE
DATA to make decisions about future planning
Language of Outcomes
action steps
strategies
outcomes
inputs
goals
mission
Breaking It Down
Mission- What do want to become?
Goals- What is your defined end point?
Inputs- What resources will you use?
Outcomes- What will be your result and what
will it look like?
Strategy- What are your methods of achieving
your outcomes?
Action Steps- Implementation of Strategy
Additional Points to Consider
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
Be realistic and prioritize goals for the next year
Identify all the access points where you can collect data
Who are important people to make the plan happen?
Incorporate the assessment plan into your regular
operations
Create points in the year where you evaluate progress
(winter meeting, monthly progress reports)
Celebrate your hard work and publish your results (yes,
publish)
Sample of excel file to track goals and initiatives
Questions & Follow-Up
Any Questions?
Please contact us with your questions so we
can keep up with your progress and help
you as you get your plan started.
Mike Fulford,
mike.fulford@housing.gatech.edu