NCTLA Assessment Institutes

For over a decade the Center for the Study of Higher Education held the National Center for Post Secondary Teaching, Learning, and Assessment (NCTLA) Assessment Institutes and assisted institutions develop, implement, and enhance their assessment plans. CSHE has changed the focus of the assessment institutes from assessment of general education programs to assessment of student affairs issues. As with the NCTLA Assessment Institutes, participants of the Summer Seminar on Assessment in Student Affairs will recieve a CD-ROM tutorial designed to facilitate the development and enhancement of assessment plans. The Student Affiars CD-ROM set, with two user friendly tutorials, has been designed to facilitate the development and enhancement of student affairs educational assessment plans.

The 2004 Summer Seminar on Assessment in Student Affairs, co-sponsored by the American College Personnel Association will be held from June 15-17 in Washington DC. This three-day seminar designed to help campus teams develop, implement, and enhance their student affairs assessment programs, will accommodate both beginning and advanced audiences. The Summer Seminar is staffed by experienced researchers, faculty, scholars, and administrators who deliver the contents via an interactive combination of expert presentations, small group discussion of focused topics, and hands-on exercises using a CD “Assessment Planning Tool.”

The keynote speaker will be Dr. John H. Schuh, co-author with M. Lee Upcraft of Assessment in Student Affairs: A Guide for Practitioners. Need to say more about Dr. Schuh here....

From the Assessment in Student Affairs applications manual, Dr. Upcraft designed the content of two interactive CD-ROM tutorials geared specifically for student affairs professionals. Dr. Upcraft will present his Ten-Step Matrix in Student Affairs Assessment, designed to assist users in the development of student affairs assessment studies, such as needs assessments, satisfaction studies, and others.

Dr. Pat Terenzini, co-author with Dr. Ernest T. Pascarella of How College Affects Students, will present the Ten-Step Matrix in Student Outcomes Assessment.  This CD assists users in the development of student outcome assessment plans intended to establish relationships between students' experiences and intended outcomes, such as persistence studies, the impact of services or programs, and others.

Both CDs will be provided to participants at the seminar. Participants are encouraged to bring their laptop personal computers (PC, not Macintosh) for special hands-on sessions with the CDs. The presenters will elaborate on each "step" as participants walk through the Ten-Step Matrix. Additional seminar faculty will be assigned to each group of participants for personalized attention during these sessions. To ensure the best use of time during these hands-on sessions, participants are encouraged to bring a draft of their assessment plan or assessment ideas that can be incorporated into the Ten-Step Matrix.

• A comprehensive resource notebook of materials, ideas, and worksheets to help guide the creation (or revision) of your assessment plan.

• Two CD-ROMs (outlined above) provide a clear, straightforward process for building and implementing educational assessment plans. The reports generated by the CD is a simple text file which can be opened in any word processing or slide show program, then enhanced with graphs, charts, graphics, etc.

• Individual and small group interaction with seminar faculty.

• Opportunities to produce (or revise) assessment plans with seminar faculty that meets individual institution's needs.

SUMMER SEMINAR TOPICS

• Assessment in Higher Education: Promoting Student Success
• Monitoring Campus Climate on Behalf of Diversity
• Student Learning Outcomes, Contributing Experiences, & Types of Measures
• Why Assess? What Process
• Strategies, Designs, and Models for Assessment
• Accountability in Higher Education
• Doing Assessment Using Existing Resources
• Useful Tools for Student Affairs Assessment
• Linking Assessment to Strategic Goals
• Strategic Plan as a Basis for Assessment
• Polling, Surveys, and Analysis
• The Organizational Context and Powerful Partnerships with Academic Affairs
• Using Assessment Results for Policy, Planning, and Practice

ASSESSMENT PLANNING TOOL CD-ROM TOPICS

• Define the problem and purpose of the assessment study
  
• Determine the sources of information
• Determine the best assessment method (quantitative, qualitative, mixed)
• Develop a data collection plan
• Identify instruments the rationale for their inclusion
• Identify Input or control variables and how they will be gathered
• Identify environmental variables and how they will be gathered
• Who should collect the data
• Record and Analyze Data
• Study Implications
• Report Results
  

TEAM PLANNING

Sending an institutional team, a college team, or specific program team with representatives from the assessment committee or key areas involved with assessment will result in a greater impact when you return to your campus. The team, guided by the assessment institute's faculty, will create (or revise) a working document of an assessment plan tailored to the focus of assessment and return home many steps ahead in the assessment process. Some institutions do send only one representative to bring back information for further dissemination and to determine how best the assessment teams should proceed.

FACULTY

The Assessment Institute faculty is comprised of respected authors, researchers, and practitioners with actual experience in assessment. The following faculty members are affiliated with the Institutes:

Leila V. Moore has been in the field of student affairs all of her professional career, most recently as Vice President for Student Affairs at the University of New Hampshire. She has been a student affairs practitioner at Penn State, SUNY Albany, and Syracuse University. Dr. Moore ha served as a faculty member in student affairs preparation programs at Penn State, Bowling Green State University and SUNY Albany. In addition, Dr. Moore is a former president of ACPA.

Robert D. Reason is an Assistant Professor and Research Associate at the Center for the Study of Higher Education. He coordinates the curriculum for the Summer Seminar on Assessment in Student Affairs for CSHE. Dr. Reason has conducted numerous assessment projects as an internal and external consulted, teaches courses on assessment in student affairs, and presents on the topic. At Penn State, he also coordinates the newly reorganized M.Ed. in College Student Affairs program.

John H. Schuh

Patrick T. Terenzini is a Professor and Senior Scientist in the Center for the Study of Higher Education and a past president of the Association for the Study of Higher Education. He co-authored, with Ernest T. Pascarella, the award winning book, How College Affects Students. Dr. Terenzini has over 25 years of experience in higher education as a teacher, researcher, and administrator.

M. Lee Upcraft served in various student affairs administrative positions until his retirement as Assistant Vice-president Emeritus for Student Affairs and Affiliate Professor Emeritus of Higher Education at Penn State.

J. Fredericks Volkwein is a Professor and Senior Scientist in the Center for the Study of Higher Education and the editor-in chief of the Jossey-Bass series, New Directions for Institutional Research. Dr. Volkwein is an institutional researcher whose focuses include accreditation, enrollment management, and the assessment of student learning and growth.

INSTITUTE COORDINATORS

Donna Bourassa, ACPA Associate Executive Director

Suzanne Bienert, Assessment Institute Administrative Director

Helen Caffrey, Administrative Consultant

Robert D. Reason, Assessment Institute Program Director

M. Lee Upcraft, Program Consultant

The National Center on Postsecondary Teaching, Learning, and Assessment

Voice Phone: 814-865-8366
Fax: 814-865-3638

email: nctla@psu.edu