Department Assessment Plan Workshop

Department Assessment Plan

Student Affairs Assessment, "Working" Workshop, February 21, 2003, Lynn D. Akey

The Mission of Student Affairs Assessment

• ...at Minnesota State University, Mankato is to provide information regarding:
  • student demographics;
  • student expectations and experiences;
  • student engagement;
  • campus climate; and
  • the quality and improvement of services and programs provided by the Division.

Assessment is...

• an on-going process aimed at understanding and improving student learning, student development, and the services and programs we provide. It involves:
  • making our expectations explicit;
  • setting appropriate criteria and high standards for quality;
  • systematically gathering, analyzing, and interpreting evidence to determine how well performance matches those expectations and standards;
  • answering questions important to departments; and
  • using the resulting information to document, explain, and improve programs and services.

The Department Assessment Plan

• Each student affairs department will design a five year assessment plan to assess the programs and services offered by the department to:
  • insure high quality programs and services through continual feedback and improvement;
  • provide data illustrating the educational value the departments programs and services add to the student experience at MSU; and
  • develop a base of information and data regarding the departments programs and services to be used as a component of Department Program Review and Institutional NCA Accreditation.

The Department Assessment Plan

• Establishes educational goals.
• Contains clear measurable outcomes.
• Selects appropriate instruments, methods and measures to assess each outcome.
• Sets standards of achievement the Department strives to reach for each outcome.
• Provides a workable timeline to complete the assessment of outcomes spread over a 5 year time period.
• Plans for the dissemination and use of data for program and service improvement.

Step 1. Review Department Mission Statement

• Review MSU's Mission and Goal Statements and the Student Affairs Mission and Goal Statements. Review department mission statement to ensure it is clearly linked to the Student Affairs and University statements.

Step 2. Identify Educational Goals

• Goals are general, broad, often abstract statements of desired or intended results.
• Educational goals should reflect the desired or intended impact on student learning and development.
• Educational goals clearly link to the department mission statement and the mission and goal statements for the University and Student Affairs.
• Start by brainstorming the desired and intended results or impacts your department has for the programs and services you provide. Answer the question: Our services and programs are critical because they...(have this impact or result).
• Review the brainstormed list. Look for common broad themes and categories. Simplify as much as possible (4-5 broad categories in total).
• Put the broad categories into a goal statement: The ____________ department will...
• Check the goal statements to be certain they clearly link to the department, student affairs, and university mission statements and goals.

Step 3. Identify Measurable Outcomes for Each Goal

• Outcomes are benefits or changes for individuals or populations during or after participating in program activities. Outcomes may relate to behavior, skills, knowledge, attitude, values, condition, or other attributes. They are what individuals or populations know, think, can do; or how they behave; or what their condition is, that is different following the program (Measuring Program Outcomes: A Practical Approach).
• Brainstorm outcomes for each goal.
• Review your list to look for outcomes that could be combined or that are not essential to your department. Select outcomes that are most important to your department and goals.
• Limit the number of outcomes for each goal. The total plan should have a maximum of 15 outcomes.
• Write the outcomes in clear measurable statements.

Step 4. Determine Methods and Measures of Assessment and Standards of Achievement

• Consider the services and programs that are currently a part of the department as a guide in determining possible target areas to assess each outcome.
• Consider current assessment activities already "in place" and being utilized by the department.
• Consider a combination of indirect and direct measures along with a mixture of quantitative and qualitative approaches.
• Select a standard/criteria of achievement for each outcome.

Step 5. Develop a Workable n5 Year Timeline

• Not every outcome has to be assessed every year, but all outcomes must be assessed at least once during the 5 year cycle.
• Consider how often an outcome needs to be assessed to provide timely feedback for program/service improvement (once in five years – to more than once a year).
• Prioritize the outcomes you want/need to learn about first.
• Make sure the timeline is "workable" each year.

Step 6. Determine How the Results will be Disseminated and Utilized

• Feedback loops are essential in providing staff with information useful to the improvement of programs and services. It is important to determine how the department will utilize the results for program improvement.
• In addition, it is critical that the larger campus community understand the educational benefits and "value-added" by the services and programs provided. Consider how information collected should be disseminated and to whom within the larger MSU community.

Step 7. Write Assessment Plan

• Use the Department Assessment Plan template provided to write the assessment plan.