SASS team offers assessment training to Division of Student Affairs & CSPA students

By: Assessment & Measurement Program

In partnership with the Division of Student Affairs and the College Student Personnel Administration (CSPA) master's program, the Student Affairs Assessment Support Services (SASS) team offered “Assessment 101” on January 2 - 4. This three-day workshop was intentionally designed for current and future student affairs professionals. First-year CSPA students were required to attend and all remaining seats were available to the student affairs division. The Vice President of Student Affairs, an Associate Vice President of Students Affairs, program directors, and program staff engaged in this training.

During this workshop, student affairs professionals and students were introduced to the entire assessment cycle before focusing extensively on the following foundational steps: specifying student learning outcomes, creating and mapping theory-based programming, selecting and designing instruments, examining implementation fidelity, making correct inferences from results, and using results for improvement.

Andrea Pope presenting the Assessment Cycle.

Morgan Crewe explaining internal consistency.

Additionally, there were explicit links between the training and the various professional standards related to assessment put forth by organizations like ACPA and NASPA. By engaging in activities related to a few crucial assessment topics, participants were able to build a strong foundation for future assessment work and continued education.

Caroline Prendergast leading an activity on making assessment meaningful.

The excellence of the training is attributed to the thoughtfully prepared materials and high-quality facilitation offered by Andrea Pope (3^rd year Assessment & Measurement PhD student), Caroline Prendergast (1^st year Assessment & Measurement PhD student), and Morgan Crewe (2^nd year Psychological Sciences MA student). These three talented assessment consultants, overseen by Dr. Sara Finney, offered an engaging and empowering experience designed to increase participants’ perceived value and confidence to engage in meaningful assessment practice. The Center for Assessment and Research Studies thanks Andrea, Caroline, and Morgan for their efforts to build and sustain a positive culture of assessment on campus.

Andrea, Caroline and Morgan present participants with certificates of completion.