When I originally drafted this blog post, I was “stuck” in Spokane, Washington due to a flight cancellation and was fresh off the end of an on-campus interview. I never thought about the ways my last graduate school semester would change over the next few weeks. Along with many others, I’m preparing…
“How do we carry out a useful qualitative and interpersonal approach to assessment of student learning in our programs, while we know we bring our individuality to the setting?”
Recently a Student Affairs assessment leader at my university asked me this question while we were discussing metho…
https://pcafalcons.com/2018/02/20/what-is-love/
February… the season of love. Although officially celebrated on the 14th, the entire month is typically dedicated to stuffed animals, bouquets of flowers, chocolate covered delicacies, and romantic gestures all in an attempt …
As a student affairs assessment consultant, I’ve had clients walk into a meeting to expect me to be the person to reassure them that their programs are good, and that everything else is an excuse why students couldn’t reach the intended outcomes. During times like these, I will refer…
Academic and Student Affairs assessment professionals have many common interests and challenges, but don’t always know how to connect with one another. Imagine a “dating app” for promoting assessment collaboration.
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Qualitative assessment often uses the same two designs: individual interviews and focus groups. Although we can spend a considerable amount of time trying to perfect the questions we ask, we spend less time thinking about the ways we can get people to share their experiences in different ways. What …
I’m excited to announce SAAL is gearing up for the fourth offering of our free, open course “Applying and Leading Assessment in Student Affairs”! This post will provide some results from the last course run, share changes and updates about the upcoming course, and then confirm the schedule for…
Welcome to a new year and to our new members on the SAAL Board. I am excited to introduce myself as the incoming chair and to announce our election winners. I am especially grateful to have Judd Harbin on as outgoing chair to continue to help guide our organization. …
I am not an American, but having lived here now for just over half of my life, there are some US holidays that, to some degree, my family and I have adopted into our lives. One thing that I appreciate is holidays that go beyond partying and fun (as enjoyable as those can be), such as Thanksgiving. …
https://daniellesunderhaus.com/tis-the-season-to-party/
Tis the season to be jolly… right? Depending on your vantage point and life experience, the Christmas season can be a time of immense dread or exhilarating jubilation. Whether one observes this time…
“We think we listen, but very rarely do we listen with real understanding, true empathy. Yet listening, of this very special kind, is one of the most potent forces for change that I know.” ~Carl Rogers
https://medium.com/@Jonathan.Parker93/the-road-less-traveled-a-short-story-cadf60b0a992
This year was the first time I’ve attended the IUPUI Assessment Institute in Indianapolis. While I’m not new to assessment, I’ve recently stepped into this assessment management role. So obviously, I was excited to attend this year’s conference to learn more about assessment through the lens of thos…
Although the tradition of dressing in costumes and trick or treat are meant to be a fun activity for children and adults alike, the notion of celebrating things that are terrifying, menacing, or scary is the reason why I don’t particularly care for Halloween. Similarly, for those responsible for ass…
https://www.tpr.org/post/how-can-we-change-minds-about-mental-health
Mental health is something that has become more of a foci within Student Life and on college campuses nationwide. Student well-being has comprised a lot of time and planning with higher education administrators to develop evid…
In my role as an assessment expert and consultant in higher education, I have definitely experienced both professional highlights and nadirs.
These peaks, or the part of my work that I’ve found I enjoy the most, tend to occur when my colleagues and I are having a discussion first rooted in thei…
“Begin with the end in mind” is a phrase all of us assessment professionals have heard often. However, this phrase carries a lot of truth as a necessary and critical aspect of assessment is evaluation. My background is in public health, and in the field of public health we utilize a specific frame…
The word vacation brings a sense of joy and invokes a positive reaction from most people. As the chorus the Madonna song, Holiday goes, “if we took a holiday… took some time to celebrate… just one day out of life; it would be… it would be so nice.” Vacation is broadly defined as a period where wor…
Higher Education is notorious for getting wrapped up in ideal images and relying solely on U.S. rankings to tell their story of impact and student success. Benchmarks, accreditation and how one institution compares to a sample of its peers has dominated our profession with our leadership and adminis…
For many of us, the summer is a time to look back at the previous year so that we can have perspective moving forward into a new academic year. In this blog entry, we will take a look back at the SAAL blogs posted so far this year (great chance to go back and read some you might have missed!) as wel…
Finally…sweet summertime! Summer is a great season to plan ahead, re-calibrate, and, for many of us, go on a much needed vacation.
Photo by Mohamed Ajufaan on Unsplash
What makes a vacation great? Is it where you go, when you go, or in planning the details? Although this can be…
