http://studentaffairsassessment.org/entries/blog/slay-your-campus-assessment-monsterComments on post: Slay Your Campus Assessment MonsterVivitiCMS2018-11-15T06:49:39-08:00About SAALtag:studentaffairsassessment.org,2018-11-01:/entries/1236037#comment_7312Comment by Wallace Southerland2018-11-01T05:02:37-07:002018-11-01T05:02:37-07:00Wow, I loved this essay! Thank you. I love a good story (and movie) and enjoyed the away Daniel used horror classics to elucidate the challenges and opportunities inherent in assessment. I plan to use the resources to help colleagues build a culture of assessment and evidence in my student affairs organization. Our Strategic Planning and Assessment (SPA) Committee has endorsed a proposed framework for assessment which will provide the foundation for our work.tag:studentaffairsassessment.org,2018-11-01:/entries/1236037#comment_7313Comment by Gavin Henning2018-11-01T07:37:05-07:002018-11-01T07:37:05-07:00I concur with Wallace. I grew up watching these movies on Saturday afternoons (way before cable). This is a great way to tell the story of assessment issues many folks struggle with. Well-done!tag:studentaffairsassessment.org,2018-11-01:/entries/1236037#comment_7314Comment by Zaneta2018-11-01T07:54:07-07:002018-11-01T07:54:07-07:00Excellent piece! I appreciate the time you took to weave the stories of these monsters into types of assessment challenges and providing example institutions, no less! Very entertaining! I think another assessment monster would be Mr. Hyde. This could be seen as two different assessment challenges. One challenge is those individuals that we consult with about how to improve the quality of their records by choosing different measures. They are engaged and motivated during the meeting and even take good notes, but, in the end, they just copy/paste last cycle's measures into this year's plans at the last minute without any of the changes that were brainstormed together. Quote from the book: “He is not easy to describe. There is something wrong with his appearance; something displeasing, something downright detestable. I never saw a man I so disliked, and yet I scarce know why. He must be deformed somewhere; he gives a strong feeling of deformity, although I couldn’t specify the point. He’s an extraordinary-looking man, and yet I really can name nothing out of the way. No, sir; I can make no hand of it; I can’t describe him. And it’s not want of memory; for I declare I can see him this moment.” A solution to this would be team consultations so that everyone in the department is on the same page, hold themselves and one another accountable, and share the same concerns and justification for chosen strategies. Another Mr. Hyde could be external benchmarks like national averages or other accrediting agency requirements. Colleagues sometimes think these benchmarks are what should be attempted to be met; however, they are sometimes harmful to assessment and improvement efforts based on the institution's very unique culture, resources, student demographics, etc. SACSCOC Assessment Principles do not dictate any specifics, really. They want institutions to be creative to drive (and document) their own efforts towards internal improvement. Quote from the book: "It was on the moral side, and in my own person, that I learned to recognize the thorough and primitive duality of man; I saw that, of the two natures that contended in the field of my consciousness, even if I could rightly be said to be either, it was only because I was radically both; and from an early date . . . I had learned to dwell with pleasure, as a beloved daydream, on the thought of the separation of these elements." An example of this is benchmarks for programs such as Upward Bound and TRIO. Our colleagues may see that it is less work to use the same measures for both funding requirements and SACSCOC assessment; however, the funding measures are determined by data about a cohort that was established four years ago. A lot can change in 4 years, and this measure does not fit well into common annual or every other cycle assessments that SACSCOC recommends. Also, any efforts towards improvement is only a hunch that may have worked four years ago but would be a misjudgment today. I had a lot of fun analyzing our assessment monsters and connecting it to a story. This kind of practice flexes our assessment brain muscles :) Metaphors are truly powerful! Quotes by author Robert Louis Stevenson and many thanks to Sparknotes.com. tag:studentaffairsassessment.org,2018-11-01:/entries/1236037#comment_7315Comment by Sharon S. Kinard2018-11-01T12:32:29-07:002018-11-01T12:32:29-07:00Fantastic Daniel! I see our category clearly. Thank you for not only the insights but the resources. This article is truly helpful. I'm sharing it with our assessment team at the November meeting.tag:studentaffairsassessment.org,2018-11-01:/entries/1236037#comment_7316Comment by Daniel Kaczmarek2018-11-01T12:47:47-07:002018-11-01T12:47:47-07:00Thanks for the kind words, Sharon. Hope the assessment team can benefit as well. Happy Assessing!tag:studentaffairsassessment.org,2018-11-01:/entries/1236037#comment_7317Comment by Daniel Kaczmarek2018-11-01T12:55:18-07:002018-11-01T12:55:18-07:00Zaneta, I hear you loud and clear about external benchmarks. They do have value, but only if an institution has a good understanding of themselves and their unique culture. Setting arbitrary goals based off of a cohort, without that understanding of self, can be destructive. Great addition to the litany of monsters.tag:studentaffairsassessment.org,2018-11-01:/entries/1236037#comment_7319Comment by Daniel Kaczmarek2018-11-01T12:58:30-07:002018-11-01T12:58:30-07:00Hi Wallace,
Thanks. I'd love to see that framework or hear about how that committee developed it. Those kinds of stories are so beneficial. You should consider sharing perhaps in a guest blog or other means with SAAL.tag:studentaffairsassessment.org,2018-11-01:/entries/1236037#comment_7320Comment by Daniel Kaczmarek2018-11-01T12:59:51-07:002018-11-01T12:59:51-07:00Thanks, Gavin. Greatly appreciated.tag:studentaffairsassessment.org,2018-11-05:/entries/1236037#comment_7324Comment by Judd Harbin2018-11-05T09:50:40-08:002018-11-05T09:50:40-08:00What a creative and engaging description of the monsters we face in our assessment work! I will echo the praise from others already posted here. Kudos! Thank you for contributing this piece to the SAAL blog. tag:studentaffairsassessment.org,2018-11-15:/entries/1236037#comment_7331Comment by Nanette Smith2018-11-15T06:49:39-08:002018-11-15T06:49:39-08:00Although I'm reading the blog a little late I really appreciate the analogies used and the mechanisms and resources suggested for conquering them. This was a very creative way to explain and digest assessment that everyone across the campus can relate to. I definitely plan to share. Thanks!