I’m excited to announce SAAL is gearing up for the fifth 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 the c…
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It’s job search season soon- but to get a job, you need experience, and to get experience you usually need a job. Well, when it comes to assessment, you can have your cake and eat it, too! Did you know that knowledge of and expe…
Planning, organizing, and implementing assessment of Student Affairs programs, events and other experiences in a purely online environment due to the shift to remote learning in Spring 2020 may have at first seemed easy and accessible. Why? No longer does the assessor have to distribute half sheets…
I remember watching TV shows around Black culture growing up and seeing the representation of historically Black colleges and universities in the form of apparel - at the time, I didn’t know these sweatshirts were showcasing HBCUs. In my senior year of high school, I applied to one HBCU, Virginia Un…
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Like many who are adjusting to life during a pandemic, stress-induced bad habits (binge watching TV, eating too much junk food, working long hours from home, etc.) quickly manifested in my life. As a diabetic with a heart cond…
A commitment to equity-minded assessment is needed to better support students and drive their success. Luckily, now there are examples of practice to follow.
There aren’t very many positives that one can use for motivation during a global pandemic. There aren’t many silver-linings to be found when …
Image courtesy of Jon Tyson via Unsplash
When I sat down to draft SAAL’s statement on racial justice, I was nervous.
Writing for a national audience is different from writing for my campus. At my institution, I am prepared for the reactions I get when I speak out about injustice. I was ner…
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Stephen Covey’s 7 habits first debuted in 1989 and have been a major influence on shaping my higher education career. My familiarity with Covey emerged when I used to teach an undergraduate mentoring course e…
Image by Tim Mossholder from Unsplash
As institutions engage their communities with social justice and antiracism initiatives in response to the murders of George Floyd, Breonna Taylor, and countless other people in Black and Brown communities, it will be critical to assess the educational impa…
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Throughout the academic year it can be a challenge to corral faculty and staff to prioritize their time to review, reflect on, and provide analysis of findings related to their course and/or program assessments. Facilitating learning, …
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As the last few months have shifted our world into this new virtual and remote environment, we are treading through ambiguity. This novel virus has abruptly brought us to a pause. In both serious and lighthearted ways, leaders h…
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So far, it seems like ACPA was the last big higher education conference this year due to the coronavirus. As an attendee and presenter at my second ACPA, I added many new and exciting professionals to my network, as well as spread the …
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…
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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. …
