Although many higher education institutions want to improve student success outcomes and narrow achievement gaps, they become overwhelmed with initiatives and can jump to solutions without taking a comprehensive assessment of how their institution performs against best practices. Through fifteen yea…
During an assessment planning meeting with an office, as we started to dialogue on the multiple major take-aways that students interacting with their center would have, a distinct discordance started to emerge. While one colleague clearly enjoyed expounding on the broad theoretical ways that the of…
Assessment often requires us to work backwards. We have a vision or dream of where we would like to go or what we would like to accomplish. Then, we develop our main goal (i.e. program outcome) broken down into smaller goals (i.e. student learning outcomes), and even further at times into objectiv…
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Typically, assessment and social justice are seen as both peripheral and additive to the work of student affairs, as opposed to being central and integrated in the way the work is done. However, some research indicates that practitioners are wor…
Photo credit: https://www.eposts.co/what-are-the-types-of-culture/
So I am sure you have heard the talk? I am referring to the talk about culture and assessment. Culturally responsive assessment has emerged in conversations among the student affairs Assessment Leaders, NASPA Multi…
Suzanne D. Williams via Unsplash
As external forces assert increasing pressure and influence over higher education and student affairs work, college and universities are continuously called upon to demonstrate their value. In response to these accountability demands, our profession ha…
Have you ever attempted to plan a dinner party where you are both host and executive chef?
I have. I love to cook and enjoy bringing people together to enjoy the fellowship which typically occurs when friends or family gather…especially around the table! Over the years I have hoste…
In 2013 I took a leap of faith and moved from southern California to Tucson, Arizona to support student affairs assessment and research efforts at the University of Arizona (UA). I had always been passionate about assessment and, as my work evolved, I found it to be a powerful tool for tellin…
Image courtesy of https://us.itarian.com/itcm-network-assessment.php?frmReg=US
Last year, a call went out over the SAAL listserv asking for volunteers to participate in projects related to critical approaches to assessment in Student Affairs. …
The Student Affairs Assessment Leaders (SAAL) Listserv officially began with its first posted message on January 12, 2009. Since then, the Listserv has become a place for student affairs assessment professionals to learn about and to understand their role as it developed, to discuss emergent i…
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Welcoming all of you into SAAL’s 11th year, I am writing today from the occupied territory of the Nuwuvi People, the seven tribes of the Southern Paiute--and especially, the Las Vegas Paiute Tribe.
With great delight and a good measure of both humility and an…
It’s been a year since the SAAL Blog was launched. We’ve had 33 posts in total and helped increase website traffic and unique visitors by more than 250%! The posts have spurred and responded to topics discussed on the listserv, as well as in the field at large. With a diverse range of topics covered…
The votes have been counted, and the results are in for the 2019 SAAL Board of Directors!
Ballots were distributed to 1,254 members of SAAL, and 220 of you responded. Results of each SAAL race are determined by a plurality of the votes cast. Thank you to Kellie Dixon and the Membership Committee …
Are you looking for assessment education or resources? Or how about structured professional development?
What if you could get both of those (and more) for free?!
January 21, 2019 marks the third start of our free, MOOC on assessment. With each run, we’ve made improvements by way of edits, ad…
SAAL has officially been in existence since December 4, 2008, and the first message was sent to the listserv on January 12, 2009! Today, we have more than 1000 members, and since 2009, we have participated in more than 2900 conversations on our listserv. As with most organizations, the heavy lifting…
All models are wrong, but some are useful. – G.E.P. Box
Earlier this year, I caught up with a colleague at a national conference who had recently taken a new position in student affairs assessment. Before she took the position we had discussed what to expect, but at this point she had been in …
What are we supposed to be assessing? What are we learning from our assessment efforts? How do we know if we are achieving our desired outcomes? How do we make sense of all the assessment data we do have? Whether you are assessing your own program, enhancing assessment within your unit, or coord…
As we approach the beginning of 2019, the SAAL Professional Development Committee would like to pause to celebrate the successful first inaugural year of the SAAL Blog. Thank you to our creative and talented blogging team (Daniel Doerr, Daniel Kaczmarek, Daniel Newhart, Melinda Stoops, and Eric Wals…
Is your assessment house the kind that gives away the full-sized candy bars or one that gets egged every year, as is tradition, by the neighborhood kids? With a keen eye and some patience, you can turn into a regular Assessment Van Helsing, and slay your campus assessment monster. Assessment monst…
