Hello SAAL Blog readers! Here is the next installment of our conversation series getting to know the leaders that make up this wonderful group of Student Affairs Assessment Leaders and learning from their personal stories. Maureen, a current member of the SAAL board, was willing to share some of her story with our thriving community.
Dr. Maureen A. Guarcello is the Director of Program Evaluation, Compliance, and Assessment at San Diego State University, a role she has held for three years, with a decade of service at SDSU overall. In addition to her current position, she has held several key leadership roles in the field of student affairs assessment. She is the outgoing Chair of the EDUCAUSE Student Success Analytics Community Group and currently serves as Vice President of the Student Affairs Assessment Leaders (SAAL) Professional Learning and Development Committee.
Tell me about your journey into student affairs assessment. How did you get here?
My career in higher education began in 2001 right after graduation from California State University, Long Beach. I was really involved throughout my college career and had a student position that made me a competitive candidate for the full time Marketing Manager position I held at the CSULB Alumni Association. I served in similar manager and director roles in marketing and communications at the University of Hawaii and UC San Diego. I loved writing, editing, and sending out the magazine and electronic newsletters. But what I loved even more, was seeing the analytics for email opens and article click counts come through. I was fascinated by testing different methods using the data to promote wider readership and then measure whether the changes made a difference.
When the market crashed in 2008, I considered my current work, and decided I wanted to continue my career in higher education, but in a more meaningful way. This led me to pursue my master’s degree at the University of San Diego, where I was encouraged to continue to earn a PhD.
My dissertation research was centered on building predictive models to infer students’ likelihood to pass Psychology 101 at San Diego State University. After I defended my dissertation, SDSU encouraged me to apply for a position to continue similar student success research in a full-time capacity. After serving in academic affairs for 7 years, I took the leap over to student affairs where I serve as the Director for Program Evaluation, Compliance, and Assessment (PECA).
What advice would you have to professionals who are wary of statistics? How can you improve those skills?
Initially, I was not a strong statistics student. This made me want to learn more and to add more rigor to my research. I took all of the statistics and methods classes that were offered. I also asked the quantitative research faculty member to be my dissertation chair.
What advice do you have for a new director or someone new to this field?
For new directors, I would say you have to find a balance between being an administrator (budget, human resources, leadership functions, and strategy) while still tracking project status, and being able to interpret code and outputs to verify accuracy, give feedback, and inform the data interpretation and alignment.
Schedule your time strategically.
It can be overwhelming to switch between presenting to the University Senate, and rolling up your sleeves to help clean a big data set. If you have quiet Wednesday mornings, try to protect two hours to dig deeper into the data.
Empower your division to invest time and energy in creating and promoting a data-informed culture.
Over the past year, SDSU’s Division of Student Affairs and Campus Diversity has engaged in a multi-phase data empowerment strategy, which includes the entire division. This version of data-informed culture starts at the top. Our Vice President understands the value of data and accounting for the growth and improvement potential in our division. The three stages of the strategy include: a shared goals framework, inventories of all programs aligned with the framework (over 600), and capturing and aggregating all student engagement data.
We offer workshops that deliver the strategy and content, and they are open to all divisional personnel. We encourage everyone to see themselves within the data process, to celebrate the victories, and to acquire and apply data literacy and fluency skills within their every day work.
Train, coach, and trust your students.
We cannot manage all of this work on our own. Throughout my time in higher education, I have become adept at designing value propositions for students, which help them build their resumes and competitive professional edge, while providing invaluable data cleaning, coding, and interpretation skills to the institution. Coaching and mentoring take time, no doubt, but the investment is powerful for you and your students.
What’s the biggest issue/change you are watching in the field right now?
There are two areas that I am tracking closely. I come from a technology background, working in Instructional Technology Services for nearly a decade, so I am always focused on machine learning and technologies we might be able to employ to support students’ success. Google’s artificial intelligence model Gemini is a great tool to use for quick insights. I love to use it to interpret high level qualitative data themes. On the other hand, I am passionate about researching missing data bias. When we create large language and data models trained on only data that are present, we risk overlooking students who don’t answer surveys or attend events.
How do you see the role of student affairs assessment evolving in response to these changes?
Student Affairs Divisions, and higher education as a whole, are facing a challenging era. One where accountability, and clear outcomes should be articulated. While an N of 1 holds tremendous power anecdotally, assessment leaders should be using their methodology toolkits, to create explanatory and exploratory research designs which capture qualitative nuance AND prioritize the overall impact, outcomes, and alignment of our programs, initiatives, events, and services.
Why do you think your SAAL leadership role is important to our organization and field?
So many people took a chance on me, sharing their time and expertise making me a stronger researcher and leader. In addition to having an active research and academic agenda, I give back as often as I can. Whether I am reviewing journal articles and conference proposals, contributing to papers and chapters, teaching, presenting, or working with committees, it all brings me fulfillment knowing that after 20 years I possess a skill set that helps others further our students’ success beyond my home campus.
As the VP for the Professional Learning and Development Committee, I get to help amplify timely issues, literature, and voices for the SAAL and higher education communities. Supporting our students throughout their academic journeys, while also ensuring their overall wellbeing, is a monumental task. When SAAL and other professional networks help the community remain informed and inspired, the better equipped they will be to meet the challenges that supporting our students’ success presents.
What do you do in your spare time?
My favorite activities are going to concerts, hiking, and spending time with my husband, family, friends, and pup. I love to run and do hot yoga, and try to remain as digitally free as possible in my off time!
I connected with Maureen for this series virtually and even without a live conversation, her reflections came through with so much clarity and depth. I had known of her work and leadership within the student affairs assessment community, but I was especially struck by how her journey, from communications and marketing into research and data analytics, illustrates the many pathways into this field.
What really stood out to me was the intentional way Maureen approaches both the technical and cultural aspects of assessment. Her commitment to building a division-wide data empowerment strategy, mentoring students, and staying engaged with emerging technologies shows a thoughtful balance between innovation and impact. Reading through her responses reminded me that while we may work in different contexts, we’re united by a shared drive to tell meaningful stories with data and to use our skills in service of student success.
This series is meant to highlight and lift-up those who are working in assessment full-time on a campus with at least some of their time dedicated to student affairs or co-curricular assessment. Know someone you’d like to learn from featured in the series? Leave their name in a comment and I’ll do my best to connect with them!
This blog post was written by Emily Braught, Director of Assessment and Planning, Division of Student Life, Indiana University.