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Announcing the Formation of the Consortium of Organizations for Student Affairs Assessment (COSAA)

We are excited to announce the formation of the Consortium of Organizations for Student Affairs Assessment (COSAA), a collaborative effort across key student affairs assessment organizations. 

The mission of the consortium is to align the efforts of student affairs assessment organizations to adva…

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I wouldn't be able to do that without SAAL: Importance of Building Community

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. I joined the SAAL blog team after starting a new role as the Director of Asse…

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Building Assessment Culture One Cup of Coffee at a Time

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. I joined the SAAL blog team after starting a new director role and, being new…

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Two Journeys, One Goal: A Successful Equity-Centered Assessment Training

In my recent interview with Paul Holliday-Millard at UNC-Charlotte, we connected over both having developed and piloted an equity-centered assessment professional development training for staff over the past year. Below, I expand on this section of our conversation and add more about our approach to…

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Reflecting on Our Journey: Mid-Year Reflection and Inspiration from the SAAL Board

 

As we reach the midpoint of the year, the Student Affairs Assessment Leaders (SAAL) Board has taken a moment to reflect on our strategies, goals, and the practice of what we preach. In a year marked by heightened tensions and divisions, our commitment to reflection, unity, and community has ne…

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Creating a Culture of Evidence with Paul Holliday-Millard

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. I joined the SAAL blog team after starting a new director role and, being new…

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Summer Assessment Conference Reflections

June 26th to 28th saw the convergence of Student Affairs folks at the ACPA Assessment Institute hosted in Costa Mesa, California. For those that have not been, the ACPA Assessment Institute is a professional development opportunity for all levels of assessment experience and roles. Attendees roles a…

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Dear Dan, We Need More Frankensteins: The Value of the SAAL Blog for HESA Student Learning

Hello Daniel,

You do not know me, but I feel like I know you. Okay, I do not know you, but I know your monsters. Perhaps more importantly (or more frightening), at least five cohorts of University of Connecticut (UConn) Higher Education and Student Affairs (HESA) master’s students know your monst…

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Curriculum of Research: Trends in Student Affairs Assessment Syllabi

Introduction: Origins, Purpose, and Design of the Higher Education Assessment Syllabi Project

The syllabi project began in 2023 with a simple observation: despite the growing emphasis on assessment as a critical competency area for higher education and student affairs (HESA) professionals, the expe…

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Advocacy in Assessment: An HBCU Perspective with Britt Spears-Rhymes, M.S.

Hello SAAL Blog readers! Here is the next installment of our conversation series getting to know the individuals that make up this wonderful group of Student Affairs Assessment Leaders and learning from their personal stories. I joined the SAAL blog team after starting a new role as the Director of …

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Assessment as a Catalyst for Change

brown wooden blocks on white table

Source: https://unsplash.com/photos/w7sIj-M5Xyc

 

Education and assessment have always been an integral part of my professional life. I earned a BA from a teacher's college to become a secondary school teacher, followed by a master's in educational administration and a PhD in higher education …

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Sorted Into SAAL: How I Found my Place in the Magical World of Assessment

Hagrid from the Harry Potter movies says, You're a Wizard, Harry.

https://escapeinsidethepages.files.wordpress.com/2016/07/tumblr_n7wtu19uf01qzcmp3o1_250.gif?w=636 

 

“You’re a wizard, Harry,” explains Hagrid, saving him from the infamous cupboard under the stairs and escorting him to Hogwarts. After years of living with his Muggle aunt and uncle, wondering …

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Together, WE are Going to do Amazing Things!

 

Unity and diversity partnership as heart hands in a group of diverse people connected together shaped as a support symbol expressing the feeling of teamwork and togetherness.

Photo by Lightspring on StockSnap.io 

I’ve always been hesitant to take on a leadership role for an organization because I fear not being able to give my very best to all of my competing personal and professional responsibilities. However, when I was notified that I had been nominated …

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Chasing New Opportunity with a ‘Sure, Let’s Do It’ Attitude

 

Photo by Kawê Rodrigues on Unsplash

https://unsplash.com/photos/jKmdjT7aQJA

 

As I sat in our new SAAL board onboarding meeting, I could not help but think, “what in the world am I doing here?” Here I was, someone who has only been working professionally (at all) for one year, and my ex…

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2022 MOOC Assessment Results

 

Green and blue word clouds of feedback about the course

This blog provides a summary of the data analysis and results from the 2022 open course that ran February – April 2022. Reporting this year resulted in 166 total pages (!) opening with a 5-page executive summary and followed by reports for the Welcome Survey/User Profile, Quiz Results, A…

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Four Assessment Priorities for the Summer

As an assessment professional for the past five years, I have had the opportunity to experience several assessment cycles. We use the following assessment cycle visual to describe our efforts and the progress we hope to make on our campus.

When I first described the assessment cycle, it was t…

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Open Course 2022 - Initial Post-Course Reflection

As we find ourselves in the month of May, it’s officially been one month since the 2022 SAAL open course ended. At the conclusion of the course, instructors typically gather to reflect on how the course went this year, spend the early summer reviewing course data, and then strategizing for course ch…

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As seen on TV: Tips for creating assessment mini-series reports

 

Image credit: cottonbro on Pexels https://www.pexels.com/photo/couple-love-sitting-evening-4009409/ 

 

Due to social distancing practices and travel restrictions, I found myself at home with a wealth of free time over the past year. Some of this time was occupied by exploring vario…

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Growing in Assessment, Evaluation, and Research Competency

 

Image Credit: https://www.pexels.com/photo/photo-of-people-using-laptop-3194519/

 

Having spent six years working in the field of student affairs, I still find myself feeling like a “new” professional at times. There is so much to learn, and at times, I feel like I am not sure what…

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Planning to Plan

 

Photo credit: JeShoots.com, available at https://images.pexels.com/photos/834892/

 

For many in higher education, summer is often a time of reflection, a time to look back on the previous academic year and identify successes and areas for growth. The assessment of the previous year …

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