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…
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…
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…
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…
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…
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…
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 …
Photo Credit: https://www.pexels.com/photo/top-view-photo-of-girl-watching-video-through-imac-4144224/
In the Fall of 2019, during the Covid-19 pandemic, I began teaching an online course for first-year, first-generation students. Along with most universities across the country…
Photo Credit: https://www.freepik.com/free-photo/man-looking-through-binoculars_4149147.htm
To me, student affairs assessment has always been about asking questions. “What is the purpose of our work? How do we know we’re making a difference for our students? How are we im…
Image Credit: Elon University's Visual Experiential Transcript
As Student Affairs professionals, we know the importance of demonstrating and assessing student learning. Many institutions use tools such as co-curricular transcripts to help students document their experiences. The curr…
Image Credit: Photo by Nátalie Rodrigues from Pexels
Link to full size photo: https://iastate.box.com/s/3pa064efczwisoz8z6puqhv6ey5u4yan
Higher education is very good at reinventing the wheel. Why do something that another campus has done and demonstrated success with when you can…
I love musicals! As part of my bike riding regiment mentioned in Integrating STEEP Analysis into Planning, the Hamilton soundtrack became my go to playlist (by the way, I…
As 2020 is coming to a close, it is time for us to reflect on the past year. It has been a year of political unrest, fighting for racial justice, a national election, natural disasters, and a pandemic. And through it all, we have been working to do what we can to improve higher education and to supp…
Two recent blog posts (click here and here) have mentioned the various forms of professional development for assessment professionals. With many forms available, professional development is most valuable when aligned with a superficial goal or reason for learning more about assessment. Two assessme…
Winter is right around the corner and if you are like me, I am getting a little anxious just thinking about all of the tasks I need to do before winter break.
Since the pandemic began, I have been juggling being an at-home employee and being my teen’s right-hand teacher and tutor as we navigate r…
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…
https://cheezburger.com/9183143936/truth
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…
