Assessment in Student Affairs: Tough times call for good measures

ACPA Student Affairs Assessment Institute
June 18-20, 2009
Austin, Texas, USA

Register Online - Registration deadline is June 8, 2009

Overview of Institute

In the last two decades, legislative bodies, students, and parents have demanded greater accountability from higher education. Colleges, community colleges, and universities are being asked to provide evidence that students are reaching the outcomes promised by their institution.

Student affairs divisions are not exempt from this challenge. We, too, are called upon to assess the impact our programs and services have on students in areas such as leadership development, critical thinking, ethical development, and interpersonal relations. And while student affairs professionals often learn basic research and assessment skills in their graduate programs, many find themselves looking to publications and organizations such as ACPA for guidance in further developing the skills and knowledge necessary to do assessment. By combining assessment with accountability, student affairs professionals can be more successful in improving their students' education.

The 2009 ACPA Student Affairs Assessment Institute has been designed to meet these critical continuing education needs to promote the success of student affairs professionals. The three-day conference is organized around the ASK (Assessment Skills and Knowledge) Standards developed by ACPA and endorsed by assessment experts on staff at the Association of American College and Universities, the Higher Learning Commission of the North Central Association, and the Western Association of Schools and Colleges. As a common professional foundation for the assessment skills and knowledge expected of student affairs professionals, the thirteen ASK standards and three thematic clusters offer a roadmap for professional development.

Built on the ASK Standards, the 2009 institute will help you develop critical assessment skills and knowledge in the specific areas you most need. From Foundational Issues (ASK Standards 1-2), to Tools and Techniques (ASK Standards 3-9), to Advanced Issues (ASK Standards 10-13), this conference is designed with your needs in mind. The ASK standards and themes are the basis for programs, plenary speakers, and pre-conference workshops that will provide "hands on" exposure to the ASK Standards whether you are new to assessment or come with questions and a need for consultation based on experience. Daily plenary sessions with nationally-known assessment scholars and practitioners and numerous concurrent sessions have been purposefully selected to allow you to develop the skills and knowledge outlined in the ASK Standards.

ASK Standards Needs Assessment

In order to help you prepare to attend the Institute, each participant should complete the Pre-Institute Planning Tool. This is an online instrument that will be provided to you upon completion of your registration for the Institute. This is not a test of your ability or experience with assessment. Rather, this tool asks you questions that will help you clarify your reasons for attending the Institute, set goals for yourself for the time you spend with us in Austin, and help the planning committee learn about any research questions you may have. In addition, we will use your responses to group you with others who have similar experience working with assessment, and possibly similar types of research questions

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Intended Outcomes - 2009 ACPA Assessment Institute

The primary purpose of this institute is to build our individual and collective capacity to conduct assessment in student affairs. This skill and knowledge allows us to hold ourselves and our colleagues accountable for the impact we have on students.

Toward that end, the institute will bring together scholars, nationally-known assessment experts, and student affairs practitioners of all career levels, institutional types and functional areas within student affairs. After participating in this institute you will be able to:

• Articulate the thirteen ASK Standards;
• Implement an assessment plan from start to finish;
• Develop new assessment skills that you will use when conducting student affairs assessment projects on your home campus;
• Increase your confidence in assessment;
• Describe other student affairs assessment projects conducted in a variety of institutional types and functional areas that will help you in your own assessment work;
• Develop relationships with student affairs professionals from a variety of institution types;
• Address assessment issues specific to your institution;
• Develop contacts with student affairs professionals from a variety of institutional types who are committed to learning about and implementing assessment projects; and
• Address specific institution-based assessment issues by consulting 1-on-1 with an assessment professional.

Intended Audience

The institute is designed specifically for student affairs professionals who are new to assessment, but may or may not be new to student affairs.

Although all attendees share a common interest in learning about the basics of higher education assessment and the skills associated with making strong inferences about the learning that takes place due to developmental and experiential programming, past institute participants have represented a diverse cross-section of the profession, including:

• Student affairs professionals at all levels – entry, mid-level, and senior student affairs officers
• Graduate faculty
• Academic administrators
• Graduate students in student affairs, higher education administration, or other related programs

Importantly, this is a working institute for those who are new to assessment, and, as such, attendees can expect to leave the institute with many of the skills and knowledge necessary to conduct assessments back on their home campuses.  Please note that the institute is only open to higher education professionals from regionally or nationally accredited institutions.

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Keynote Speakers

ACPA is pleased and fortunate to have excellent keynote speakers for the 2009 institute. All have expertise in assessment and have written numerous publications and presented nationally and internationally on this topic.

	John H. Schuh, Distinguished Professor of Educational Leadership and Policy Studies at Iowa State University
	Trudy W. Banta, Professor of Higher Education and Senior Advisor to the Chancellor for Academic Planning and Evaluation at Indiana University-Purdue University Indianapolis
	Marilee Bresciani, Associate Professor of Administration, Rehabilitation, and Postsecondary Education at San Diego State University
	Susan Komives, Professor of College Student Affairs at the University of Maryland

Schedule

The ACPA Assessment Institute is a curriculum-based learning experience designed to ensure attendees leave Austin with the assessment skills and knowledge necessary to begin crafting quality assessment programs on their home campuses.  The Institute schedule reflects this curriculum-based philosophy on assessment education: Sessions build off one another and attendees learn assessment techniques within the context of actual assessment questions and issues that are generalizable to their home institutions. 

For travel purposes, the Institute begins at 8:30am on Thursday, June 18, 2009 and ends at 12:30pm on Saturday, June 20, 2009.  We suggest that attendees arrive on Wednesday night and book flights that depart after 2pm on Saturday, June 20, 2009.

Prior to the start of the institute, participants will complete a questionnaire in which they will provide information on their experience with assessment and areas of research interest. Participants will then be placed into a cohort of attendees with similar interests. Each cohort will be facilitated by an Institute Assistant (IA), who will be leading the participants through hands-on sessions designed to help apply the knowledge shared in the sessions to something tangible.

Thursday, June 18th 2009 – Assessment Overview and Basics
The first day unpacks the basics of assessment design and provides attendees with a solid foundation upon which they can learn actual skills and techniques.

Friday, June 19th, 2009: Moving the basics from theory into practice
The second day of the Institute moves attendees from learning the basics toward handling issues of data collection, analysis and interpretation.

Saturday June 20th, 2009: Tying it all together

The third day involves reporting and using data results for improvement of programs and services.

Registration Information

Register Online | Download the registration form: Word [96KB] PDF [115KB]

Payment and Cancellation Policy

Registrations can be paid by check, VISA, MasterCard, Discover, or American Express. All fees must be prepaid. Purchase orders are not accepted. Refunds will be given for cancellations, received in writing at ACPA by May 17, 2009 less a US$50 processing fee. After May 17, there are no refunds. ACPA reserves the right to charge a service fee of US$50 for returned checks. A processing fee of US$20 per registration will be charged for credit cards declined or to change payment methods after the initial payment is processed. Registrations are non-transferable. The conference may be cancelled or postponed due to insufficient enrollment or other unforeseen circumstances. In this case, the fees will be fully refunded; however, ACPA will not be responsible for other additional costs, charges or expenses, including cancellation/change charges assessed by airlines and/or travel agencies.

ASK Standards Booklet

The ASK Standards serve as a foundation to the ACPA Student Affairs Assessment Conference. You may wish to obtain a copy of the standards to bring to the conference with you. Copies of the ASK Standards are free to ACPA members. You can obtain your version by going to http://www.myacpa.org/pub/pub_books_assessment.cfm.

Lodging Information

The conference will be held at the Hilton Austin. ACPA has acquired a special room rate of $159.00 (for singles & doubles) and $179.00 (for triples & quads). Click here to reserve your room online or call (512) 482 – 8000 or (800) 236 - 1592. Be sure to reference “ACPA Student Affairs Assessment Institute”. The group code is: CPA. The hotel is located at 500 East 4th Street, Austin, Texas, USA 78701. The deadline to receive the special rate is May 20, 2009.

City Attractions

Transportation

Meals

Complimentary Continental breakfasts, Lunch Buffet, refreshment breaks, and a special networking reception are provided as part of your registration fee. Dinner groups will be available, since Dinner is on your own.

Conference Attire

The attire for this conference is business casual.

Contact Information

For questions, contact Vernon A. Wall Director of Educational Programs & Publications at 1 202 835 2272.

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