SEAHO Report - Fall 2021 - 14

FEATURE ARTICLES
the ACUHO-I's Campus Housing Index (CHI. Additionally, one
can use institutional and departmental data resources such as:
the Office of Institutional Research (or similar named unit), Skyfactor's
(formerly known as EBI) Resident Assessment, staff
performance evaluations, program report software collection
(eRezLife, Roompact), student surveys (Qualtrics, Survey Monkey),
assignments software (i.e., StarRez, RMS/Mecury, Adirondack),
and case management software (i.e., Maxient Student
Conduct Software, Archivum). Think about the responsibilities
your role touches and in what capacity are you part of the following
assessment cycle: developing learning outcomes, selecting
appropriate assessment tools, training/teaching staff about those
assessment tools, collecting data, analyzing data, data interpretation,
storytelling, and/or utilizing the results to inform decisions.
Is It Necessary?
You may be asking, " Why would my department need
TOOLS/TECHNIQUES TO TRY OUT:
Click each to learn more!
3-2-1
5 Whys
Quotation Summaries
Qualtrics Survey
Stop, Start,
Continue, and Contemplate/Change
SWOT Analysis
ACUHO-I's Self-Assessment Guide for Housing
Department
Focus Groups
an assessment committee? " If you have ever engaged in the world of assessment, you know first-hand one
thing: it is a lot. Plus, you are missing key voices when various players and stakeholders are not appropriately
included in the process. A dedicated team of professionals engaged in assessment work can evaluate and
provide more extensive feedback on departmental strategic planning/effectiveness. Once trained and competent,
an assessment committee can serve as the consultants to other departmental workgroups on effective
assessment approaches, tools, and resource gathering. Assessment in our field is becoming a norm, and often
employers are searching for professionals with hands-on experience tackling assessment work from start to
finish. An assessment committee can very well accomplish two goals at once: offering professional development
and informing departmental practice.
Getting Started.
Creating the framework for your assessment committee will require some time and intentionality.
There are some critical factors and questions to ask yourself to successfully navigate through the development
phase of an assessment committee:
* What is the purpose of the committee? How will information generated by the committee be used and/
or implemented?
* Who could be involved? Who are the stakeholders?
* What breadth and depth of experience or training will committee members need?
* What would an assessment strategic plan look like?
* Is funding needed?
* How often will the committee meet? What is the anticipated time commitment?
For the first year of assembling an assessment committee, you may need to start small and build on your
successes; an assessment committee can be a stand-alone committee or part of a pre-existing committee that
your department really wants to channel its assessment energy (e.g., educational initiatives and assessment
committee). You can also have sub-committees or taskforces within each of your existing committees that focus
specifically on assessment initiatives. The second and third year, as your assessment work grows and your
purpose is fine-tuned, you may want to consider inviting individuals such as faculty, assessment professionals
at the university level, or communication/marketing specialist to join the group to enhance collaboration and
strengthen expertise gaps. Once a solid foundation for assessment is established, remember to share reports
and summaries of your findings. This will help those who are not yet involved with assessment develop an
appreciation for the work and promote departmental buy-in.
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https://www.kpcrossacademy.org/techniques/3-2-1/ https://www.mindtools.com/pages/article/newTMC_5W.htm https://www.kpcrossacademy.org/techniques/quotation-summaries/ https://www.qualtrics.com/blog/10-tips-for-building-effective-surveys/ https://www.rapidbi.com/stopstartcontinuechangemodel/ https://www.rapidbi.com/stopstartcontinuechangemodel/ https://www.investopedia.com/terms/s/swot.asp http://library.acuho-i.org/inmagicgenie/catfiles/2012/04/standards_assessment_2012fnl.pdf http://library.acuho-i.org/inmagicgenie/catfiles/2012/04/standards_assessment_2012fnl.pdf https://ctb.ku.edu/en/table-of-contents/assessment/assessing-community-needs-and-resources/conduct-focus-groups/main

SEAHO Report - Fall 2021

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of SEAHO Report - Fall 2021