By providing practical advice on how to inform and lead a successful assessment program in student affairs, Coordinating Divisional and Departmental Student Affairs Assessment, 2nd Edition helps student affairs professionals understand the impact of their initiatives, identify areas for improvement, and make data-driven decisions to enhance student learning, development, and engagement. Student affairs assessment plays a significant role in shaping the overall college experience. As higher education transforms, there is an even greater demand for student affairs assessment that informs practice, illuminates equity gaps, and improves student learning. This second edition builds upon the concepts of the first edition while adding essential topics that address the changing dynamics of leading assessment in a department or division in student affairs such as how to use and select assessment technology, meaningful ways to collaborate with institutional research, as well as creating equity-centered assessment practices. By utilizing the strategies in this book, student affairs divisions can create evidence-based practices that contribute to a more inclusive and supportive campus environment, foster student engagement, and ultimately enhance the educational journey for students. This updated and revised edition has been written with new and seasoned assessment practitioners in mind. It’s an ideal resource for graduate students and other student affairs practitioners who seek to find practical information to guide their own assessment practice.

This second edition of Student Affairs Assessment: Theory to Practice provides updated content that reflects current student affairs assessment practice and signals the direction in which the field is headed. Chapters feature foundational concepts of assessment design, outcomes, and data collection methods while also addressing current topics in student affairs assessment such as the prevalence of data analytics through higher education and equity-centered assessment. In addition, this volume further broadens the scope of the assessment process by highlighting the impact of culturally responsive ethics and indigenous paradigms. Ultimately, this book provides student affairs staff with the grounding they need to integrate assessment into how they design and monitor the programs, services, and activities they create to contribute to students’ development. A useful reference for implementing assessment of co-curricular programs and services, this book is an excellent guide for student affairs practitioners and experienced assessment professionals to develop their assessment skill and knowledge.

By providing practical advice on how to inform and lead a successful assessment program in student affairs, Coordinating Divisional and Departmental Student Affairs Assessment, 2nd Edition helps student affairs professionals understand the impact of their initiatives, identify areas for improvement, and make data-driven decisions to enhance student learning, development, and engagement. Student affairs assessment plays a significant role in shaping the overall college experience. As higher education transforms, there is an even greater demand for student affairs assessment that informs practice, illuminates equity gaps, and improves student learning. This second edition builds upon the concepts of the first edition while adding essential topics that address the changing dynamics of leading assessment in a department or division in student affairs such as how to use and select assessment technology, meaningful ways to collaborate with institutional research, as well as creating equity-centered assessment practices. By utilizing the strategies in this book, student affairs divisions can create evidence-based practices that contribute to a more inclusive and supportive campus environment, foster student engagement, and ultimately enhance the educational journey for students. This updated and revised edition has been written with new and seasoned assessment practitioners in mind. It’s an ideal resource for graduate students and other student affairs practitioners who seek to find practical information to guide their own assessment practice.

Co-published with ACPA, College Student Educators International and NASPA, The National Association of Student Personnel Administrators, Inc. The need for the new role of student affairs assessment coordinator has emerged in response to the increasing demand for outcomes information, the proliferation of data, and the recognition that coordinating this work within divisions is of paramount importance. For those taking on this role, this book constitutes a practical guide to leading and implementing an assessment program – whether doing so full- or part-time, as an individual or in a multi-person office, or whether reporting to or being in positional leadership. Recognizing that this function that is new to student affairs, and that those who take it on frequently find themselves in an in-between world, being both embedded with, but also distinct from, their divisional colleagues, this book first addresses the common challenges and issues related to defining and implementing the role and cultivating a culture of assessment. It then deals with the practicalities of creating systems and structures; developing assessment skills throughout the organization; and creating an integrated model for measuring progress towards strategic planning goals, and for informing decision-making and resource allocation. The book concludes with guidance on leading and maintaining ethical standards related to data collection, storage and sharing for the division, and on navigating the dynamic political environment that assessment professionals will encounter.

Co-published with ACPA, College Student Educators International and NASPA, The National Association of Student Personnel Administrators, Inc. The need for the new role of student affairs assessment coordinator has emerged in response to the increasing demand for outcomes information, the proliferation of data, and the recognition that coordinating this work within divisions is of paramount importance. For those taking on this role, this book constitutes a practical guide to leading and implementing an assessment program - whether doing so full- or part-time, as an individual or in a multi-person office, or whether reporting to or being in positional leadership. Recognizing that this function that is new to student affairs, and that those who take it on frequently find themselves in an in-between world, being both embedded with, but also distinct from, their divisional colleagues, this book first addresses the common challenges and issues related to defining and implementing the role and cultivating a culture of assessment. It then deals with the practicalities of creating systems and structures; developing assessment skills throughout the organization; and creating an integrated model for measuring progress towards strategic planning goals, and for informing decision-making and resource allocation. The book concludes with guidance on leading and maintaining ethical standards related to data collection, storage and sharing for the division, and on navigating the dynamic political environment that assessment professionals will encounter.

This second edition of Student Affairs Assessment: Theory to Practice provides updated content that reflects current student affairs assessment practice and signals the direction in which the field is headed. Chapters feature foundational concepts of assessment design, outcomes, and data collection methods while also addressing current topics in student affairs assessment such as the prevalence of data analytics through higher education and equity-centered assessment. In addition, this volume further broadens the scope of the assessment process by highlighting the impact of culturally responsive ethics and indigenous paradigms. Ultimately, this book provides student affairs staff with the grounding they need to integrate assessment into how they design and monitor the programs, services, and activities they create to contribute to students’ development. A useful reference for implementing assessment of co-curricular programs and services, this book is an excellent guide for student affairs practitioners and experienced assessment professionals to develop their assessment skill and knowledge.

Sense of belonging refers to the extent a student feels included, accepted, valued, and supported on their campus. The developmental process of belonging is interwoven with the social identity development of diverse college students. Moreover, belonging is influenced by the campus environment, relationships, and involvement opportunities as well as a need to master the student role and achieve academic success. Although the construct of sense of belonging is complex and multilayered, a consistent theme across the chapters in this book is that relationship between sense of belonging and intersectionality of identity cannot be ignored, and must be integrated into any approach to fostering belonging. Over the last 10 years, colleges and universities have started grappling with the notion that their approaches to maintaining and increasing student retention, persistence, and graduation rates were no longer working. As focus shifted to uncovering barriers to student success while concurrently recognizing student success as more than solely academic factors, the term "student sense of belonging" gained traction in both academic and co-curricular settings. The editors noticed the lack of a consistent definition, or an overarching theoretical approach, as well as a struggle to connect disparate research. A compendium of research, applications, and approaches to sense of belonging did not exist, so they brought this book into being to serve as a single point of reference in an emerging and promising field of study.

Sense of belonging refers to the extent a student feels included, accepted, valued, and supported on their campus. The developmental process of belonging is interwoven with the social identity development of diverse college students. Moreover, belonging is influenced by the campus environment, relationships, and involvement opportunities as well as a need to master the student role and achieve academic success. Although the construct of sense of belonging is complex and multilayered, a consistent theme across the chapters in this book is that relationship between sense of belonging and intersectionality of identity cannot be ignored, and must be integrated into any approach to fostering belonging. Over the last 10 years, colleges and universities have started grappling with the notion that their approaches to maintaining and increasing student retention, persistence, and graduation rates were no longer working. As focus shifted to uncovering barriers to student success while concurrently recognizing student success as more than solely academic factors, the term "student sense of belonging" gained traction in both academic and co-curricular settings. The editors noticed the lack of a consistent definition, or an overarching theoretical approach, as well as a struggle to connect disparate research. A compendium of research, applications, and approaches to sense of belonging did not exist, so they brought this book into being to serve as a single point of reference in an emerging and promising field of study.

This book makes the case for assessment of student learning as a vehicle for equity in higher education. The book proceeds through a framework of "why, what, how, and now what." The opening chapters present the case for infusing equity into assessment, arguing that assessment professionals can and should be activists in advancing equity, given the historic and systemic use of assessment as an impediment to the educational access and attainment of historically marginalized populations. The "what" chapters offer definitions of emerging terms, discuss the narratives of equity in evidence of student learning, present models and approaches to promoting equity, and explore the relationship between knowledge systems and assessment practice. The "how" chapters begin by progressively moving from the classroom to the program, then beyond the program level to share examples from student affairs. Subsequent chapters address the problem of equitable access to STEM fields; culturally responsive practices within the context of community colleges; the ongoing work of culturally situated assessment practices in Historically Black Colleges and Universities; and the role of technology-enabled assessment as a possible tool for equitable assessment. The final two chapters in the book address the "now what", providing a way for assessment professional to develop individual awareness within their practice as a next step in the equity journey, and a conceptual framework to anchor equity in their work.

This book makes the case for assessment of student learning as a vehicle for equity in higher education. The book proceeds through a framework of "why, what, how, and now what." The opening chapters present the case for infusing equity into assessment, arguing that assessment professionals can and should be activists in advancing equity, given the historic and systemic use of assessment as an impediment to the educational access and attainment of historically marginalized populations. The "what" chapters offer definitions of emerging terms, discuss the narratives of equity in evidence of student learning, present models and approaches to promoting equity, and explore the relationship between knowledge systems and assessment practice. The "how" chapters begin by progressively moving from the classroom to the program, then beyond the program level to share examples from student affairs. Subsequent chapters address the problem of equitable access to STEM fields; culturally responsive practices within the context of community colleges; the ongoing work of culturally situated assessment practices in Historically Black Colleges and Universities; and the role of technology-enabled assessment as a possible tool for equitable assessment. The final two chapters in the book address the "now what", providing a way for assessment professional to develop individual awareness within their practice as a next step in the equity journey, and a conceptual framework to anchor equity in their work.

Design Thinking in Student Affairs: A Primer constitutes such an important and timely contribution to the literature. By focusing equally on the theory, mindset, and practice of design thinking, the book fills a gap by providing a roadmap for theoretically informed practice and culture change. Authored by trusted colleagues with expertise in leadership, innovation, assessment, storytelling, equity, organizational development, change management, and student success in both Canada and the United States-thebook makes a compelling case for using design thinking to facilitate human-centered, cocreated, high-impact solutions within and beyond the traditional realm of student affairs.Given the unprecedented combination of new and exacerbated challenges facing our colleges and universities-decreasing government funding, student mental health and well-being, diversity and inclusion efforts, and affordability chief among them-who among us doesn't need another arrow in their quiver?"-From the Foreword by Janet Morrison, President and Vice Chancellor of Sheridan College, Ontario, Canada Design thinking is an innovative problem-solving framework. This introduction is the first book to apply its methodology to student affairs and, in doing so, points the way to its potentially wider value to higher education as a whole. With its focus on empathy, which is the need to thoroughly understand users' experiences, design thinking is user-centered, similar to how student affairs is student-centered. Because the focus of design thinking is to design with users, not for users, it aligns well with student affairs practice. In addition, its focus on empathy makes design thinking a more equitable approach to problem-solving than other methods because all users' experiences-not just the experiences of majority or "average" student-need to be understood. Centering empathy in problem-solving processes can be a tool to disrupt higher education systems and practices. Design thinking is a framework to foster innovation, and, by its nature, innovation is about responding to change factors with creativity. In an organization, design thinking is inherently connected to organizational change and culture because the process is really about changing people to help them rally around a disruptive idea. Implementing design thinking on a campus may in itself be disruptive and require a change management process. The beauty of using design thinking is that it can also act as a framework to support organizational culture change. Design thinking approaches, with their focus on stakeholder needs (as opposed to systemic norms), collaborative solutions building, and structured empathy activities can offer a concrete tool to disrupt harmful systems of power and oppression. Design thinking as a process is not a magic solution to equity problems, though it can be a powerful tool to approach the development of solutions that can address inequity. Design thinking is data-driven and considers both qualitative and quantitative data as necessary to gain most complete picture of an issue and its possible solutions, whether a product, program, or service. Design thinking has numerous benefits to afford students affairs. Chapter 1 outlines a case for design thinking in student affairs. Chapter 2 discusses a brief history of design thinking, noting its germination and evolution to current practice. Chapter 3 provides a detailed description of each step of the design thinking model with pertinent examples to make the steps clearer. Chapter 4 explains the intersection of equity and design thinking while chapter 5 explores the use of design thinking for organizational change. Chapter 6 presents a new model for design thinking assessment. Chapter 7 addresses the challenges and limitations of the process. Chapter 8 concludes the book by discussing the alignment of design thinking and student affairs and outlining next steps. Design thinking is an innovative process that can change the way higher education and student affairs operates, realizing the potential it offers.

Design Thinking in Student Affairs: A Primer constitutes such an important and timely contribution to the literature. By focusing equally on the theory, mindset, and practice of design thinking, the book fills a gap by providing a roadmap for theoretically informed practice and culture change. Authored by trusted colleagues with expertise in leadership, innovation, assessment, storytelling, equity, organizational development, change management, and student success in both Canada and the United States-thebook makes a compelling case for using design thinking to facilitate human-centered, cocreated, high-impact solutions within and beyond the traditional realm of student affairs.Given the unprecedented combination of new and exacerbated challenges facing our colleges and universities-decreasing government funding, student mental health and well-being, diversity and inclusion efforts, and affordability chief among them-who among us doesn't need another arrow in their quiver?"-From the Foreword by Janet Morrison, President and Vice Chancellor of Sheridan College, Ontario, Canada Design thinking is an innovative problem-solving framework. This introduction is the first book to apply its methodology to student affairs and, in doing so, points the way to its potentially wider value to higher education as a whole. With its focus on empathy, which is the need to thoroughly understand users' experiences, design thinking is user-centered, similar to how student affairs is student-centered. Because the focus of design thinking is to design with users, not for users, it aligns well with student affairs practice. In addition, its focus on empathy makes design thinking a more equitable approach to problem-solving than other methods because all users' experiences-not just the experiences of majority or "average" student-need to be understood. Centering empathy in problem-solving processes can be a tool to disrupt higher education systems and practices. Design thinking is a framework to foster innovation, and, by its nature, innovation is about responding to change factors with creativity. In an organization, design thinking is inherently connected to organizational change and culture because the process is really about changing people to help them rally around a disruptive idea. Implementing design thinking on a campus may in itself be disruptive and require a change management process. The beauty of using design thinking is that it can also act as a framework to support organizational culture change. Design thinking approaches, with their focus on stakeholder needs (as opposed to systemic norms), collaborative solutions building, and structured empathy activities can offer a concrete tool to disrupt harmful systems of power and oppression. Design thinking as a process is not a magic solution to equity problems, though it can be a powerful tool to approach the development of solutions that can address inequity. Design thinking is data-driven and considers both qualitative and quantitative data as necessary to gain most complete picture of an issue and its possible solutions, whether a product, program, or service. Design thinking has numerous benefits to afford students affairs. Chapter 1 outlines a case for design thinking in student affairs. Chapter 2 discusses a brief history of design thinking, noting its germination and evolution to current practice. Chapter 3 provides a detailed description of each step of the design thinking model with pertinent examples to make the steps clearer. Chapter 4 explains the intersection of equity and design thinking while chapter 5 explores the use of design thinking for organizational change. Chapter 6 presents a new model for design thinking assessment. Chapter 7 addresses the challenges and limitations of the process. Chapter 8 concludes the book by discussing the alignment of design thinking and student affairs and outlining next steps. Design thinking is an innovative process that can change the way higher education and student affairs operates, realizing the potential it offers.

Is higher education preparing our students for a world that is increasingly complex and volatile, and in which they will have to contend with uncertainty and ambiguity? Are we addressing the concerns of employers who complain that graduates do not possess the creative, critical thinking and communication skills needed in the workplace? In the face of the evidence that our colleges and universities are failing to do so, this book harnesses what we have learned from innovations in teaching and from neuroscience to change how we deliver and create new knowledge, and indeed to transform our students, and develop their capacities for boundary spanning. Starting from the premise that our current linear, course-based, educational practices are frequently at odds with how our neurological system facilitates learning and personal development, the authors set out an alternative model that emphasizes a holistic approach to education that integrates meditative inquiry practice with self-authorship and the regulation of emotion as the cornerstones of learning, and demonstrates how these align with the latest discoveries of brain science. This book presents the science that informs the practice of compassion and peace - the science that explains the very real benefits of an intentional movement and meditative inquiry; and demonstrates its application to the classroom, to the co-curriculum, and its implications for administrative leaders who make the decisions that impact student learning and development and the environment within which faculty, administrators, and students reside. Experts in neuroscience, learning and development theory, and health practitioners outline their research and insights into how providing seemingly unintellectual learning and development opportunities for students actually stimulate portions of the brain that are needed in order for them to become problem-solvers, creators of knowledge, and effective social collaborators. The book closes by offering practical ideas for implementation, showing how simple refinements in classroom and out-of-classroom experiences can create foundations for students to develop key skills that will enhance critical thinking, creativity, overall wellbeing, compassion, and ultimately world peace.

Is higher education preparing our students for a world that is increasingly complex and volatile, and in which they will have to contend with uncertainty and ambiguity? Are we addressing the concerns of employers who complain that graduates do not possess the creative, critical thinking and communication skills needed in the workplace? In the face of the evidence that our colleges and universities are failing to do so, this book harnesses what we have learned from innovations in teaching and from neuroscience to change how we deliver and create new knowledge, and indeed to transform our students, and develop their capacities for boundary spanning. Starting from the premise that our current linear, course-based, educational practices are frequently at odds with how our neurological system facilitates learning and personal development, the authors set out an alternative model that emphasizes a holistic approach to education that integrates meditative inquiry practice with self-authorship and the regulation of emotion as the cornerstones of learning, and demonstrates how these align with the latest discoveries of brain science. This book presents the science that informs the practice of compassion and peace - the science that explains the very real benefits of an intentional movement and meditative inquiry; and demonstrates its application to the classroom, to the co-curriculum, and its implications for administrative leaders who make the decisions that impact student learning and development and the environment within which faculty, administrators, and students reside. Experts in neuroscience, learning and development theory, and health practitioners outline their research and insights into how providing seemingly unintellectual learning and development opportunities for students actually stimulate portions of the brain that are needed in order for them to become problem-solvers, creators of knowledge, and effective social collaborators. The book closes by offering practical ideas for implementation, showing how simple refinements in classroom and out-of-classroom experiences can create foundations for students to develop key skills that will enhance critical thinking, creativity, overall wellbeing, compassion, and ultimately world peace.