As the Director of Student Affairs Assessment, Research, and Planning, I’m responsible for providing guidance  and training to over 150 student affairs professionals – and sometimes beyond my own division!  When working with my colleagues, I often hear a familiar refrain:

“I’m not an assessment person. I just don’t get it.”

I’m confident that many of you who do this work on a regular basis hear similar comments.

From my perspective, I’m always taken back a bit by this type of attitude; however, I also recognize that some of my own abilities are directly related to my personal ways of thinking. For those of us who are “assessment people,” I understand that it comes somewhat naturally. I often tell people that “thinking in columns and rows” is just a natural state for me, so in some ways, the role of assessment director is an outlet for my natural inclinations. Further, I also recognize that not all professionals are as excited about survey methodology, learning outcomes/objectives, and measurements of statistical significance as I probably am. Many of these professionals may be new to the field, having had a basic research methodology class in their graduate prep work. Even those with any type of assessment training after years in the field typically speak of it from an “I survived my stats course” mentality.  So, when I hear that comment, “I’m not an assessment person,” I truly understand why they are saying it.

However, I’ve learned that many professionals fear assessment for a variety of reasons and that this fear rarely has anything to do with understanding the assessment process. In my experience, when people hear the word “assessment,” they immediately think of the survey or the rubric or the long statistical report that they may have seen once. They don’t think of assessment as just part of the overall program planning process. Therefore, we need a way to frame the assessment process in a manner that makes sense to them.

We’ve all seen the “cycle of assessment” graphics that are ubiquitous features in assessment textbooks and presentations. It’s probably something along the lines of this:

And for the most part, student affairs professionals understand the concept of the cycle. However, they still often believe they “aren’t an assessment person.” During one of these conversations, I was struck by a simple notion, and I asked them: “Do you like to eat?” Their obvious response being yes provided me the perfect opening, and I simply said, “Doing assessment is nothing more than going to the grocery store.”

From this conversation, I created the graphic below and use it in all of my assessment trainings for staff:

Truthfully, any mundane or systematic process that we endure on a regular basic could be substituted for going to the grocery store and preparing food, but when I use this simple explanation, eyes light up and staff start to connect the dots about how the assessment process should work in their programs and units. I get excited to see that I’ve just created more “assessment people” - just by using a concept that is a regularly occurring activity for them.

As we’re challenged in our daily roles to demystify the assessment process, I believe it is imperative for us to find ways to educate and train our colleagues on best practices in assessment techniques and protocols. However, we need to remember that sometimes, the simple solution might be the best for those professionals who just live in fear of assessment. Whatever those solutions are, I encourage you to use them to the best of your abilities to help continue the creation of more “assessment people.” 

If you’d like more information on this or any other topic, I’m more than willing to chat. Just drop me an email or give me a call. techniques and protocols. However, we need to remember that sometimes, the simple solution might be the best for those professionals who just live in fear of assessment. Whatever those solutions are, I encourage you to use them to the best of your abilities to help continue the creation of more “assessment people.”

Andy Mauk              Director, Student Affairs Assessment, Research, & Planning Member-at-Large, AER KC Leadership Team mauka@uncw.edu 910-962-7512

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