Assessment & Evaluation
Graduates should be able to evaluate both the processes and desired outcomes of student affairs programs and services. Specifically, students should possess the skills necessary to:
a. gather and analyze quantitative and qualitative data from students and programs;
b. read with understanding the published research on higher education;
c. conduct and write a program evaluation report.
a. gather and analyze quantitative and qualitative data from students and programs;
b. read with understanding the published research on higher education;
c. conduct and write a program evaluation report.
Campus Climate at Cal Poly Pomona
The Program Evaluation in College Student Affairs course (CSA 592) provided multiple colleagues and I an opportunity to do a campus climate study at Cal Poly Pomona focusing on race and ethnicity. One colleague and I specifically focused on Asian/Pacific Islander and White students. We gathered resources for a literature review focusing on: API students (McEwen, Kodama, Alvarez, Lee, & Liang, 2002), White students (Smith & Schonfeld, 2000), and campus climate (Ancis, Mohr, & Sedlacek, 2000; Rankin & Reason, 2005). In our qualitative study we did two focus groups for each of the race/ethnic groups for a total of four groups. We also rotated as far as who would be asking the questions and who would be taking notes. When results were finally collected and themes proposed, we had classmates read through and confirm our findings. These methods allowed for the triangulation of our conclusions. At the end of the project, I participated in an optional “White Paper” in which representatives from all research groups across the wider climate study gathered final thoughts and conclusions to present to the Vice President for Student Life at Cal Poly Pomona. |
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College Experience of Fraternity Members
In another course, Today’s College Students (CSA 562), a colleague and I assessed the experience of fraternity members at the University of La Verne. This project involved a literature review of student experiences in Greek life and fraternities (Abowitz, & Knox, 2003; Mathiasen, 2005). In this qualitative study we conducted focus groups and individual interviews for two fraternities at the university. The study also involved recording interviews via a computer and then transcribing the audio files into Microsoft Word. From the Word documents we coded the transcriptions, with the help of peers for triangulation, and found our results. |
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“Provisional Status” Study
During my assistantship in academic advising, I initiated my own quantitative research involving students admitted to APU under “provisional status." I recorded anonymous data from student records from 2006 and 2007, looking at how students did their first semester at APU after being admitted provisionally. The final research was presented to the admissions committee at APU and provided a concluding result to the research question of whether admitting students under provisional status was entirely necessary. Research showed provisional status was in fact necessary. Almost 90% of provisional students were staying off of academic probation. The students did not need to be labeled “admitted on probation,” nor did they fit the mold to be admitted regularly by the admissions team. In all, the research suggested that these students do not need to meet with academic advising for additional proactive monitoring of their academic progress. They were doing well enough in college to not require intervention to make sure they were progressing toward responsibility for their academics as well as progressing toward adulthood (Baxter Magolda, 2002). |
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