Why Assess in Student Affairs

Learning Happens Everywhere

Student Affairs Assessment

Five students pose in Housing photo frame together with Herbie inflatable

As we seek to support students through cocurricular involvement and services, assessment helps us understand the student experience, ask questions that guide strategic impact and make changes to further develop comprehensive programs. Assessment is critical element in our approach to best serving students and supporting staff.

Student Affairs' four learning goals—Learn, Include, Lead and Engage—build a common framework for our approach to assessment and learning while recognizing the unique expertise of unit-level impact and contributions.

Assessment Summit  |  April 11, 2024



 

Attendance:

Morning sessions would be open to all Student Affairs staff who would be encouraged to attend. Afternoon session is designed for Directors and the Assessment Teams they have identified for their units which may or may not be the same people who attended the Assessment Retreat in Summer of 2022.

8:30 - 8:45 a.m.
LocationDescription
Regency Suite

Light breakfast, refreshments, and open connection time

8:45 - 9:00 a.m.
LocationDescription
Regency Suite

Welcome, Overview, and Introduction to the Day

Dee Dee Anderson, Vice Chancellor for Student Affairs

9:00 - 9:20 am
First Session
LocationDescription
Heritage

Student Government & Student Legal Services

ASUN Student Government, Student Legal Services

Marlene Beyke

Student Government: A Night of Listening  
ASUN student government led and organized event with the purpose of bringing students together in community to listen and learn about the impact of the events in Gaza. Approximately fifty students attended.

Student Legal Services  
307 students had appointments through January of 2024, including 68 landlord/tenant disputes and 102 criminal cases. Student Legal Services is working with the Gender and Sexuality Center to host a Name Change Clinic for students this semester. We created an Instagram account and are focusing on sharing quick useful and timely tips for students.

Unity

Depth, Detail and Discoveries: An Audit of 36 Websites

Student Affairs Marketing & Communications

Daniel Kohler

In January 2023, SAMC carried out a comprehensive review of all 36 websites operated by units within the Division of Student Affairs. This presentation provides a summary of the methodology and significant insights gleaned from the review of over 7,500 content types, aimed at guiding future content strategies.

Ubuntu

Two Years In: Evaluating the Impact of SARV

Center for Advocacy, Response & Education

Abbey Ragain, Jenessa Jarvis

In its second year, CARE's sexual and relationship violence prevention initiative (SARV) has marked significant achievements. An increased number of students reached and an increased number of peer educators hired enhanced program delivery. Through pre and post-workshop surveys, data was collected to measure the impact of these peer-led workshops. These insights reveal the workshop's effectiveness in fostering a safer and more informed campus community. It is evident that the programs growth aligns with CAREs commitment to broader accessibility and continuous improvement, ensuring the evolution of SARV workshops remain a dynamic force in empowering individuals and creating a safe, supportive campus.

9:30 - 9:50 a.m.
Second Session
LocationDescription
Heritage

Reflection as an Assessment Tool: How to Capture and Share the Impact of your Programs

Campus Recreation

Audrey Krimm

Any Student Affairs professional knows the programs we offer are powerful parts of the student experience. But how do you capture that impact and share it with others? This presentation will explore how Outdoor Adventures embeds reflection into their programming and how these reflections are used to identify and highlight Student Affairs Curricular Approach Learning Outcomes. You will learn methods to conduct and collect student reflection, as well as strategies to dissect and share that data with others across campus through Executive Summaries.

Unity

Optimizing Campus Dining: A Data-Driven Approach with Dining Analytics and Operational Dashboards

Dining Services

Lucas Novotny, Dave Annis

Discover how our Dining Services transformed the student dining experience through the implementation of key dining analytics and operational dashboards. This presentation showcases our innovative use of data to enhance efficiency, improve service quality, and cater to diverse student needs. Learn how real-time insights, predictive analytics, and user-friendly dashboards have empowered our student affairs team to make informed decisions, streamline operations, and create a more satisfying dining environment. Join us to explore the transformative impact of data in elevating campus dining services.

Ubuntu

Assessment Data Surrounding Student Involvement Provides Suggestions for the Future

Student Leadership, Involvement & Community Engagement

Brian Rountree

Connections made by assessing highly achieving Huskers and their engagement on campus provides a telling story and offers implications for the future of student involvement on campus.

10:00 - 10:20 a.m.
Third Session
LocationDescription
Heritage

Assessing Internal and External Impacts: Conference Services

Nebraska Unions

Kristine Olson, Amanda Orr, Derek McConnell, Tiana Rice

Student Affairs Conference Services provides both external- and internal-facing customer services to and for many campus stakeholders. In this session, we'll outline our external guest service assessment approach and methods of gathering feedback from internal partners.

Unity

LGBTQA+ Students on East Campus

Gender & Sexuality Center

JD McCown

In fall of 2023, the Gender and Sexuality held a focus group and individual interviews to better understand the unique needs of the LGBTQA+ population on the University of Nebraska-Lincolns East Campus. The students shared their experiences and potential insight into what the current experience is like and what their hopes would be for the community moving forward. This presentation covers the main themes that emerged from these conversations and the steps that the Gender and Sexuality Center will be taking to implement solutions to these issues.

Ubuntu

HUSKER Values - Teaching Students Decision Making through a Values Lens

Student Conduct & Community Standards

Adam Fitzwater, Noah Shuler

In Spring 2024, Student Conduct & Community Standards (SCCS) conducted an assessment project using multiple methods to assess student learning outcomes for its HUSKER Values program. HUSKER Values is a self-paced Canvas course that educates students about the intersection of personal and community values and values-based decision making through the acronym H.U.S.K.E.R.‚ Honesty, Understanding, Service, Kindness, Ethics, and Respect. This presentation will explore the process and implementation of this assessment, including analysis of learning outcomes and opportunities for improvement.

10:30 - 10:50 a.m.
Fourth Session
LocationDescription
Heritage

TRIO: Using the APR to Meet our Needs

TRIO Programs

Cameron Woodard, Jamil Funnah

This presentation will discuss how we use the Annual Federal Performance Report to meet our individual grant goals and objectives. It will discuss how meeting/exceeding grant goals can contribute to the SA Strategic goals.

Unity

Equity and Excellence: An Individual and Collective Experience

Services for Students with Disabilities

Barbara Woodhead

SSD recognizes that advocating effectively for barrier-free environments involves more than a department wide review of our procedures and processes. It also requires an informed awareness of what we bring as professionals to our engagements with At-Promise students. National events over recent years have brought to the light the impact explicit and implicit bias. Serving diverse students whose lived experiences encompass the intersection of disability and diversity prompted us to assess our department’s intercultural competence.

Ubuntu

Analysis and Awareness of Student Medical Withdrawals

Student Advocacy & Support

Nathan Piskorski

Medical Withdrawals: a presentation to promote awareness of medical withdrawals and an analysis of trends to foster well-being.

11:00 - 11:20 a.m.
Fifth Session
LocationDescription
Heritage

Exit Interviews: The Untold Stories

Student Affairs Human Resources

Jenny Seamans

Student Affairs has a great team of full-time staff who support students college experience, seeing these individuals leave for other career opportunities is disheartening. Last year we launched an exit survey. The purpose was to learn more about the employee experience, areas of opportunity, and the why behind the resignation. Sounds great, right? Unfortunately, we only had about 17% of the staff who left the University complete the survey. How can we make change if we only see a portion of the story? Lets work together to see if we can increase that percentage.

Unity

Fiscal Year 2023 National and Local Trends in College Mental Health

Counseling & Psychological Services

Tricia Besett-Alesch, Katie Meidlinger

Counseling and Psychological Services (CAPS) has been collaborating with The Center for Collegiate Mental Health (CCMH) since 2019. CCMH is the largest national database on mental health among college students. Currently there are 195 university counseling centers representing over 185,000 unique college students seeking mental health treatment. The 2023 CCMH Annual Report reported an increase in prior counseling, psychotropic medication, and trauma among students seeking counseling. In this presentation, we compare our data to these national trends while also examining our data on suicidal ideation, suicidal attempts, and prior hospitalizations. Finally, we compare CAPS‚ presenting concerns with the national data.

Ubuntu

Fraternity & Sorority Life: It's Not for Everyone

Office of Fraternity & Sorority Life

Leigh Thiedeman, Cassandra Weishahn

Starting Spring 2023, Fraternity & Sorority Life began following up with all students who resigned or transferred to learn a little bit more about why they decided to leave their chapter. This gives former members of the community the opportunity to share unfiltered opinions about their experience in their chapter. Responses are not required and information received has been predictable at times but some information has been surprising. Members of the FSL team will share our assessment process and what we do with the information gathered.

11:30 a.m. - 12:30 p.m.
Lunch
LocationDescription
Regency SuiteLunch Menu: Caribbean Rice Bowl  
Options include proteins (Smoked Ropa Vieja, Jerk Chicken), grains (Rice with Turmeric, Quinoa), toppings (Fried Plantains, Roasted Sweet Potatoes, Black Beans, Roasted Pepper Mélange, Cilantro, Mango, Limes, Roasted Corn, Diced Avocado, Cherry Tomatoes, Pickled Red Onion), and sauces (Mojo Glaze, Jerk Sauce).
12:30 - 2:30 p.m.
Breakout Session
LocationDescription
Regency Suite

Husker Student POWER

Recognizing the shift to Husker Student POWER that Student Affairs is undergoing, the afternoon session will be focused on feedback regarding resources available for the transition to POWER, in addition to time spent talking about how Student Affairs can begin to integrate the POWER framework next year.

Assessment Team

The Student Affairs Assessment Team provides guidance on best practices to implement meaningful assessment division-wide. The team works collaboratively to increase capacity to assess and demonstrate the impact Student Affairs has on the student experience and within staff development.

Jon Gayer
Campus Recreation
Portrait of Jon Gayer
Katie Meidlinger
Counseling & Psychological Services
Portrait of Katie Meidlinger
Brittany Meiners
Student Affairs Marketing & Communications
Portrait of Brittany Meiners
Pablo Rangel
Services for Students with Disabilities
Portrait of Pablo Rangel
Reshell Ray
Student Leadership, Involvement, & Community Engagement
Portrait of placeholder
Brian Stelzer
Campus Recreation
Portrait of Brian Stelzer
Jordan Foreman-Black
Office of the Vice Chancellor for Student Affairs
Portrait of Jordan Foreman-Black

Focus of the Assessment Team

  • Collect and examine existing assessments across the division to understand the volume and focus of assessment currently underway.
  • Provide input on data-management strategies and guidelines for the division.
  • Develop a process for assessment coordination across the division to ensure assessments are coordinated and students and staff are not over surveyed from the division.
  • Develop assessment training opportunities for staff across the division to increase capacity for conducting assessment.
  • Help coordinate the division-wide assessment summit.
  • Share best practices in assessment from their area.