Enhancing the professionalisation of student affairs through assessment

The past decades have seen an increase in the attention and focus of student affairs work in Africa. As the profession works to strengthen its reputation and value within higher education through conferences, organisations and publications, student affairs professionals can also raise the stature of the profession through work on their individual campuses. Engaging in assessment may be one such opportunity. As a way to create a common language regarding student affairs assessment, this paper provides an overview of the definitions, types and purposes of assessment. The thought is that viewing assessment as an integral, rather than ‘extra’ aspect of student affairs and incorporating these activities within their work, student affairs professionals will not only improve the effectiveness of their work with students but also can help legitimise the field as a profession.Keywords: assessment, student affairs, best practices, higher educatio

Enhancing the Professionalisation of Student Affairs through Assessment

The past decades have seen an increase in the attention and focus of student affairs work in Africa. As the profession works to strengthen its reputation and value within higher education through conferences, organisations and publications, student affairs professionals can also raise the stature of the profession through work on their individual campuses. Engaging in assessment may be one such opportunity. As a way to create a common language regarding student affairs assessment, this paper provides an overview of the definitions, types and purposes of assessment. The thought is that viewing assessment as an integral, rather than ‘extra’ aspect of student affairs and incorporating these activities within their work, student affairs professionals will not only improve the effectiveness of their work with students but also can help legitimise the field as a profession

Enhancing the professionalisation of student affairs through assessment

The past decades have seen an increase in the attention and focus of student affairs workin Africa. As the profession works to strengthen its reputation and value within highereducation through conferences, organisations and publications, student affairs professionalscan also raise the stature of the profession through work on their individual campuses.Engaging in assessment may be one such opportunity. As a way to create a commonlanguage regarding student affairs assessment, this paper provides an overview of thedefinitions, types and purposes of assessment. The thought is that viewing assessment as anintegral, rather than ‘extra’ aspect of student affairs and incorporating these activities withintheir work, student affairs professionals will not only improve the effectiveness of theirwork with students but also can help legitimise the field as a profession

The Enrollment Research Team: An Example of Collaborative Strategic Enrollment Management Research

Effective strategic enrollment management (SEM) requires a “data rich environment” (Bontrager 2004)—a significant amount of data, intentional efforts to analyze the data and processes through which the results of the analysis can be implemented. In other words, successful SEM involves research. Although few would disagree that research is a necessary component of SEM, institutions may struggle with finding or aligning their resources (time, money and personnel) to adequately fulfill their research needs

Modeling Success: Using Preenrollment Data to Identify Academically At-Risk Students

Improving student success and degree completion is one of the core principles of strategic enrollment management. To address this principle, institutional data were used to develop a statistical model to identify academically at-risk students. The model employs multiple linear regression techniques to predict students at risk of earning below a 2.0 grade point average (GPA) in their first semester of college. Data analysis from student cohorts starting in the Fall 2007 through Fall 2009 (N = 11,644) identified two groups of students—one predicted to earn less than a 2.0 and the other predicted to earn a 2.0 or higher. The first semester college GPA and retention rates of both groups of students were tracked to examine the accuracy of the model in predicting student success and subsequent retention rates. Multi-year analyses illustrates that the model can be used to identify students who are at risk of earning less than a 2.0 GPA. Additional analysis demonstrates there is a relationship between predicted and actual first semester GPA and retention rates. Since the data used to develop the model are commonly available at most institutions, this study provides a practical approach for the SEM research professional to identify potentially academically at-risk students, which subsequently can be used to assist students and improve student success and degree completion

Competencies Needed for Entry-Level Student Affairs Work: Views from Mid-Level Professionals

The ACPA/NASPA Professional Competencies for Student Affairs were designed to articulate skills needed for effective practice. However, since its first publication in 2010, little research has been done to understand whether these competencies align with the skills needed to be successful student affairs professionals. This qualitative study examined mid-level supervisors’ perceptions of the skills needed for effective entry-level student affairs work and compared these responses to the ACPA/NASPA competencies. Mid-level manager’s perceptions of skills aligned with stated competencies with some minor discrepancies noted. These findings have implications for practice, graduate preparation programs, potential revisions to the competencies and future research

Tuition Discounting at Small, Private, Baccalaureate Institutions: Reaching a Point of No Return?

This paper describes relationships between tuition discounting (TD), net tuition revenue, and other institutional characteristics at four-year, liberal arts institutions. TD, a practice whereby institutional grants are used to subsidize a student’s educational expense, has become a common practice at four-year institutions. TDs impact on enrollments, financial aid, and budgets continues to increase, raising concerns about the long-term sustainability of the practice. Drawing upon Breneman’s (1994) economic theory of four-year private institutions, this research examined trends in student characteristics, enrollment, institutional grants, and net tuition revenue (NTR) and the relationship between TD practices NTR. Analyzing panel data of four-year, small, liberal arts colleges from 2003-2012, results illustrated that over the 10-year period, enrollment, tuition, and number and amount of institutional grant aid increased; average yield and SAT average score decreased. NTR has increased but lags behind increases in tuition and gross tuition revenue. Additionally, there is a point at which TD practices do not generate additional revenue. The results highlight the importance of financial aid officers and institutional leaders to examine the effectiveness of their current tuition discounting practices, the demand for their institution, and strategies for improving enrollment and retention

The Room Itself Is Active: How Classroom Design Impacts Student Engagement

A responsive case study evaluation approach utilizing interviews and focus groups collected student and faculty perspectives on examined how instructors and students utilized a newly redesigned active learning space at Iowa State University and the relationship of this design with environmental and behavioral factors of student engagement. The findings demonstrate how classroom design affords engagement through low-cost learning tools and a flexible, open, student-centered space afforded a variety of active learning strategies. In addition, this case study highlights the importance of conducting assessment on classroom redesign initiatives to justify and improve future classroom spaces