Recently assessment has become an important component of student affairs and higher education to assist in determining the effect and impact of programs and educational initiatives. To embrace this trend, the Office of Housing and Residence Life at Ball State University (IN) created learning outcomes for students living in residence halls. Through reflective questioning, discussion, and assessment, the Residence Life program strives to further the development and learning experience of students

Engblom, Robert B.

Farber, Sally E.

Kniess, Dena R.

Royer, Ro-Anne A.

Sanden, Amy Vander

English

The Keep

Eastern Illinois University
The Keep
Faculty Research & Creative Activity Counseling & Student Development
April 2003
Outcomes to Objectives: Learning About Quality
Assessment
Dena R. Kniess
Eastern Illinois University, drkniess@eiu.edu
Robert B. Engblom
Ball State University
Sally E. Farber
Ball State University
Ro-Anne A. Royer
Ball State University
Amy Vander Sanden
Ball State University
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Recommended Citation
Kniess, Dena R.; Engblom, Robert B.; Farber, Sally E.; Royer, Ro-Anne A.; and Sanden, Amy Vander, "Outcomes to Objectives:
Learning About Quality Assessment" (2003). Faculty Research & Creative Activity. 36.
http://thekeep.eiu.edu/csd_fac/36
Special Feature 
Outcomes to Objectives: Learning About Quality Assessment 
Recently assessment has become an important component 
of student affairs and higher education to assist in determining 
the effect and impact of programs and educational initiatives. To 
embrace this trend, the Office of Housing and Residence Life at 
Ball State University (IN) created learning outcomes for students 
living in residence halls. Through reflective questioning, discus-
sion, and assessment, the Residence Life program strives to fur-
ther the development and learning experience of students. The 
learning outcomes were: 
Students will: 
• express thoughts in a clear, concise and respectful manner. 
• incorporate a variety of viewpoints into their understanding of 
the world. 
• respect their environment and the individuals within it. 
• establish healthy interdependence. 
• constructively demonstrate their societal rights and responsi-
bilities. 
• explore their values. 
After the outcomes were created, areas of emphasis were 
identified to assist students in having a set of skills to strive for 
within the learning objectives. Skills like time management, self-
assessment, and confrontation are necessary for students who 
Lessons to Share (cont.) 
2. Pilot the survey and gather feedback. Identify technical 
issues, collect feedback from students, and make needed 
changes. 
3. Miss the deadline. Be prepared to miss the posted dead-
line, but also be prepared to notify all potential respondents that 
the survey timeline has been altered. 
4. Know your department's concurrent processes. Antici-
pate housing processes that might interfere with the survey, such 
as ones that will impact occupancy and thus response rates. Ask 
all staff to name the major processes in the department that will 
occur around the time of the survey. Asking staff to let you (the 
survey administrator) know about something that might impact 
the survey is too vague. Instead, you should determine the im-
pact of any and all concurrent processes within the department, 
rather than get blindsided. 
5. Prepare for the worst. If a virus or something beyond 
your control impacts the survey, be honest with students and staff, 
and be prepared to reward those who may have to work harder to 
obtain the desired response rate. 
6. Use existing department practices/resources to your 
advantage. For us that means, if we want our web pages to be 
seen as an excellent sources of information and we know that 
staff use them, then we need to make sure we use them and 
have the URL easily accessible on those pages as well as plas-
tered on flyers, on buttons, and in emails. 
Submitted by 
Margot Nason 
Assessment Coordinator 
Northern Arizona University 
Megan Gavin 
Graduate Assistant for Assessment 
Office of Residence Life 
Northern Arizona University 
14 
are living in residence hall communities. With these identified skill 
areas, residence hall staff can intentionally work with students in 
these areas to help them develop within the learning outcomes. 
Developmental levels also were determined to aid in mea-
suring the progress in learning by residents. For example, devel-
opment in the skill of confrontation is described in the following 
sequence: 
Level 1: Establish ability to identify problem and how it re-
lates to self and own priorities. 
Level 2: Explore and evaluate various options and man-
ners in which to confront situation. 
Level 3: Evaluate and plan confrontation method using as-
sessment of multifaceted options. 
Level 4: Master effectively confronting individuals while 
maintaining mutual respect and the relationship among the indi-
viduals involved. Assess degree of effectiveness of confronta-
tion. 
By putting these three components together-learning out-
comes, areas of skill emphasis, and developmental levels-the 
Cardinal Living and Learning Community (CLLC) model was cre-
ated. Residence hall staff use the CLLC to focus on building in-
tentional relationships with students instead of "canned program-
ming." 
Transltioning from Outcomes to Objectives 
In fall 2001, Housing and Residence Life formed the As-
sessment Committee. One of its primary functions was to mea-
sure our Learning Outcomes. When the committee began edu-
cating themselves, they started researching the fundamentals of 
assessment and how the department upheld these principles. The 
following excerpt from the "Assessment Workbook," created by 
Ball State University's Office of Academic Assessment and Insti-
tutional Research in 1992, caused concern: 
0) What are the differences between objectives and out-
comes? 
A) Objectives are intended results or consequences of in-
struction, curricula, programs, or activities. Outcomes are 
achieved results or consequences of what was learned-evidence 
that some learning took place. Objectives specify what is ex-
pected and describe what should be assessed; outcomes are 
behaviors and products generated by students after instruction 
and are the objects of assessment. 
Based on this distinction between "objectives" and "out-
comes," the committee believed that the department's use of the 
"Learning Outcomes" model was probably misnamed. The com-
mittee suggested that the department start referring to this model 
as "Learning Objectives." As stated in the Aug. 7, 2001 edition of 
NASPA's Netresults, "A first step towards the development of a 
Student Affairs assessment model. . .is to provide conceptual clarity 
about what Student Affairs 'does' and what it seeks to 'accom-
plish.'" The article further describes the need for Student Affairs 
professionals to appear credible in functional collaborations within 
the university setting. The current "Learning Outcomes" model 
did not refer to the product developed within the Office of Hous-
ing and Residence Life. Instead, it embodied what was hoped 
students would take away after living in the Ball State residence 
halls and apartments. The "Outcomes" more closely resembled 
(continued on page 16) 
ACUH0-1 TALKING STICK I APRIL 2003 
Special Feature 
Collaboration: Lessons From Bridging the Student Affairs 
and Academic Affairs Divide 
Everyone seems to be talking about how Student Affairs 
professionals and Academic Affairs professionals can best col-
laborate to enhance research, institutional effectiveness and stu-
dent learning. On the Ball State University (IN) campus, the col-
laborative efforts between the Office of Housing and Residence 
Life (HRL) and the Office of Academic Assessment and Institu-
tional Research (AAIR) have been largely successful. The les-
sons learned might be beneficial for other professionals as they 
work to "bridge the student affairs and academic affairs divide:· 
The following is a chronological perspective from the three key 
individuals involved in the collaborative efforts and how they initi-
ated working together, what the challenges were, and what the 
benefits were to this joint adventure 
The Beginning 
HRL Graduate Student: As a new graduate student, I was 
asked to consider where I wanted to focus my time and energies 
for a four-week lab assignment. At one of the first housing and 
residence life (HRL) staff meetings of the semester, the Senior 
Analyst from AAIR made a presentation to a group of student 
affairs graduate students about a survey project that would in-
volve residence hall students. When the Senior Analyst began 
talking, I found it absolutely fascinating and I suddenly realized I 
wanted to learn more about what an office of assessment and 
Outcomes to Objectives (cont.) 
goals, or "Objectives:• The department was developing ways to 
assess what were called outcomes, when outcomes are what 
should have been reported after assessment had taken place. 
Although this might have seemed to be a minor miscue, 
correcting it had the potential to set the tone within the depart-
ment on how serious they were about assessment. The Office of 
Housing and Residence Life agreed with the findings and soon 
made the official switch to "Learning Objectives." 
Assessment of Learning Objectives 
The Office of Housing and Residence Life conducts some 
independent data collection and collaborates with the Office of 
Institutional Research on two larger scale assessments. During 
the first month of each semester, the aforementioned offices col-
laborate on administering two quantitative assessment tools, in-
cluding one for freshmen and the other for transfer students. The 
students self-report their current status of development in each 
area based upon statements provided. Residence hall director 
teams use the data to identify individual needs and areas of growth 
for hall community members. 
Within the Office of Housing and Residence Life, residence 
hall director teams gather and report qualitative information for 
each of the learning objectives. Each month, they report examples 
of growth for each learning objective that was observed on an 
individual or community level within their residence hall. This 
information is then shared with all residence hall directors to pro-
vide additional ways to offer learning opportunities with students 
and hall staff. Residence hall directors conducted student inter-
views with 10 residents of their halls. The directors asked each 
resident the same 1 0-15 questions, and the data were analyzed 
16 
institutional research was about. I contacted the director of the 
office and asked if I could be a lab student in their area, but was 
told someone else had also called earlier requesting to be a lab 
student and they could only use one of us. I was disappointed, 
but decided to be a little persistent so I asked if I could volunteer 
my time or do a short lab during the next semester. Later that 
day, they called me back and said they had found enough work 
for me to do and that I could do my lab in their office. I learned 
that sometimes beginning to build those bridges takes sincere 
interest, initiative, and a little bit of persistence! 
AAIR Senior Analyst: When the graduate students from HRL 
first approached our office about a lab internship, concerns were 
raised about prior intern experiences. The initial reaction was, 
"We have had interns before .... " I had to work hard to convince 
AAIR staff that either this experience would be different or that it 
would be worth the effort. Most offices have a history that in-
cludes negative situations. Collaboration depends on moving 
beyond that history and creating new relationships. For us, it meant 
beginning these relationships with relatively new folks who were 
motivated to work together and learn from each other. If any of 
us had brought negative attitudes to the process, it might never 
have begun. For me, the lesson was not to let history limit what 
happens now. (coninued on page18) 
in the summer to assess learning and development. Finally, two 
focus groups are conducted for each learning objective with a 
random sample of participants from across campus. The data 
are compiled and reviewed by the assessment committee to pro-
vide the Office of Housing and Residence Life with suggestions 
for further implementation. 
With the development of the Learning Objectives and the 
CLLC model, the Office of Housing and Residence Life profes-
sionals and paraprofessional staff are intentional in their approach 
to student interactions and the residence hall experience. Though 
different methods are used to gather this information, the assess-
ments conducted continue to provide beneficial information re-
garding individual development and learning within the hall com-
munity. The Learning Objectives are established, while the ap-
proaches to helping students develop in the areas through learn-
ing opportunities are adapted and created for individuals and the 
collective residence hall community. 
References 
Assessment Workbook, Office of Academic Assessment and In-
stitutional Research, Ball State University, 1992. 
Why Assessment is Important to Student Affairs, James Ander-
son, NASPA's Netresults, 8/7/2001. 
Submitted by 
Robert B. Engblom 
Sally E. Farber 
Dena R. Kniess 
Ro-Anne A. Royer 
Amy Vander Sanden 
Resident Hall Directors 
Ball State University (IN) 
ACUH0-1 TALKING STICK I APRIL 2003 


Outcomes to Objectives: Learning About Quality Assessment

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