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NASPA Assessment &
Retention Conference

June 10 - 12, 2010

Baltimore INner Harbor Hotel at Camden Yards
Baltimore, MarylanD

Schedule | Speakers |Pre-Conference Workshops | Student Learning Outcomes Track | Extended Learning Sessions

Registration and Fees | Hotel and Travel | Exhibits and Sponsors

In her March 10th address to the 2010 NASPA Annual Conference attendees and in a 2010 Leadership Exchange article, Martha Kanter, U.S. Under Secretary of Education stated that "strengthening student affairs on college campuses is vital... to achieving the national goals that President Obama has set for America's growth, social prosperity, and international competitiveness."  Under Secretary Kanter challeged colleges to:

• Rethink student affairs,

• Shift to evidence-based practices,

• Define and measure student learning outcomes, and then use learning outcomes to shape programs and services, and

• Work with colleagues in academic affairs to align and manage programs and services to support student success.

The NASPA Assessment and Retention Conference is designed to address these issues and promote student learning and success by strengthening assessment, quality improvement, and intentional retention programs. Institutional leadership must create an environment which builds capacity, as well as encourage an organizational culture that includes a comprehensive assessment and retention program as part of strategic planning.

The NASPA Assessment & Retention Conference has been designed to address emerging issues in assessment and retention, as well as to provide a forum for experienced assessment professionals to advance their skills by discussing assessment with practitioners and policy-makers.

• Explore student learning in relation to institutional practices
• Building a culture of Assessment on Campus
• Facilitate student engagement and success
• Improving retention/persistence and achievement

Institutional Team Attendance

The conference planning committee believes that those institutions sending multi-disciplinary teams to the conference will reap the greatest benefit, as there will be structured opportunities to discuss effective campus collaborations. By having a team, campuses increase the probability of successfully implementing improved assessment and retention programs when they get back to campus. Assessment of learning requires collaboration across both academic and student affairs divisions.

The committee encourages campuses to send representatives from the following areas in order to allow for substantive conversations around how to create change on your campus:

• Senior Student Affairs Officers
• Provosts
• Academic Affairs Administrators
• Assessment Professionals
• Student Affairs Educators
• Faculty Members
• Institutional Researchers
• Educational Researchers
• Testing Officers