Assessing the Office of the Vice President for Student Affairs

Hi, my name is Cynthia and I am an assessment nerd. 

I love using data to help improve our operations in the Division in an effort to best serve students.  Over the past 20 years, I have participated in a variety of comprehensive program review processes.  I have been a participant in interviews giving feedback on the department being reviewed, coordinated processes for my own departments, an served as the invited chair of external review teams for reviews at other universities.  I can honestly say that I enjoy the comprehensive review process. 

At Texas A&M University, we have engaged in the comprehensive program review process (link to http://studentlifestudies.tamu.edu/services/cpr) since 1997.  Utilizing a rotation cycle, each of our departments engage in a review every 7 years. As an AVP, I find the CPR process to be beneficial for my departments, especially the external review.  We have always framed this process as a learning opportunity and identify how we can build upon the foundations that we currently have.  Whether using CAS or another model as a guide, it creates space for student affairs units to examine their organizations, identify areas of strength and opportunity, in an effort to meet their goals more effectively.

In that same vein, it is important that we, the Division leadership, also model the spirt of continuous improvement.  It is easy to overlook the inclusion of the office of the VPSA in the review process.  However, in an effort to keep current with evidence based practices and assess how we are doing at our work it is imperative that we don’t overlook this office.  Thus, last fall we began the comprehensive review process for the Office of the Vice President for Student Affairs.  It has been an enlightening process and one that I would highly recommend.

Below I have shared a couple of things I learned through our process.

Strategically choose your external review team.  When we were deciding who should comprise our external review team, we were intentional about assembling a team that would further multiple goals.  We invited two senior student affairs officers who hold (or held) this position at a peer institution to lead the team.  These individuals had the credentials and experience which would be respected by our university administration.  Resist the temptation to select a friend or close colleague to be the review team leader if their credentials don’t lend credibility.  The last thing you want is for people to presume the team leader is biased and will not deliver an honest and balanced report. Given our multiple AVP structure, we also brought in a sitting AVP from another peer institution to lend an AVP perspective.  The team was rounded out by three university colleagues.  One from student affairs to give context to the team when needed, one from the Division of Finance who could speak to larger budget issues, and an associate dean from one of the colleges to speak from the faculty/academic affairs perspective.

Be transparent with the final report.  Sharing the final report with Division leadership and University colleagues adds a level of transparency that communicates a belief in the continuous improvement process.  This can go a long way in dispelling fears of departments engaging in their own CPR process.  In addition, it primes the Division leadership to assist in the action planning phase of the process.

Finally, enjoy the process.  When implemented correctly, there are so many insights that can be discovered through the self-study and the external review.  I was amazed by the conversations that took place during the self-study phase which included our administrative support staff, business staff, and marketing and communications staff.  It was the first time our entire office of the VPSA staff had met together outside office parties, potlucks, and other social events.  It was a bonding experience reviewing the mission, goals, and processes of office.

So even if you are not an assessment nerd, as an AVP I think you will enjoy this process.