Innovation Award Honorable Mention: Central Michigan University

Central Michigan University Leads Innovative Assessment of Alternative Breaks Program

The AER KC is pleased to celebrate Central Michigan University’s Alternative Breaks Program Assessment as the Honorary Mention for the fourth annual NASPA Assessment, Evaluation and Research Knowledge Community Innovation Award in this Innovation Award Spotlight.  This program was led by Dr. Eric Buschlen (Associate Professor of Educational Leadership), Dr. Cathy Warner (Residence Hall Director), Jon Reusch (Academic Advisor), and Dr. Sean Goffnett (Associate Professor of Marketing and Logistics).

The Alternative Breaks program at Central Michigan University is unique and innovative in its intentional approach to develop direct assessment evidence of student learning. This initiative not only captures the powerful student narrative of their experiences, but does so in a systematic and outcomes focused approach.

The time intensive qualitative approach did not deter this research team; this team embraced prompt-based journal evidence as a means to gain insight to the students’ learning experiences. They reviewed students’ journal responses to evaluate three distinct phases - before, during and after their week-long service trips. The team drew upon the concepts from a Social Change Model of Leadership Development (SCM) to examine how students recognized the individual-, group- and community-level factors that contributed to student leadership and service learning.

One nominator explains, “The approach used in collecting the data from our students’ journals and analyzing the narratives to reveal common themes was resourceful and allowed us to consider changes to our curriculum, propelled us to think further about the importance of understanding social identity, and enhanced our knowledge of the powerful transformation we knew our students were experiencing.”

This initiative has also been supported by the NASPA Student Affairs Partnering with Academic Affairs (SAPAA) Knowledge Community who awarded the Alternative Breaks team a Research Grant to fund the project in 2012.

For the 2012 year in which SAPAA funded the research project, the Alternative Break researchers reviewed 38 student narratives prior to (expectations), during (on-site experiences), and 45 days after (reflections) their service trip in the United States. They framed their journal prompts around SCM understandings about interconnections across self, group and community engagement for social change. The themes that emerged from rubric-based review of the journal narratives revealed that 1) the students developed lasting social friendships (developed team skills), 2) they developed an activist persona (developed a “change” lens), and they learned to recognize their personal privilege (deeper understanding of self). These outcomes link directly to goals of Alternative Breaks program, to the program of the university, and specifically to the tenets of the Social Change Model.

Read more in NASPA’s Journal of College and Character.

Eric Lee Buschlen & Jonathan Reusch (2016) The Assessment of Service Through the Lens of Social Change Leadership: A Phenomenological Approach, Journal of College and Character, 17:2, 82-100, DOI: 10.1080/2194587X.2016.1159224

To link to this article: http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/2194587X.2016.1159224

Congratulations to Central Michigan University and thank you for your innovative contribution to the field of Student Affairs Assessment!

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