Assessment

Welcome to the University of San Diego Student Affairs Assessment Website

Mission: The mission of Student Affairs Assessment & Research is to promote a culture of evidence based decision-making throughout the division to continually advance co-curricular programming and services for our students.  This is achieved through ongoing training, consultation, and support of all activities in the assessment cycle (Yousey-Elsener, 2013), from identifying outcomes to implementing change based on findings.

Vision: Every Student Affairs professional will leverage assessment to inform their work.

• Purposeful: Assessment needs to have goals that align with the organization and can be measured.  The findings then need to inform decisions moving forward.  
• Trusting: Assessment can be a vulnerable process, but it is all about learning and growth; it is not punitive. 
• Collaborative: Assessment should leverage the strengths of the entire division.  Each individual brings their own knowledge, experience, and ideas to the process.
• Respectful: The assessment process should be respectful of staff and students.

Assessment Structure in Student Affairs

Assessment is critical to understanding the degree to which intended outcomes are being achieved and provide insight into how programming can be improved.  These outcomes can be articulated at the divisional, unit, or individual program level so there needs to be an assessment strategy to align with that structure and variety.  In December of 2019, the Student Affairs Assessment Committee formalized a structure that took into account these various levels and reinforced the idea that assessment should be an ongoing process.