Student Affairs Assessment Institute

ACPA Student Affairs Assessment Institute

June 26-28, 2013, Red Lion Hotel on the River, Portland, Oregon USA

Register Online Early-bird registration ends May 27, 2013

Fill your professional toolkit:

Do you wonder how much students are really gaining from the educational experiences you create for them?
Are you being asked to present data on the effectiveness of your programs?
Do you struggle to find points of data that demonstrate the impact of your work on student success?
Is your Division searching for ways to create a coordinated system for assessment?
Are you searching for an opportunity to develop your skills related to assessment practice?

If you answered “yes” to any of these questions, then we have a solution for you. ACPA’s Student Affairs Assessment Institute can help you develop the essential skills related to assessment for your professional toolkit. The two-and-a-half-day institute will offer plenary sessions as well as separate tracks focused on division-wide planning and department/program assessment. In addition, beginner and intermediate data collection and analysis sessions will be offered. Small group sessions will provide participants the opportunity to develop an individualized assessment plan from beginning to end.

The ACPA Assessment Institute is a curriculum-based learning experience designed to ensure attendees leave with the assessment skills and knowledge necessary to develop and execute quality assessment plans on their campuses. The Institute schedule reflects this curriculum-based philosophy on assessment education: sessions build off one another and attendees learn assessment techniques within the context of pragmatic assessment questions and issues that are applicable on any campus. To help determine if this experience is right for you, please check out our resource on institutes vs. conferences for more information.

For travel purposes, the Institute begins at 8:00am on Wednesday, June 26, 2013, and ends at 12:00pm on Friday, June 28, 2013. We suggest that attendees arrive on Tuesday night and book flights that depart after 2pm on Friday

Darby Roberts, Ph.D.

Participants in this track will walk away with knowledge and skills needed to develop a division-wide assessment plan for their own campuses. This track will include discussions about developing a consistent assessment framework across a division while allowing for flexibility within individual units. This track will also include discussions on using data to respond to stakeholders at the institution and beyond. This track is intended for practitioners who are responsible for managing assessment across multiple student affairs functional areas.

Participants in this track will walk away with an assessment plan designed to measure student learning outcomes and/or other programmatic outcomes. Participants will be guided through the process of writing outcomes to address the student learning and development that occurs as a result of a specific program, intervention, or set of learning experiences. This track is intended for practitioners who are responsible for assessing individual programs or services within a single student affairs functional area.

Whether you are brand new to assessment, taking on new responsibilities in your individual unit, or charged with developing a division-wide plan for assessment, the ACPA Student Affairs Assessment Institute is the answer for your professional development needs!

The institute caters to a variety of skill levels in assessment. The institute will offer data collection and analysis sessions at both beginning and intermediate levels. In addition, participants can choose between tracks focused on Division-Wide Planning or Department/Program Assessment.

Past participants have included:

Student affairs professionals at all levels — entry, mid-level, and senior student affairs officers
Graduate faculty
Academic administrators
Graduate students in student affairs, higher education administration, or other related programs

As an Institute participant, you will:

Develop an assessment plan from start to finish;
Develop assessment skills that can be applied at your home campus;
Address assessment issues specific to your institution;
Increase your confidence in the use of data for improvement of programs and services;
Identify other student affairs assessment projects conducted in a variety of institutional types and functional areas that will help you in your own work;
Meet student affairs professionals from a variety of institutional types who are committed to learning about and conducting assessment; and
Have the opportunity to consult with an assessment professional regarding specific assessment issues on your campus.

Becki Elkins – Director of Institutional Research, Cornell College
Amber Garrison Duncan – Director of Student Affairs Assessment and Research, University of Oregon
Martha Glass, Ph.D. – Associate Director of Administration for Assessment, Virginia Tech
Victoria Livingston – Assistant Director of Planning and Assessment, Northern Illinois University
Kristen McKinney, Ph.D. – Director, Student Affairs Information and Research Office, UCLA
Kyle Tschepikow, Ph.D. – Director of Assessment and Staff Development, University of Georgia
Jen Wells – Director of Assessment, Kennesaw State University
Vicki Wise, Ph.D. – Director for Assessment and Research, Portland State University

Registration (Before May 27, 2013)
Member	$ 595
Non-Member	$ 795
Student Member	$ 295
Student Non-Member	$ 395

Registration (After May 27, 2013)
Member	$ 795
Non-Member	$ 995
Student Member	$ 395
Student Non-Member	$ 495

“I very much enjoyed my time at the Institute last year. I learned some new information and reviewed some things I already knew about assessment. I really enjoyed being able to network with people in the field and find out techniques that other institutions use for assessment. I have used many of the materials from the Institute to help others in my division, and I have also used them as inspiration for assessment presentations I have given. The Institute was very helpful and very much worth the time.” - Shari Metzger; UMBC

“I learned a lot of information about designing assessments on a programmatic level and was very nuts and bolts which was good!” - Evan Heiser; Elon University

“I thought the institute was very well designed-it provided a soup to nuts overview of the whole assessment cycle, close and ongoing access to experts in the field, and a jump start or enhancement of any assessment efforts on campus.” - Scott C. Brown, Ph.D; Colgate University

The institute was extremely helpful. We have used information from the institute to design or inform a number of aspects of our assessment program. - Jim Fereira; Anderson University

“It was an amazing experience with a great mix of lecture style settings to learn from the experts, but also conversational and discussion based groupings that allowed for everyone to interact with one another and the national experts. Of all the professional developments I have done, this particular institute stands out as the clear number one, both for the quality of information and the well laid out schedule.” - Justin Janak; Assistant Director, Assessment

“The ACPA Assessment Institute provided a excellent overview of assessment issues and practices. Most of my prior experience focused on assessment in a single department and I was inspired by the opportunity to participate in conversations about assessment at a division level. I use the information everyday - providing assistance to departments on single projects or thinking about comprehensive planning, as well as developing frameworks to coordinate assessment across our division.” - Past Participant

Registrations can be paid by check, VISA, MasterCard, Discover, or American Express. All fees must be prepaid. Purchase orders are not accepted. Refunds will be given for cancellations, received in writing at ACPA by June 1, 2012 less a US$55 processing fee. After June 1st, there are no refunds. ACPA reserves the right to charge a service fee of US$50 for returned checks. A processing fee of US$50 per registration will be charged for credit cards declined or to change payment methods after the initial payment is processed. Registrations are non-transferable. The conference may be cancelled or postponed due to insufficient enrollment or other unforeseen circumstances. In this case, the fees will be fully refunded; however, ACPA will not be responsible for other additional costs, charges or expenses, including cancellation/change charges assessed by airlines and/or travel agencies.

Two scholarships covering full registration costs will be awarded. Please note that travel to the Institute, hotel, and meals not included in the registration costs will not be covered by the scholarship. To apply, applicants should provide a 1-2 page narrative describing the applicant’s current background in assessment and how the applicant would benefit from the Institute. In addition to the information above, a letter from the applicants immediate supervisor is required. The supervisor's letter should include (a) how the participant will benefit from attending the Institute, and (b) what financial constraints exist which may prevent the participant's attendance. This information should also be sent to the chair of the Scholarship Committee, Kim Yousey-Elsener by May 20, 2013.

The ASK Standards serve as a foundation to the ACPA Student Affairs Assessment Conference. You may wish to obtain a copy of the standards to bring to the conference with you. Copies of the ASK Standards are free to ACPA members. You can obtain your version by going here.

The host hotel for this year’s institute is the Red Lion Hotel on the River. Phone Number: 503-283-4466; Toll-Free Phone Number: 800-RED-LION(733-5466). The negotiated rate is $99.00 a night (single/double occupancy).

Be sure to mention the “ACPA Student Affairs Assessment Institute” to receive the discounted rate. Rooms must be reserved by May 31, 2013 to ensure that you will receive the institute rate.

The attire for this conference is business casual.

Questions? Contact Tricia Fechter, Senior Director – Professional Development, Research & Scholarship, or call 1.202.835.2272.