Assessment Office

Charge

The purpose of the Assessment Community of Practice (ACOP) is to serve in an advisory capacity and provide thought leadership on assessment in Student Affairs. Members value data-informed practice. Using a lens of equity, they ask questions to better understand student learning and engagement. They possess a willingness to learn and a desire to expand their own knowledge base. Members are committed to helping to educate others, advocating for assessment practice and contributing to continuous improvement using assessment results.

Each member:

1. Represents the voice of staff in assessment planning and process strategy.
2. Acts as a liaison and communicates information to their own departments.
3. Serves as a hub for sharing cocurricular assessment of student learning practice and results.
4. Engages in assessment-related training and professional development for assessment capacity building.
5. Recommends assessment-related practices and policies to division leadership.
6. Supports institutional needs or initiatives related to student learning and success.

Current Members

• *Patricia Alford-Keating, University Counseling Services
• *Alejandra Aparicio, University Student Union
• *Aja Butler, Matador Involvement Center
• Karla Gonzalez, Basic Needs
• *Patrick Johnson, Student Housing and Residential Life
• *Sharon Kinard, University Student Union
• *Marianne Link, Klotz Student Health Center
• *Genesis Lozano, Career Center
• *Joaquin Marinez, Disability Resources and Educational Services
• *Arriana Martin, Associated Students
• *Cathy McLeod, National Center on Deafness
• Rory Meister, Admissions
• *Jasmine Mencias, Financial Aid & Scholarships Department
• *Gabbi Nguyen, Klotz Student Health Center
• *Tatiana Ortega, Office of the Registrar
• *Aileen Rolon, National Center on Deafness
• Shelley Sakoda, University Student Union
• *Paul Schantz, Student Affairs Information Technology
• Mandy Shamir, Office of the Vice President of Student Affairs
• *Yasmine Sidhu, Klotz Student Health Center
• Ruth Vasquez, University Student Union
• Catherine Villareal, Student Outreach and Recruitment
• *Steven Wang, University Counseling Services
• Eleanor Wolgast, International and Exchange Student Center

Convener: Vana Khachatourian, Student Affairs Assessment, Evaluation and Planning      

*Completed the Applying and Leading Student Affairs Assessment online course

Meeting Schedule

Spring 2025/Summer 2025 
Fridays, from 10 to 11:30 a.m. on the following dates: 1/17, 2/14, 3/14, 4/18, 5/23, 6/20, 7/18, 8/15

ACOP Microsoft TEAMs Group

Contact Vana Khachatourian if you are interested in having your department represented.

ASSESStival

The ASSESStival is a divisionwide event to celebrate assessment work and highlight the progress of departments each June. In addition to formal presentations that highlight the CSUN Road Ahead Strategic Directions, departments share progress on identified strategic goals and outcomes in the form of a poster gallery section. The Assessment Community of Practice also selects and announces awards recognizing exemplary assessment work. The agenda for the first annual division of Student Affairs ASSESStival can be found here.

2023 Assessment Awards

• Equity-Minded Assessment Department Award: University Counseling Services

For living out JEDI values and ensuring that equity is a meaningful part of assessment

• Most Significant Progress in Assessment Department Award: Matador Involvement Center

For improvement in assessment work, bringing new ideas to the department

• Building a Culture of Assessment Department Award: Basic Needs

For intentionally engaging team members in assessment work and including it in all aspects of the department

 Assessment Training Attendance Award: Klotz Student Health Center

For having the most staff who attended assessment training this year

 “Closing the Loop” — Department Award: Career Center

For excellence in using and sharing assessment results to better the experiences of students

 People’s Choice Poster Award: University Student Union

Voted most impactful and engaging assessment poster

• ACOP Member of the Year:  Marianne Link, Klotz Student Health Center

Common Learning Outcomes With Learning Competencies

• SAAL — Student Affairs Assessment Leaders: Provides a free opportunity for educators that coordinate assessment for divisions of student affairs to discuss issues to improve their work.
• NASPA Knowledge Community — Assessment, Evaluation and Research: Encourages and supports student affairs professionals as they assess learning, evaluate programs and research theory and practice.
• ACPA Commission for Assessment and Evaluation: Promotes assessment skills and knowledge to facilitate and support student learning, development and effective student affairs practice.
• Council for the Advancement of Standards: Offers dynamic, credible standards, guidelines and self-assessment guides that are designed to evaluate sudent affairs programs and guide improvement for a variety of functional areas.
• National Institute for Learning Outcomes Assessment: Identifies and disseminates ways that academic programs and institutions can productively use assessment data to inform and strengthen undergraduate education.
• Journal of Student Affairs Research and Practice
• Journal of Student Affairs Inquiry

• CSUN Demographic Questions for Student Affairs Surveys
• NASPA/ACPA Assessment Competencies for Student Affairs Professionals
  • NASPA/ACPA Assessment Competencies for Student Affairs Professionals: Pages 13 - 16 (Accessible Version)
• Culture of Evidence Rubric
  • Culture of Evidence Rubric (Accessible Version)
• CAS - Council for the Advancement of Standards in Higher Education - Student Affairs has purchased a copy of all of the standards.
• Association of American Colleges & Universities Rubrics
• Student Affairs Assessment: Theory to Practice (2016) Henning, Roberts and Ludvik.
• You are a Data Person: Strategies for Analytics on Campus (2021) Parnell

• Academic Assessment and Program Review - Faculty led assessment of academic programs.
• Anthology (Campus Labs)- Contact the Assessment Office for an account
  • Planning (for submitting annual strategic goals and reports)
  • Baseline (survey tool)
  • User Training Guide and Recording
• CSU Audit and Advisory Services - Some departments may be required to participate in an internal audit.
• Institutional Research
  • CSUN Counts - Interactive dashboards
  • CSUN Inside Counts - Infographic reports related to student success.
  • Campus-Wide Student Surveys (NSSE, Freshmen, Senior)
• Qualtrics – Survey administration tool - CSUN has a campus license.
• CSUN Survey Administration Committee - Larger surveys directed toward broad campus populations will require review by this committee.
• CSUN Survey Calendar
• WASC Accreditation
• Student Affairs Dashboard - Student Participation Data Disaggregated

• SAAL Free Annual Applying and Leading Student Affairs Assessment Open Course
• SAAL Structured Conversations Series
• AEFIS Academy Events
• Student Affairs Staff Training Recordings — A CSUN email address is required to access these in Box
  • Data Visualization Basics (April 2023)
  • Analyzing Qualitative Data (March 2023)
  • Analyzing Disaggregated Data (October 2023)
  • Effective Focus Groups (February 2023)
  • Survey Design Basics (October 2022)
  • Equity-Minded Assessment (July 2022)
  • Introduction to Strategic Planning and S.O.A.R. Analysis (June 2022)
  • Determining Methods (May 2022)
  • Assessment Cycle and Writing Outcomes (April 2022)
• Introduction to Data Literacy (online course)

All Student Affairs departments will regularly participate in formal review. Most departments will participate in Program Review, which involves a self-study process for program evaluation. This process involves others at the institution (and sometimes those external to it) in examining evidence to determine collectively whether the program is in compliance with the standards. The Council for the Advancement of Standards in Higher Education (CAS) was founded in 1979 as a professionwide entity to establish standards to guide practice by student affairs, student development and student support service providers employed by institutions of higher learning. The standards, intended to describe quality practice, are developed through collaboration and consensus and are designed to apply broadly across institution types and sizes.

Some departments will participate in accreditation as required for licensing in their field. Accreditation is a process of external quality review used by higher education to scrutinize colleges, universities and educational programs for quality assurance and quality improvement. In the United States accreditation is carried out by private, nonprofit organizations designed for this purpose.

CAS Program Review Self-Study

• Associated Students (AS) — Annual Reports and Strategic Plan
• Career Center — Annual Reports
• Financial Aid & Scholarships Department — Annual Report
• Klotz Student Health Center — Assessment and Evaluation
• University Student Union — Assessment