Investing in community colleges is a central part of the Biden administration's education agenda, with the goal of strengthening America's middle class and opening the benefits of education to all Americans. CCRC has conducted 25 years of research on how community colleges can more effectively educate students and set them up to successfully…

The phrase "best practice" is used often in student affairs, but the term lacks a common and accepted definition. This results in the implementation of programs and services that are neither grounded nor assessed. A model is proposed here that suggests a best practice process that integrates foundational student affairs documents and applies the…

This study examined the use and perceived effectiveness of standards published by the Council for the Advancement of Standards in Higher Education in student affairs units at a community college in the Southwest. The available literature mainly addresses use of the CAS standards at four-year rather than two-year colleges. The study investigated…

The increasing use of the CAS standards as a comprehensive assessment approach in divisions of student affairs necessitates a more in-depth understanding of how the CAS standards are being implemented in these settings. In response to increasing calls for improvement, accountability and professionalism in student affairs (Bresciani, 2006; Cooper…

A logic model was developed based on an analysis of the 2012 American School Counselor Association (ASCA) National Model in order to provide direction for program evaluation initiatives. The logic model identified three outcomes (increased student achievement/gap reduction, increased school counseling program resources, and systemic change and…

This is a must-have book for leadership educators and all student affairs professionals who want to develop impactful leadership programs and the leadership capacity of students. This book contains: (1) Advancing Leadership Education (Susan R. Komives); (2) Leadership Theories (John P. Dugan and Susan R. Komives); (3) Research on College Student…

This article gives an overview of a new model for assessment practice within student affairs divisions. With the current increase of accountability and greater demands from higher education stakeholders, student affairs practitioners need to understand how to demonstrate the effectiveness and value of their work as it relates to the mission of…

In order to better measure outputs in the student personnel services, an attempt was made through an all day off-campus student affairs retreat to develop a model which would identify the desired outcome, indicate the accountable area, specify the method of accomplishing the outcome, and list the techniques for measuring the accomplishments in…

This model attempts to provide both internal responsibility and a measurement of services. It is suggested that each unit of an educational institution should be individually accountable for balancing its costs and benefits to that institution. (Author/PC)

The purpose of this article is to describe a modified evaluation model for use by clients to evaluate existing student services programs and to explore the applicability of the methods of creative problem solving to the ensuing results revealed and/or problems identified in assessments of student services programs. (Author)

Posits that prior to designing and implementing any programmatic initiative, the programmer must consider the assessment of individual and group needs as well as environmental or cultural dimensions. Outlines models of program planning and program assessment skills needed by student affairs administrators. Discusses collecting assessment data,…

The XX IDEA annual conference has been focused and reflected on different ways and means of meeting various kinds of methodological challenges, new technologies and multi-media developments, newly emerging partnerships and collaboration between emerging sectors on one hand and between the institutions functioning with similar objectives and…

Reviews the student services evaluation literature and presents a metamodel for selecting evaluation models. The metamodel is based on the comparison of the common dimensions of all evaluation models. Identifies five common dimensions that collectively determine the usefulness of any evaluation model. (RC)

The impact of registration procedures on advising at Western New England College is analyzed, and some constructive changes are identified. A checklist for analysis of how well the registration process serves the needs of students and their advisors is provided. (MLW)

A model for describing and assessing the effectiveness of student affairs programs is outlined in this paper as it was presented to the California Community College Student Affairs Association. First, the goals of student affairs programs (i.e., enrichment, involvement, and retention) and the impact of budget constraints on the achievement of…