Surveys and benchmarks continue to grow in importance for community colleges in response to several factors. One is the press for accountability, that is, for colleges to report the outcomes of their programs and services to demonstrate their quality and prudent use of resources, primarily to external constituents and governing boards at the state…

Evaluative statements from alumni have legitimacy with both internal and external stakeholders. Thus, alumni studies can provide valuable evidence of institutional effectiveness and lend themselves to both locally designed and commercial survey instruments for data collection. Under ideal conditions, the results of alumni studies equip faculty and…

Most assessment arguments are about measurement. When is it better to use direct versus indirect measures of student learning? Is one standardized test of critical thinking better than another? Is applying rubrics to student work better than using standardized tests? How valid are self-reported measures of learning? Although these arguments are…

Programs that serve underrepresented minority students have long faced many challenges. Prior to the late 1970s, higher education institutions reserved academic program slots for underrepresented minority students because these students had limited access to opportunities that afforded them credentials that their white counterparts could more…

The vast amount of research conducted on student persistence over the past thirty years is indicative of the continuing and evolving interest in retention of students. Framed through multiple perspectives, this retention research is driven by the fact that more students leave institutions without graduating, year after year. Much more than an…

A discussion of administrative program evaluation addresses the problem and opportunity of evaluation from the perspective of the administrator or institutional researcher by suggesting criteria for deciding on the need for formal evaluation, examining several evaluation design strategies, and looking at how evaluation can enhance organizational…

An evaluation of a counseling center must examine its goals, activities, and impact and determine the desired balance among preventive, remedial, and developmental objectives. (MSE)

A discussion of the need for and possible approaches to evaluating student support services emphasizes the importance of using objectives, strategies, and traditional and nontraditional outcome variables for a thorough assessment. (MSE)

Additional readings concerning the two themes of (1) organizational effectiveness as a consequence of managerial action and (2) assessment of services seen as assessment of staff are presented. Sources on staff renewal as a form of staff evaluation are highlighted. (MSE)