Division Action Plans in Student Affairs

Putting Student Learning First

Agenda• Student Affairs Assessment Plan;

Measurement of Students’ Experience and Learning

• Departmental Unit Plans– Annual Staff Objectives– Data Collection– Review, Report and Revise

Assessment; A “new definition”

• The gathering of information about results, the comparison of those results with the results of the past, and the open discussion of the meaning of those results, the ways they have been gathered and their implications.

• The Dance of Change; the Challenges to Sustaining Momentum in Learning Organizations, Peter Senge

Student Affairs Assessment PlanDue to the breadth and depth of the work of “student affairs”, it is useful to consider assessment/evaluation from three different perspectives. Each type of assessment needs a timeline and a cycle that is reasonable to balance the work and its continual improvement.

• Measures of effectiveness and efficiency• Measures of students’ experiences• Learning Assessments (Students and staff)• http://valenciacollege.edu/studentaffairs/assessmentPlan.cfm

Student Affairs Assessment Cycle

Based on Shared Vision; College Strategic Plan;

Data

Student Affairs Division Plans

Departmental Unit Plan;

Departmental Goals

Individual Staff Developmental

Plans and Objectives

Assess, Review, Report, and Plan

Again

Assessment CycleOur Guiding PrinciplesThe Big Ideas:http://valenciacollege.edu/ournextbigidea/qep.cfm

Strategic Planshttp://valenciacollege.edu/academic-affairs/institutional-effectiveness-planning/strategic-plan/documents/StrategicPlanBrochure.pdf

Our Department:Planning and Working Together

Collaborative planning and work session:What were we trying to do?How will we know that it’s complete?From the data, where do we still see work to do? Begin again….

It all depends on how you look at it!

– Build the assessment to get the information you want, not necessarily the answers you want.

# Answer

Response %

1 The OSD website

37 23%

2 High School teacher or counselor

42 26%

3 Agency (DBS, VR, etc.)

27 17%

4 Other

72 44%

2011-2012 Survey Student Survey

Students’ self report regarding how they found our office. 72 students indicated that they found the OSD through “other” means.

Decisions made by data

• A common response (26%) was that students learned about OSD from a professor, often identified by name or discipline.

• Based on these data we set a new goal for the following year… to reach out and strengthen our communication to faculty.

2012-2013 Departmental Plan

• Based on the data from the 2011-12 Student Survey we established the goal for the next year’s plan– In order to increase student’s access to our services

we set a goal to strengthen communication with faculty

– Faculty Resource Guidelines/ Bookmark– Submit Articles to the Faculty Newsletter– Have greater presence in Open House/Faculty

Welcome Back opportunities

VALENCIA COMMUNITY COLLEGE Student Affairs Department Action Plan

WEAVE Online Form

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Active Cycle (academic year): 2012-2013 Area (Department/Program): Office for Students with Disabilities Person Responsible: Debbie Larew, Director, Students with Disabilities

Plan 1. Goal-principal purpose of plan (include how this relates to serving students or increasing student success or supporting LifeMap)

To improve the success of students with disabilities through increased outreach and training to Academic Affairs and to the students and families of students with disabilities. The student survey (2011-2012) revealed a need for increased outreach to faculty regarding the needs of students with disabilities. In addition it indicated that the OSD needs to increase transition services for students coming directly from the high school. A more successful beginning sets the student up for more opportunity for success.

2. Objectives-what will be accomplished and measured

1. Communicate with faculty through a monthly column in the Faculty Insight newsletter. (Faculty) 2. Provide purchasing agents (Deans) with a recommended procurement policy that takes into consideration compliance with accessibility laws and standards. (Faculty) 3. Hold an OSD student and family Orientation in the fall to orient them to the college’s resources, calendars, and requirements.(Student and Family) 4. Due to the ADAAA and updated documentation requirements from the AHEAD organization and to reduce barriers for students with disabilities the intake procedures and documentation guidelines will be revised and updated. (Student and Family)

3. Measures and Findings – How specifically measures will be conducted. How will we know the objective has been achieved?

1. I will conduct a brief survey to faculty to elicit their feedback regarding the effectiveness of communication through the articles and the Faculty Resource Guide. 2. The Director will research the procurement requirements and develop a recommended policy. This will then be communicated to the AVP and the Academic Deans for their consideration. 3. I will conduct a pre/posttest during the fall OSD Orientation to measure the extent that attendees learned about Valencia resources and requirements. 4. The review and revision of the intake procedures and documentation requirement will conclude in February 2013; the results will be fully implemented by the summer of 2013.

4. Action Plan – what is the implementation plan?

1. OSD Director and Staff will write and contribute articles to the Faculty Insight newsletter. 2. The Director will research the procurement requirements and develop a recommended policy to be given to the AVP and then to the Academic Deans for their consideration. 3. The Director will host an OSD Orientation in the fall semester on East, West, and Osceola. Family and students recently registered with the OSD will be invited to attend a session to 1. Acquaint the student with resources at Valencia College, 2. Distribute information regarding important dates and requirements, 3. Remind the students of the procedures and services available through the OSD. 4. Each of the coordinators will engage in a collaborative review of the ADAAA and the AHEAD documentation guidelines. They will then review our intake procedures and documentation guidelines and make appropriate revisions. These recommended revisions will be submitted to the Director by March 1, 2013 for implementation

5. Achievement Summary/Analysis-What was learned from the assessment results? What changes will you make in your initiative for the year to come?

1. The OSD posted articles regarding Students with Disabilities in the Classroom, Assistive Technology, Students with Autism, Veterans with Disabilities, Students with Mental Health Disabilities, and Service Animals on campus. In a survey, faculty reported that these articles were well received yet went largely unread. For example, the article regarding Valencia Veterans was reportedly applicable and helpful for 43 of the 195 faculty members responding. However, 136 reported they did not see it. For the article regarding students with Asperger’s Syndrome, 43 respondents reported that the article was helpful but 154 said that they didn’t see the article. See faculty survey attached. Faculty response indicated that they preferred information pushed out instead through faculty email, department chairs, and the OSD website. Thus next year, the OSD will develop a more effective communication plan for opening communication with faculty. 2. The Director researched the procurement requirements and developed a recommended draft policy. This was communicated to the AVP for her consideration. It was recommended that from there it would go to the Director of Procurement. It is hoped that the Director of Procurement will adopt the procurement requirements as part of the college-wide plan for procurement. 3. With Open House events on three campuses we had a total of 7 participants including one parent. Students reported gaining information regarding Student Government opportunities, academic calendar information, and accessing accommodations. Again, due to the low attendance, the OSD will need to focus next year’s attention on how to provide a smooth transition in a more comprehensive way. We will develop a script for the intake process that will take into account the LifeMap model of advising and thus will hopefully facilitate transition. 4. The OSD reviewed the intake procedures and modified the way in which students’ documentation is approved. Intake: With the goal of a more integrated, interactive process, we modified our process so that no one person makes difficult decisions about eligibility. Our revised process begins with the student speaking to a staff member and giving us the documentation. Then campus based teams review the request and the documentation. The team makes a collaborative decision that includes the student and the OSD staff. OSD also implemented a weekly case review where all available staff discusses the submitted documentation (student name omitted) through a phone conversation. This provides an interactive discussion and real time training opportunities. Documentation Requirements: Documentation requirements were revised in a collaborative manner beginning with the coordinators’ review and then feedback from the entire staff. New requirements have been finalized and posted to our student website and the Faculty Resource handbook.

6. General Education Learning Outcome

Ethical Responsibility: Demonstrate awareness of personal responsibility in one's civic, social, and academic life.

7. Strategic Plan Outcome Building Pathways, Transition and Persistence #6 and # 7 Under Outcomes in WEAVE, you can select “General Education Learning” and/or “Strategic Plan Outcome” from the drop down list in WEAVE. You can select all that you believe relates to your Goal and Objective.

2012-2013 Faculty Survey

Review, Report, and Revise

Data drives decisions And revisions

  Plan

1. Goal-principal purpose of plan (include how this relates to serving students or increasing student success or supporting LifeMap)

Building upon feedback from staff and faculty survey, the OSD strives to increase retention and graduation of students registered with the OSD through enhanced advising and targeted communication strategies.

2. Objectives-what will be accomplished and measured

1. OSD will develop an intentional plan for advising based on LifeMap and Proactive advising models; this will include a curriculum for the initial advising session and a communication plan for case management follow-up. 2. OSD will research, develop, and/or implement more integrated software to improve access for students and to enhance the advising experience.3. OSD will increase communication with faculty and staff regarding safety issues, classroom accommodations, and OSD resources. Write at least 3 articles for the Security offices college wide. Continue a project to include faculty in the accommodation of interpreted tests. Pilot a program to increase communication of the need for accommodations (NTI) for selected students.

3. Measures and Findings – How specifically measures will be conducted. How will we know the objective has been achieved?

To establish a baseline, I have requested data from the IR regarding retention and graduation rates for students also registered with the Office for Students with Disabilities. While the success and impact of the objectives above may take more than one year to measure, we will continue to track the data.1. Our proactive advising model will be evaluated via a student services pre and post assessment regarding student’s

satisfaction with the advising available in the OSD. 2. OSD will research the in-house Valencia Visits as well as other software advising systems that might be available to us

to determine a most effective tool for the advising/OSD process. Once implemented, the OSD will elicit feedback from the OSD advisors regarding the effectiveness and usefulness of the new system.

3. OSD increased communication will be measured by faculty and staff feedback. The faculty survey will be resent to a select group of faculty and staff who have been our targeted audience. These selected respondents will be representatives from each of the projects: Security, Faculty with students who are Deaf, and students who request to have their faculty notified via email. This objective will be achieved when respondents indicate that the improved communication helped them to serve students more effectively.

4. Action Plan – what is the implementation plan?

1. a. The coordinators have been tasked with developing a curriculum for intake and registration based on the developmental Life Map advising philosophy. This curriculum will be a tool used by the advisor during the intake process. b. OSD will develop a communication plan to assist students through crucial points in the semester. Relative email templates will also be developed and sent to students according to the communication plan. 2. OSD staff will research various software options to determine what the most effective tool is for the OSD advising process. The research and selection process will be complete by the end of the planning year and necessary funds and/or purchase will be made the following year in consultation with the Office for Information Technology. 3.a. OSD staff will provide three informational articles to the offices of Security regarding students with disabilities. b. The Assistant Director will implement the faculty communication piece regarding interpreted testing. She will also gather feedback from students and faculty regarding the implemented process. c. OSD staff will pilot a program to increase communication of the need for accommodations (NTI) for selected students by emailing faculty for selected voluntary students.

Summary

Questions and Thanks!

Deb Larew, Ed.D. Office for Students