A key consideration for any assessment project is the timing of it. Questions related to timing are some of the most common questions that Skyfactor’s Analytics & Research Team gets from clients. And, it’s a good question to ask. Considering the timing of your assessment is a crucial component of a good assessment project. Previously, our Director of Analytics & Research, Sherry Woosley, wrote about the timing of assessments, in particular, whether or not there are advantages to surveying in fall versus spring. While the timing of your assessment is important, so is the frequency. Another common question we get from clients relates to how often to assess, including if a benchmarking assessment should be administered every year. This question is most common from campuses that have conducted benchmarking assessments for multiple consecutive years and say that, at a high level, their results simply don’t change much. There are valid reasons for considering a shift to administering a benchmarking assessment every other year or as part of a cycle. Cost, especially, is one benefit. There is an assumption that, since the high-level results don’t change much from year to year, an every-other-year approach will save money and provide a sufficient snapshot of any changes over time. And, campuses may save money or be able to triangulate data better by pulling in other assessments in the off-years. But, there are real benefits to conducting a benchmarking survey each year. Justifying Needs Annual benchmarking data allows a department to make a more compelling case for justifying particular needs. By breaking down results across campus, departments are more easily able to identify exactly where improvements should be made. For example, for a housing department looking to make a difference in facilities satisfaction, identifying specific buildings that need improvement (even something as simple as new paint in common areas) can go a long way. Identifying issues not only at a granular level but also as they come up allows campuses to justify changes, especially minor changes that can have an immediate impact. One of the common reasons campuses administer a survey in fall versus spring is to allow time to react and implement changes during the current academic year that reflect the pressing needs of your current students. Surveying each year allows your campus to take quick action and make a difference. Motivating Staff One of the value points of benchmarking data is the ability to use data to motivate and excite staff. Many campuses use the ability to share reports with current staff as a mechanism to review performance and identify areas of improvement. And, since reports can be filtered to a population or area that is directly applicable to individual staff members, it makes the data more personal. Sharing filtered reports with residence hall directors, assistant directors of student activities, orientation leaders, and more, you can use annual results to motivate your staff and focus their efforts on areas that can make a difference. Studying Smaller Populations Annual surveys allow for opportunities to better focus on smaller populations. At the aggregate level, campus-level results may look really good! However, many benefit from using the survey to target specific populations to improve experiences more intimately. If you are using the survey every year, you are better able to address issues that disproportionately affect smaller populations, as well as focus on improvements to different, smaller populations each year. Demonstrating Improvement Annual benchmarking data allow your campus to demonstrate the impact of your efforts every year. Our efforts to improve the student experience never stop. So, collecting data each year allows for a better demonstration of the impact of specific efforts. The before and after snapshot of a new programming effort, targeted staff outreach, new learning outcomes, or facility improvements are incredibly valuable to demonstrate that your efforts make a difference. If left to data collected only every few years, it’s more difficult to identify which efforts had an impact on the learning and satisfaction of your students. Ultimately, collecting data annually allows campuses to better tell a compelling data story highlighting their hard work. While those who work closely with student affairs departments understand the incredible impact of their efforts, compelling data points are necessary to justify resources, educate external stakeholders, and justify efforts, especially at a time when campuses are being asked to do more with less. Annual data collection empowers departments to tell a more impactful story of the hard work they do every year. Whether to demonstrate the impact of efforts, justify resources, better identify needs, or continually motivate staff, there are significant benefits to collecting benchmarking data each year. ... View more

Coming back together matters! The social isolation due to the COVID-19 pandemic meant fewer interactions with peers and as a result, fewer opportunities to learn important social interaction skills essential to living in a community. These skills are among those realized through intentional programming in on-campus residential living. Using a national dataset constructed from the 2021-2022 administration of Skyfactor’s ACUHO-I/Benchworks Resident Assessment of over 150,000 college students from nearly 200 colleges and universities in the United States, findings show that higher levels of program participation were associated with greater perceived gains in four key skills needed to survive and thrive in a community setting. ... View more

  On-Demand We wondered, so we asked. Listen in as we explore the results from the fall 2022 SACSA/Skyfactor Employee Survey to answer some of our biggest questions about student affairs employee experiences. Is retention a bigger issue for newer employees? How important is salary as a lever for retention? We’ve shared what we’ve learned so far and discussed implications.    View the Recording Here! View the Recording ... View more

On-Demand In this on-demand video, Jason Wallace and Thomas Bruick from SACSA join Sherry Woosley and Matt Venaas from Skyfactor to share insights from last fall's survey of current student affairs employees. Stay in the loop on future updates about the survey results at: https://bit.ly/sacsasurveyresourcepage   View the Recording Here! View the Recording ... View more

Thomas Jefferson University was awarded the 2022 Assessment & Impact Award for Nursing Education for significant improvement to students’ overall satisfaction with the program. After data identified faculty responsiveness and the need for more student feedback as areas of concern for students, the nursing program implemented a range of new initiatives, including faculty training, updated grading rubrics, revising course evaluations, and use of technology to better engage students with faculty. Learn more in the attachment below! ... View more

King University was awarded the 2022 Assessment & Impact Award for Nursing Education for high performance related to student satisfaction with the quality of nursing instruction. The program focused on student success during college and post graduation by implementing more active learning strategies, providing better feedback to students, and creating a post-graduate mentorship program to support students’ career development, among other improvements. ... View more

Dominican University New York was awarded the 2022 Assessment & Impact Award for Nursing Education for significant improvements in student satisfaction with the quality of nursing instruction, facilities and administration. Despite restrictions brought on by the pandemic, the university’s faculty worked to maintain one-on-one connections with students; they also purchased a mobile simulation lab to both provide instruction for students and to take into the community to care for underserved populations. Learn more in the attachment below! ... View more

For the fourth year, Skyfactor Benchworks, a Macmillan Learning brand, is awarding the Assessment and Impact Awards for Nursing Education to recognize and celebrate the innovative ways that nursing schools are creating positive education experiences within their programs. This year’s winners focused on retaining students and developing more practice-ready nursing professionals by fostering connections between students and faculty, using technology to stay in touch with students, and integrating active learning, among other activities. The three programs that have been awarded the Assessment and Impact Award for Nursing are: Dominican University New York, Thomas Jefferson University and King University. Dominican University New York (NY) was recognized for significant improvements in student satisfaction with the quality of nursing instruction, facilities and administration. King University (TN) was recognized for high performance related to student satisfaction with the quality of nursing instruction. Thomas Jefferson University (PA) was recognized for significant improvement to students’ overall satisfaction with the program. The three winners were selected using a multi-step evaluation process that included an analysis of multi-year assessment data by the Benchworks Analytics and Research Team. The programs selected had the best results or best increases in performance as determined by survey scores. Send a Kudo or drop a comment below to congratulate our 2022 Assessment & Impact Award Winners! ## Skyfactor Benchworks assessments are the most widely used programs in nursing education and have been available for nearly 25 years. The various Benchworks Nursing assessments are used by more than 250 nursing programs each year and are one of more than 50 different assessments from Benchworks on topics important to college success, including housing, orientation, and student affairs and service. The surveys include questions regarding student happiness, safety, diversity and inclusion, facilities, costs, sense of community, and time management, among others. ... View more

In the aftermath of the ongoing pandemic, keeping students connected and engaged is more important (and more difficult) than ever. In light of this, many schools have turned their focus towards the role their residence life plays in that sense of connection and engagement. Now in its fourth year, the Assessment and Impact Award for Residence Life recognizes colleges that demonstrate intentionality in using insights from data to improve their residence life programs. Skyfactor Benchworks recognized three housing programs in the previous year, including seven housing programs in 2021, three in 2020, and four housing programs in 2019.  Please join me in congratulating this year’s winners for the Skyfactor Assessment & Impact Award in Housing and Residence Life:  Southern Illinois University-Edwardsville (IL) was recognized for significant improvements in survey scores related to community environment University of South Alabama (AL) was recognized for significant improvements in survey scores related to dining services St. Catherine University (MN) was recognized for high performance on survey scores related to community environment The 2022 winners were chosen through a careful analysis of multiple years of data from the ACUHO-I/Benchworks Resident Assessment. The Skyfactor Benchworks Analytics and Research Team first conducted a  quantitative analysis and review of applications and then interviewed finalists to learn more about improvements in residence life. Send a Kudo or drop a comment below to congratulate our 2022 Assessment & Impact Award Winners! ## Benchworks assessments are the most widely used programs in higher education housing and have been available for nearly 20 years. The ACUHO-I/Benchworks Residents Assessment is used by nearly 300 institutions each year, and is one of more than 50 different assessments from Benchworks on topics important to college success, including housing, orientation, and student affairs and service. The survey includes questions about student satisfaction with facilities, programs, dining, safety, room assignment, and roommates, as well as learning related to personal interactions, diversity, sense of community, academic success, transferable skills, sustainability, and healthy habits. ... View more

St. Catherine University (MN) was awarded the 2022 Assessment & Impact Award in Housing and Residence Life for high performance on survey scores related to community environment. St. Kate’s Residence Life department adjusted its engagement model during the pandemic to focus more on individual interactions and address trends in their survey results related to lack of connection. These efforts have included targeted student staff check-ins with residents, interventions by professional staff to help residents in need, and a revised student staff programming effort that paired residents and student staff to events based on shared interests. To read more about St. Kate's use of insights from data to improve their housing and residence life programs, check out this article.  ... View more

University of South Alabama (AL) was awarded the 2022 Assessment & Impact Award in Housing and Residence Life for significant improvement in survey scores related to dining services. USA Dining has worked to restructure its menu to feature more quality and health-conscious items, engage residents with frequent small events around specific menu items, and coach staff to engage with and help residents in the dining halls. Each of these efforts has been data-driven, from high-level annual surveys (like the Resident Assessment) to short, frequent surveys about daily experiences that the department could use to make quick improvements. To read more about USA’s use of insights from data to improve their housing and residence life programs, check out this article. ... View more

Southern Illinois University-Edwardsville (IL) was awarded the 2022 Assessment & Impact Award in Housing & Residence Life and was recognized for significant improvements to survey scores related to community environment. SIUE’s University Housing department has enacted numerous initiatives to support community building. These include partnering to implement a peer mentoring program for students of color and members of the LGBTQ community; continued implementation of and connecting initiatives to their residential curriculum; and empowering professional and student staff to use data to evaluate performance and identify opportunities to improve the residential community. To read more about SIUE's use of insights from data to improve their housing and residence life programs, check out this article.  ... View more

On-Demand The issue of college student success and persistence is more important than ever, especially with the challenges brought about by the COVID-19 pandemic and ongoing inequities. For many, the idea of new student success initiatives involves a long and complicated process. But, it does not have to be this way. In this webinar, presenters discuss five ways you can improve your existing student success initiatives, with examples and practices applicable to any campus context. View the Recording Here! View the Recording ... View more

On-Demand How has COVID impacted our understanding of student belonging? The ongoing pandemic and various pivots have taught us many things about college students and belonging. What does this mean for our work and the future? Our presenters discuss what they’ve learned (including insights from both recent research and campus practices) and what it means for the future of our work and our profession. View the Recording Here! View Recording ... View more

Friday, April 1, 2022, at 1:00 PM ET Because every student matters, every moment and engagement counts. When implemented with intentionality, instructional technology and short retention surveys can be used to support first-year student engagement, retention, and help support your institution’s equity and inclusion initiatives in meaningful ways. This session will demonstrate how first-year experience programs can pair brief retention surveys that offer early alerts for better, more targeted interventions, with student response systems to engage all students in meaningful ways inside and outside of the classroom, including creating safe spaces and encouraging participation and event attendance, which can create community and foster a sense of belonging. Register for the Webinar Here! Register ... View more