Council for the Advancement of Standards in Higher Education

CAS Standards and Self-Assessment in Higher Education

Tony Ellis, CAEDirector of Education, NACS

Council for the Advancement of Standards in Higher Education

• Founded in 1979• A consortium of 36 professional organizations• Constituency of over 100,000 • Member associations send representatives to the CAS

Board of Directors• Consensus-oriented, collaborative• Focused on quality programs and services for students• Guide practice by student affairs, student development,

and student support service providers

CASCAS

• Establish, adopt, and disseminate unified and timely professional standards to guide student learning and development programs and services

• Promote assessment and improvement of higher education programs and services through self-study

• Establish, adopt, and disseminate unified and timely professional preparation standards for the education of student affairs practitioners, and to promote the assessment and improvement of graduate preparation programs

• Advance the use and importance of professional standards• Develop and provide materials to support the use of standards• Promote and encourage a focus on quality assurance• Promote inter-association efforts to address these issues

CAS Mission

CAS Essentials

The CAS Standards provide an important tool that expresses to students, faculty,

and administrators the complex and vital nature of student support programs and

services, and their relationship to student learning and development.

CAS Guiding Principles

• Students and Their Institutions• Diversity and Multiculturalism• Organization, Leadership, and Human

Resources• Health Engendering Environments• Ethical Considerations

Self-Regulation & Self-Assessment

• Self-regulation relies on the willingness and capacity of the organization to:– examine itself meticulously, faithfully, and

reliably– assemble the pertinent results of that

examination into coherent reports that constituents can comprehend and use

Uses of the CAS Standards

• Measures of program and service effectiveness

• Institutional self-studies• Preparation for accreditation• Design of new programs and services• Staff development• Academic preparation• Credibility and accountability

CAS Resources• 35 functional area standards (pub. in 6th edition, 2006)

– Auxiliary Services Standards available from www.nacs.org/cas.– Reviewed and revised regularly– General standards contained within every other set of standards

• Master’s level student affairs administration preparation program standards

• Contextual statements for each area• CAS Statement of Shared Ethical Principles• CAS Characteristics of Individual Excellence• Self-Assessment Guides, with instructions and training• Frameworks for Assessing Learning & Development Outcomes

(FALDOs)

CAS Standards Format 13 Component Parts (or Domains)

1. Mission 2. Program 3. Leadership 4. Organization & management 5. Human resources 6. Financial resources 7. Facilities, technology, & equipment 8. Legal responsibilities 9. Equity and access 10. Campus and community relations11. Diversity12. Ethics13. Assessment & evaluation

Understanding CAS Standards CAS standards . . .

• Represent indispensable requirements of practice

• Are achievable by any and all programs of quality

• Appear in bold print• Use auxiliary verbs “must” and “shall”

Understanding CAS GuidelinesCAS guidelines . . .

• Clarify and amplify standards• Guide enhanced practice beyond essential

functions• Appear in regular (non-bold) type• Use verbs “should” and “may”

Standard and Guideline Example

STANDARD: BOLD TYPE | VERBS: “MUST” and “SHALL”

ASFA must demonstrate fiscal responsibility and cost effectiveness consistent with institutional protocols.

GUIDELINE: REGULAR TYPE | VERBS “SHOULD” and “MAY”

Funds to support the ASFA, insofar as it is possible and desirable, should be generated from pricing set at fair market rates.

The CAS SAG: A Self-assessment Guide

• Translates CAS standards into an effective workbook format

• Promotes program self-assessment and development

• Informs on program strengths and weaknesses

• Supports professional staff development

• Leads to enhanced student learning and development

Getting the Self-AssessmentProcess Started

• Division-wide requires 8-10 members• Single functional area calls for 3-5• Include members from the outside• Establish team ground rules• Establish team’s inter-rater reliability• Encourage team discussion and expect team members

to disagree

Appoint and Train the Self-Assessment Team

Team Actions to Conduct the Assessment Process

• Decide whether to include guidelines or other measures that go beyond the standards

• Gather and analyze relevant quantitative/qualitative data• Individuals rate each and every criterion measure• Obtain additional documentary evidence if required to

make an informed team decision

• Complete the assessment, ratings, and action planning

• Compile and review results, and create an overarching Action Plan

Compile and ReviewEvaluative Evidence

K E Y T O A S S E S S M E N T

The self-assessment is not complete until relevant data and related documentation are in place to

support the raters’ judgments.

Examples of Evaluative Evidence PROGRAM DOCUMENTS:

Mission statements; purpose and philosophy statements Staff manuals; policies & procedures statements

ADMINISTRATIVE DOCUMENTS: Organization charts; staff profiles Financial resource statements & budgets Annual reports

STAFF and STUDENT ACTIVITY REPORTS: Resumes; professional activity Service to other programs, departments, or community Portfolios, developmental transcripts, resumes Reports of student service

RESEARCH & EVALUATION DATA: Needs assessments and self-studies Program evaluations

Additional CAS Resources

• www.cas.edu• FALDOs – book & CD formats as package• SAGs – CD or individually• Standards book – revised in 2006 (due next in

2009)– Prologue & Context with “How to” information– CAS Statement of Shared Ethical Principles– Characteristics of Individual Excellence– Glossary and FAQs