Assessment, Evaluation, &  Research

      The Assessment, Evaluation, and Research (AER) competency highlights the use of assessment practices to guide professional decision making and practice in student affairs (ACPA & NASPA, 2015). This competency suggests that student affairs professionals across all institutional levels be familiar with planning, conducting, evaluating, and critiquing assessment (ACPA & NASPA, 2015). Student affairs professionals should be able to identify the purpose of assessment practices in conjunction with respective institutional values and goals (ACPA & NASPA, 2015).  Student affairs professionals should consider assessment findings when promoting institutional and/or departmental changes (ACPA & NASPA, 2015). In summary the AER competency promotes the use of theoretical frameworks and assessment practices to guide professional practice and work towards institutional success.

​

      I would rate myself at the intermediate level of the Assessment, Evaluation, and Research (AER) competency. My classroom experience in the Higher Education and Student Affairs Administration program, through courses like Assessment in Higher Education & Student Affairs (HEA 650); Methods and Techniques of Educational Research (HEA 689); and master’s project (HEA 690) have provided me with the necessary skills to conduct assessment. My HEA 650 coursework has provided me with ethical human subject training, which I then was able to practice by conducting focus groups for the Civic and Community Engagement department of Buffalo State College. Throughout these courses I have also learned to develop research design; consider protocol and procedures; formulate research questions; and code and organize data. This can be exemplified through my culminating master’s project in which I will be conducting a Likert Scale survey and personal interviews with minoritized students to inquire about their experiences at an urban institution. I have been able to conduct various surveys for the Educational Opportunity Program’s (EOP) Academic Center for Excellence as their Lead Mentor. Through my experience with EOP I have designed google forms to gauge student availability and topics of interest for workshops. I also contributed to the design of a self-reflection assessment for incoming students in the EOP Summer Academy.

​

      The Assessment, Evaluation, and Research competency promotes the utilization of assessment practices and frameworks in higher education (ACPA & NASPA, 2015). Through the culmination of my master’s project, I will have a better understanding of how to design and conduct research, and analyze data guided by foundational theories of student development. I hope to learn about various forms of research methodology through my peers in my master’s project course. Even though I am uncertain of my professional future. I hope to leverage my academic knowledge to conduct assessment throughout my various professional roles and thereby advance in this competency.

​

 

 

​