Course Description
Designed for professionals and aspiring leaders in higher education, this course emphasizes the development of key competencies in communication, partner engagement, leadership, collaboration, and cultural competence. Culminating with a capstone project, students will have an opportunity to demonstrate their ability to apply assessment techniques in real-world scenarios, fostering a culture of continuous improvement and evidence-based decision-making in student affairs.Course Outline
Week 1: Culture of Assessment (4 hours)
This week focuses on the foundational skills of effective communication and partner engagement within student affairs. Participants will learn strategies to communicate clearly and persuasively, build strong relationships with partners, and foster collaborative environments.
• Format: Synchronous
• Content: Strategies for effective communication and engagement with partners.
• Activities: Live webinar, guest speaker session, group discussion.
Week 2: Data storytelling (4 hours)
This week delves into the art of data storytelling, emphasizing the use of dashboards to present data in a compelling and accessible manner. Participants will explore various tools and techniques to create visual narratives that effectively communicate assessment results.
• Format: Asynchronous
• Content: Data storytelling
• Activities: Dashboard creation workshop, case study analysis
Week 3: Collaboration and Team Dynamics (4 hours)
This week is dedicated to building and managing effective assessment teams. Participants will learn about team dynamics, leadership styles, and strategies for fostering collaboration and productivity within teams.
• Format: Synchronous
• Content: Building and managing effective assessment teams.
• Activities: Interactive workshop, role-playing exercise, guest panel discussion.
Future Trends and Continuous Improvement
This module explores emerging trends in assessment and the importance of continuous improvement and sustainability in assessment practices. Participants will reflect on their learnings from the course and consider how to apply these concepts in their professional contexts.
• Emerging trends in assessment
• Continuous improvement and sustainability of assessment practices
• Reflecting on course learnings and future applications
Week 4: Implementation Science (4 hours)
This week provides guidance on developing and building a capstone project, with a focus on implementation science and logic modeling. Participants will learn how to design and implement effective assessment projects that drive improvement and innovation.
• Format: Synchronous
• Content: Designing and implementing improvement and innovation based on the insights from their assessment projects. Communicating learnings, developing insights, and implementation planning for changes based on assessment learning?
• Activities: Working through the detailed Implementation Science Toolkit
Week 5: Capstone Project Presentation (4 hours)
The final week is dedicated to the presentation of capstone project participants have worked on throughout the certificate. Participants will reflect on their learnings, strengths of their assessment project, gaps and challenges, and next steps in implementing changes based on their learnings. They will then have the opportunity to receive feedback from their peers and instructor.
• Format: Synchronous
• Content: Finalization and presentation of capstone projects.
• Activities: Project presentations, peer reviews, final reflections.
Evaluation
• Participation: 30% (discussion forums, webinars, workshops)
• Assignments: 30% (case studies, reflective journals, project implementation plans)
• Capstone Project: 40% (project execution, presentation, peer review)