You Matter Personal Growth Series Using Assessment to Facilitate Student Learning

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You Matter! Personal Growth Series Using
Assessment to Facilitate Student Learning

• Erica Lake, Associate Director of Greek Life
• Rachel Marsh, Graduate Assistant
• University of South Carolina
• May 14, 2008
• www.sa.sc.edu/greeklife

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Mission Statement

• Greek letter organizations at the University of
  South Carolina are recognized for the purposes of
  providing students a small group living and
  learning experience facilitating maturational
  growth in the areas of scholarship, personal and
  leadership development, campus and community
  service involvement, and the clarification of
  values.The Office of Greek Life serves as a
  liaison among the collegiate chapters, parents,
  alumni, national and international organizations,
  and the University of South Carolina to provide
  educational programs, services, and resources
  toward holistic growth and to support the ideals
  of fraternity by challenging members to live by
  their purposes.

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Goals

• Participants will learn what the AFA/EBI
  Assessment is and what it measures
• Participants will learn about the development and
  implementation of the You Matter! Personal Growth
  Series
• Participants will learn the results from
  immediate assessment of the program via Survey
  Monkey
• Participants will learn the plans for future of
  the You Matter! Personal Growth Series

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 AFA/EBI Assessment

• Association of Fraternity Advisors/Educational
  Benchmarking Inc.
• Satisfaction/Perception Survey
• Spring 2006
• Attempted to survey 2360
• 1383 surveys were returned
• 59 response rate (502 Fraternity, 873 Sorority)
• Paper surveys
• Weekly chapter meeting
• Incentives were used
• Other functional areas of the assessment
  Housing, Campus Activities, First-Year Programs,
  etc.

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Analysis

• Three-fold analysis
• Self-assessment of Greek Life program on students
• Comparative assessment reference against
  differences of members opinions and opinions of
  members from the select 6 Carnegie Class
• (Texas Tech, Auburn, Bowling Green, Univ. of
  Arizona, Univ. of Central Florida, University of
  Oklahoma must participate in the same year)
• Continuous assessment comparison of
  longitudinal results to measure improvements

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Assessment

• Questions were grouped in 15 areas called factors
• Topics included
• Demographic information
• Interpersonal
• Academic
• Self-Awareness
• Personal Development
• Leadership
• Greek Life Office
• Programming
• Housing
• Career Development
• Alumni Involvement
• Alcohol consumption

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Priority Matrix

• Impact of the Overall Program Effectiveness
• Maintain Low Impact, High Performance
• Monitor Low Impact, Low Performance
• Maintain/Improve High Impact, High Performance
• Top Priority High Impact, Low Performance
• Data-Driven Decision Making development of the
  program

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You Matter! Learning Outcomes

• Students will learn information about Personal
  Growth Topics which include Academic Success,
  Career Development, Social Skill Development,
  Self-discipline, Community Service, Low Risk
  Drinking, and Diversity
• Students will receive resources about services
  available to them as students at the University
  of South Carolina
• Students and student leaders will be provided an
  open forum to ask questions and have contact with
  the Office of Greek Life staff (initiate a
  relationship hence the name You Matter!)

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What is the Personal Growth Series?

• In an effort to help students grow personally in
  the areas of Academic Success, Career
  Development, Social Skills, Self Discipline,
  Community Service and Responsible Drinking, the
  Office of Greek Life is introducing the new
  Personal Growth Series starting this fall
  semester. Feedback
• from USC Greeks in the Association of Fraternity
  Advisors (AFA)/EBI Assessment helped us to
  identify needs that students in the Greek
  community expected from their Greek experience
  and our office. This intentional Personal Growth
  initiative will feature a monthly E-Newsletter on
  a specific topic to all Greek students via email.
  Each week student's will receive a "Tip of the
  Week" regarding the featured topic for the month.
• The office will also sponsor a Business
  Etiquette Dinner to help students prepare for the
  job search and interviews. We hope that you will
  benefit from this new initiative and look forward
  to helping you grow through
• your Greek experience! Erica Lake Associate
  Director of Greek Life

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First Steps for Implementation

• Assigning Topics for Months
• Method for Communication
• Monthly E-Newsletters
• Weekly Supplemental Tips and Resources
• When
• Newsletter first Monday of each month
• Weekly tips each Monday

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Newsletter Layout

• Original Content Ideas
• Cover Page
• Article(s) on monthly topic
• Left side column have a calendar of Greek
  campus events for that month
• Second Page
• Campus Resources
• Ideas to Implement
• Chapter Spotlight
• Reality Adapted Content for Each Month

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Newsletter Distribution

• E-mailed over Greek Life listserv, in the content
  of e-mail
• Posted as a link to our Greek Life website
• October, started handing out hard copies to
  chapter Presidents

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Weekly E-Mails

• Sent articles or resources that supplemented the
  months theme
• - Members of the USC Greek Community
• Take a few minutes to click the link below
  and test your knowledge on historically Black
  Greek organizations. 
• http//www.surveymonkey.com/s.aspx?smmyrze0cS8i7
  lIGN7mrIPQA_3d_3d
• Consistent message at end of e-mail that
  connected them to the newsletter
• This information is brought to you by the Office
  of Greek Life as part of the You Matter! Personal
  Growth Series. Don't forget to check out this
  month's edition of the You Matter! newsletter by
  clicking the link below. Have a safe and
  productive week! http//www.sa.sc.edu/greeklife/do
  cs/PGfeb.pdf

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Assessing our Work

• Created an on-line survey about the You Matter!
  Personal Growth Series
• E-mailed link out last two weeks of school year
• As of May 8 had 65 responses

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Feedback from Students

• 95.4 received the newsletter via e-mail
• 65.6 reported that their Presidents hung the
  newsletter in their house or passed it around
  chapter
• 35.4 report sometimes, and 32.3 report rarely
  reading the newsletter

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Feedback Cont.

• Relevance of each months topic to their college
  experience
• Very Relevant Low Risk Drinking, Stress Time
  Management, Student Engagement
• Relevant Community Service, Academic Success,
  Career Development
• For every topic 54.5-68.6 reported that the
  information in the newsletter somewhat increased
  their knowledge on the specific topic

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Feedback Cont.

• 50.8 think that the emailed newsletters were an
  effective way to communicate the information to
  the Greek Community
• 57.1 report that they do not read the weekly
  information sent
• 52.4 believe the weekly supplement emails are
  somewhat beneficial

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Feedback Cont.

• Interest in attending workshops or sessions on
  various topics.
• Very Interested Cooking classes, Yoga/Exercise
  Workshops
• Somewhat Interested Leadership Development,
  Community Service, Career Development, Student
  Engagement, Peer Leadership, Conflict Management
  Skills

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Feedback Cont.

• Suggestions on how to educate the Greek Community
• Multiple contributors
• Make the stories more interesting and more geared
  towards our campus. More stories written by
  students we know, personal experiences.
• Make more of a personal effort

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Now What?

• Other ways to get messages across
• Monthly educational sessions (more personal)
• Template of the newsletter
• Reconsider weekly e-mails
• Increase student and chapter involvement
• Reaching out to other constituents
• Continue to increase the knowledge out about
  campus resources for students

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Future Assessment

• Second round of AFA/EBI launched Spring 2008
• Attempted to survey 1500, 900 were returned
• 31 of the Greek community surveyed
• Evaluate trends and measure improvement
• Six Benchmark Schools Clemson, Colorado State,
  Vanderbilt, Ole Miss, Univ. of Central FL and
  Duke
• Use results to help student plan and set goals
  for their chapters
• Utilize results to provide guidance with
  programming

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Value of Assessment

• Confirms effectiveness or ineffectiveness of
  programs and/or services
• Provides credibility and rationale for programs
• Helps to prioritize and establish goals
• Provides opportunities for intentional
  conversations with students

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Questions/Comments

• Erica Lake erlake_at_mailbox.sc.edu
• Rachel Marsh Marshrw_at_mailbox.sc.edu
• www.sa.sc.edu/greeklife