Current roles and responsibilities at the center include:

• Serve as assessment liaison for units within the student affairs division at JMU. This involves developing assessment strategies, overseeing the creation of assessment instruments, data analysis, and report writing.

Courses frequently taught include:

• Structural Equation Modeling
• Multivariate Statistics
• Doctoral Seminar in Consultation

• Ph.D.,  University of Nebraska-Lincoln (2001) 
  Concentration: Quantitative and Qualitative Methods (Statistics & Measurement)
• M.A.,  University of Nebraska-Lincoln (1997) 
  Concentration: Educational Psychology/ Statistics, Measurement, Research Design
• B.A.,  University of Wisconsin-Eau Claire (1994) 
  Concentration: Psychology

Bandalos, D. & Finney, S. J. (in press). Exploratory and confirmatory factor analysis. In G. R. Hancock & R. O. Muller (Eds.), The Reviewer's Guide to Quantitative Methods in the Social Sciences. New York: Taylor & Francis.

Barry, C. L. & Finney, S. J.(in press). Can we be confident in how we measure college confidence? A psychometric investigation of the College Self-efficacy Inventory. Measurement and Evaluation in Counseling and Development.

France, M., Finney, S. J., & Swerdzewski, P. (in press). Students attachment to their university and its members: A construct validity study. Educational & Psychological Measurement.

Thelk, A., Sundre, D.L.,Horst, J. S., & Finney, S. J. (in press). Motivation matters: Using the Student Opinion Scale (SOS) to make valid inferences about student performance. Journal of General Education.

Swerdzewski, P. J., Harmes, J. C., & Finney, S. J. (in press). Skipping the Test: Using empirical evidence to inform policy related to students who avoid taking low-stakes assessment in college. Journal of General Education.

Swerdzewski, P. J., Harmes, J. C., & Finney, S. J. (in press). Examinee motivation filtering in low-stakes testing: Two approaches to identifying data from low-motivated students in an applied assessment context. Applied Measurement in Education.

Barry, C. L. & Finney, S. J. (2009). Does it matter how data are collected? A comparison of testing conditions and the implications for validity. Research & Practice in Assessment, 3, 1-15.

France, M. & Finney, S. J. (2009). What matters in the measurement of mattering? A construct validity study. Measurement & Evaluation in Counseling and Development, 42, 104 – 120.

Kissel, H., Barry, C., Joe, J. & Finney, S. J. (2008). Configural, metric, and scalar invariance of the Modified Achievement Goal Questionnaire across African American and White university students. Educational and Psychological Measurement, 68, 988 –1007.

Cordon, S. L., & Finney, S. J. (2008). Measurement invariance of the Mindful Attention Awareness Scale. Measurement & Evaluation in Counseling and Development, 40, 228 -245.

Baranik, L. E., Barron, K.E., Finney, S. J. (2007). Measuring goal orientation in a work domain: Construct validity evidence for the 2 x 2 framework. Educational and Psychological Measurement, 67, 697-718.

Finney, S. J. (2007). [Review of the book Exploratory and confirmatory factor analysis: Understanding concepts and applications.] Applied Psychological Measurement, 31, 245-¬248.

Horst, S. J., Finney, S. J., & Barron, K. E. (2007). Moving beyond academic achievement goal measures: A study of social achievement goals. Contemporary Educational Psychology, 32, 667 – 698.

Nietfeld, J. L., Finney, S. J., Schraw, G. & McCrudden, M. T. (2007). A test of theoretical models that account for information processing demands. Contemporary Educational Psychology, 32, 499–515.

Davis, S. L., & Finney, S. J. (2006). Examining the psychometric properties of the Cross Cultural Adaptability Inventory. Educational and Psychological Measurement, 66, 318¬-330.

Finney, S. J., & DiStefano, C. (2006). Nonnormal and categorical data in structural equation models. In G.R. Hancock & R.O. Mueller (Eds.). A second course in structural equation modeling (pp. 269 - ¬314). Greenwich, CT: Information Age.

Fairchild, A., & Finney, S. J. (2006). Investigating validity evidence for the Experience in Close Relationships¬ Revised Questionnaire. Educational and Psychological Measurement, 66, 116 – 135.

Fairchild, A., Horst, S. J., Finney, S. J., & Barron, K. E. (2005). Evaluating existing and new validity evidence for the Academic Motivation Scale. Contemporary Educational Psychology, 30, 331- ¬358.

Finney, S. J., Pieper, S., L.. & Barron, K. E. (2004). Examining the psychometric properties of the Achievement Goal Questionnaire in a general academic context. Educational and Psychological Measurement, 64, 365-¬382.

Bandalos, D. L., Finney, S. J., & Geske, J. A. (2003). A model of statistics achievement based on achievement goal theory. Journal of Educational Psychology, 95, 604-¬616.

Finney, S. J., & Schraw, G. J. (2003). Self-efficacy beliefs in college statistics courses. Contemporary Educational Psychology, 28, 161 – 186.

Bandalos, D. L., & Finney, S. J. (2001). Item parceling issues in structural equation modeling. In G. A. Marcoulides & R. E. Shumaker (Eds.) Advanced structural equation modeling: New developments and techniques. Mahwah, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates.

Wise, S. L., Finney, S. J., Enders, C. K., Freeman, S. A., & Severance, D. D. (1999). Examinee judgments of changes in item difficulty: Implications for item review in computerized adaptive testing. Applied Measurement in Education, 12, 185-198