Consultations will be scheduled by clicking the button below. Meetings can be in person or virtual, depending on your preference.
SASS provides free assessment consultation services to student affairs professionals at JMU involved in assessing student learning and development as a function of intentional programming. We provide a maximum of 1 hour per week of free consulting - either by email or appointment. Please review the information on this page prior to scheduling a consultation appointment. To enter the scheduling website click "Schedule an Appointment" below:
The first time you visit the site, you will be asked to create an account. Once your account has been created, you will be able to view the SASS consultation calendar and book an available time with any of our consultants.
Consultation Services Provided
- Techniques for writing learning or developmental objectives that are student focused, reasonable, & measurable
- Techniques for creating program-to-objective maps
- Strategies for locating and selecting an appropriate instrument focused on learning or developmental outcomes
- Strategies for collecting validity evidence
- Item writing techniques
- Strategies for developing rubrics
- Feedback on items written by student affairs professionals to measure student learning outcomes
- Feedback on data collection designs
- Strategies for data entry
- Strategies for measuring and assessing implementation fidelity
- Quantitative data analysis
- Basic interpretations of statistical results for clients to include in a report
Consultation Services NOT Provided
- Report writing (see guide to reporting results here)
- Framing questions of interest or determining importance of program objectives
- Assistance with program theory or curriculum development (contact CFI for support)
- Writing items aimed to measure program objectives
- Implementation of program interventions
- Collection of data for program assessment
- Data entry or transcriptions
- Qualitative data analysis
- Support developing (or analyzing data from) satisfaction surveys or needs/use assessments
(unsure whether your assessment falls under one of these categories? Check out this video) - Presenting assessment results to stakeholders
- Professional development workshops (workshops are available on request, but are not part of our consulting services; please email finneysj@jmu.edu if you would like to request a workshop)
Before Your Appointment
- Educational materials, examples, and videos have been created to support your assessment work. We strongly recommend working through these materials prior to your appointment, as SASS consultants will likely refer back to these resources.
- Attach all necessary files/documents to the appointment form in the scheduling system.
- For a virtual meeting, you will be sent a link to your meeting from your consultant after scheduling the meeting. For an in-person meeting, your consultant will meet you in the lobby of Lakeview Hall and walk you to the meeting room.
Need Support with Program Development?
The Center for Faculty Innovation provides comprehensive professional development opportunities for JMU faculty and staff at all levels and stages of their careers. CFI consultants are happy to support the work of professionals in the Division of Student Affairs as they articulate the logic of their programming (i.e., why the programming should theoretically impact student learning and development). The CFI “Teaching Programs” may be particularly helpful when student affairs professionals begin the process of creating programming. The Teaching Programs are designed to make progress towards the following outcomes:
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- Integrating knowledge of student development models in practice;
- Appreciating pedagogy—the art and science of teaching and learning—as a significant higher education endeavor;
- Creating programming that supports higher-level learning (deep learning);
- Designing and offering programming that aligns learning objectives, assessment, and learning activities;
- Articulating how current pedagogical choices reflect disciplinary norms.
Wonderful resources such as Teaching Toolbox are also available to support the articulation of the program logic or theoretical basis that explains why the programming should impact stated outcomes: https://www.jmu.edu/cfi/teaching/other/teaching-toolbox.shtml.
