Student Affairs Assessment Council Minutes
November 27, 2013
Attendance: Jo Alexander, Daniel Cardenas, Maureen Cochran, Kami Hammerschmith, Marigold
Holmes, Lisa Hoogesteger, Jeff Kenney, Pat Ketcham, Carolyn Killefer, Remi Nagata, Juliana Recio, Kent
Sumner, Jennica Vincent
Academic Grit Webcast: Non-Cognitive Factors for Academic Resilience
Chrysanthemum Mattison shared access to a recorded webcast about non-cognitive factors
that positively influence students. The full webcast is 1.5 hours; Maureen showed the first and
last (of 4) sections of the webcast to get an initial reaction from Assessment Council members.
On February 3, 2014, Chrysanthemum has organized an open showing and discussion of the
webcast in its entirety. When a location for this showing has been secured, it will be shared
with the Assessment Council in case any are interested in viewing the entire webcast. If you are
interested in obtaining a copy of the presentation, please contact Chrysanthemum. The
sections shown during this meeting are underlined below and notes on the discussion that
followed can be found beneath each section.
Connecting Non-cognitive Indicators to First Year Student Retention
 How do these types of measures differ from the NSSE?
 Much of this type of development would require 1:1 contact with students. Is this
feasible?
 Students should be involved in the language used if we were to pursue an instrument as
an institution. “Grit,” “character,” “resilience…” What makes the most sense to them?
 What is success? Graduation? Grades? Being a good citizen?
 Council members liked that the webcast presenter highlighted the fact that about 5% of
our energy should be spent on selecting an instrument, whereas, 95% should be spent
on figuring out how we will use the data in a way that is actionable. Where can we
actually make an impact, creating positive change?
 These factors need to become embedded into all of our programming in both Academic
Affairs and the Division of Student Affairs, into the institutional mission. The only way
we can enact these changes in our students would be to make these things central to
our work. A single workshop or series of workshops will not build skills such as these.
 Ideally, these factors would be embedded into K-12 schooling; the development needs
to begin before college.
 Carolyn Killefer introduced the idea of utilizing the Positive Behavioral Interventions &
Supports (PBIS) model (or something of the like), pointing out that not all students
would require the in depth 1:1 support. This model can be seen on the following page,
found on www.pbis.org.
Improving First Year Student Skill Levels
 The group reiterated that this needs to be built into the fabric of what we do.
 They’d like to look beyond the First Year Experience; how can this tool be utilized
throughout one’s college career? What would this look like to transfer, international, or
veteran students?
 If the University moves forward with acquiring an instrument, the Council strongly
recommends taking marginalized groups into consideration, in terms of how valid the
tool is with these populations.
 We should define what success means to us, with the understanding that there are a
variety of definitions out there. Where do our priorities lie?
 We need a better understanding of why students stop-out, which is difficult data to
obtain. Jeff Kenney shared an idea from a previous institution where professionals
would take a day to use the campus phone bank to touch base with students who
stopped attending OSU but did not transfer to another institution.
Next Meeting:
December 11, 2013
9:00 am-10:30 am
MU Council Room