Selected Contemporary Assessment Issues

From the Editor As demands for accountability escalate, assessment continues to evolve as a central aspect of student aff airs administration. Experience clearly indicates that without a robust portfolio of assessment activities, the services, programs, and activities of a student affairs division are at risk of being reassigned to other organizational units on campus-or, in a tight budgetary environment, being eliminated. This sourcebook is designed to complement existing literature by reminding student affairs educators of the importance of developing an assessment program and by exploring topics that will add depth and richness to such a program. The authors address topics ranging in breadth from specific metrics to strategies for developing collaborative activities involving academic and student affairs. They show how to integrate valuable resources into the assessment process and how to use that process to enhance the student experience, and they take the largest view, offering advice on developing an institutional culture of assessment. Finally, their collective experience and wisdom is brought to bear on planning future actions that will best serve students during their collegiate years.