Graduates should be able to design and implement high quality and multi-faceted student programs which enhance student learning and personal development. Specifically, students should be able to demonstrate:
- the skills necessary in conducting accurate needs assessment;
- an understanding of the dynamics involved in student learning in the co-curriculum;
- the ability to write program mission statements and to articulate desired student learning outcomes;
- the ability to design and implement creative and effective student programs.
Jump to Evaluation and Assessment
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Wilderness Orientation at Azusa Pacific University began in July 2008 and at that time I was privileged to be on the trip as one of three guides. Last year, July 2009, I was honored to plan and once again guide the trip. The trip is designed for incoming freshmen students and provides an opportunity for them to make friends and become familiar with staff members before arriving for orientation in August. As a student affairs professional, I was able to design a unique opportunity for students to get involved prior to starting their journey at APU. The hope is that by engaging students early they will remain more deeply connected to APU and seek out additional opportunities for involvement and growth (Berman & Berman, 1996; Gass, 1987; & Gass, Garvey & Sugerman, 2003).
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Fall 2009 Schedule, Spring 2010 Schedule
At High Sierra, student leaders arrive on campus one week early for training and to spend time preparing for the arrival of their peers. Training is arguably one of the most important resources available to these leaders. One of my first goals, after being hired as the Residence Director for High Sierra, was to overhaul the training offered to student leaders. The hope was to create a week-long training program that was meaningful, informative, fun, community building (Ewert, 1992) and would serve to help set the tone for the semester. In order to accomplish this goal, I first wrote out learning outcomes and then created a schedule of activities and trainings that would meet these goals. Attached are copies of the Fall 2009 and Spring 2010 training schedules along with copies of their student learning outcomes.
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Ender and Newton (2000) suggest that all groups progress through a series of five stages as they develop; entering, sorting, cohesiveness, working and renewal. As a small community, High Sierra students move through each of these five stages over the course of a semester. In order to promote movement through these stages and help foster understanding of group development, my student leaders and I hold monthly community meetings. These meetings are designed to help address the challenges or joys of each stage. They are also a means through which I can challenge my student leaders to play active roles in developing community. One of the first community meetings is devoted to developing a community charter that the community will revisit in subsequent meetings. Attached is a community charter from the Spring 2010 semester.
