Assessing student support services: design and implementation of student support services assessment for tribal colleges

Student support services assessment is a valuable component of research for all tribal colleges.
The data that is gathered by an assessment tool designed to meet the specific needs of the college’s
students and provide essential information for program improvements needed to ensure that the college
meets the academic and nonacademic needs of its students. Although assessment in the areas of
academics has been an essential part of the college’s process to demonstrate institutional effectiveness,
the assessment of student support services programs is fairly new. Student support services serves a
crucial role in providing a holistic picture of student learning.
In order to gather baseline data and begin the process of student support services assessment,
the institution must identify the best practices it currently utilizes to support students outside of the
classroom. Although examining the best practices is an essential part of the process, additional parts of
developing a well-rounded assessment plan will include: reviewing the structure of student support
services at other institutions, implementing a data team, developing mission statements and goals
specific to the student support services area, creating student learning objectives that are measurable,
creating a tool that meets the needs of the institution, and a well-organized plan for data collection and
reporting.
The product created in this dissertation utilizes the best practices in assessment to create a guide
for assessing student support services at Saginaw Chippewa Tribal College. By using the current
literature that supports assessment and meeting with a variety of leaders on campus, the author
developed an assessment guide with the mission and purpose of tribal college students in mind. This
assessment guide will be used for internal improvements at the Saginaw Chippewa Tribal College, and
the data collected during the process will be utilized for accreditation purposes.