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2014 Learning Conference

SUSTAINED DIALOGUE

Campus Inclusion and Community
Lesley-Ann Brown and Jazzy Johnson
Sustained Dialogue (SD) is a program that creates an opportunity for students to dialogue across difference. SD groups range from 8 – 15 students and meet weekly for 90 minutes for an entire quarter. This assessment project explored what students learn about themselves, others, and the Northwestern community as a result of participating in SD.

PROJECT WILDCAT – A POWERFUL LEARNING EXPERIENCE

Center for Student Involvement
John Huston and Jason HansonProject Wildcat is an eight-day hiking and backpacking trip for new students, which occurs just before Wildcat Welcome. This assessment project explores what students learn about themselves, others, and Northwestern through this unique experience.

SUICIDE PREVENTION GATEKEEPER TRAINING

QPR: QUESTION, PERSUADE, REFER
Counseling and Psychological Services
John Dunkle, Courtney Albinson, and Monika Gutkowska
The QPR assessment project explores what students, faculty, and staff learn as a result of participation in a gatekeeper training program for suicide prevention for undergraduate and graduate/professional students. The project included pre- and post-test measures of awareness of basic knowledge related to suicide prevention, confidence and willingness to ask someone about suicide, ability to effectively ask someone about suicide, persuade to get help, and knowledge of national and Northwestern University referral resources.

LEARNING THROUGH THE COUNSELING EXPERIENCE

Counseling and Psychological Services
John Dunkle
In 2013 – 2014, Counseling and Psychological Services CAPS) revised the quarterly satisfaction survey sent to all students who received services through CAPS to include several questions about learning. These questions—both quantitative and open-ended—are linked to the CAPS department learning outcomes.

LEARNING THROUGH GREEK EMERGING LEADERS

Fraternity and Sorority Life
Karen Pryor
In our assessment project, we sought to determine how participation in one, all-female Panhellenic section of the Greek Emerging Leaders program impacted students’ ability to reflect on and articulate their personal leadership style and how the course influenced their confidence in their own leadership abilities.

BASICS PROVIDER GRADUATE INTERN TRAINING AT HPAW

Health Promotion and Wellness
Lisa Currie and Angela Mitchell
The BASICS Provider Training assessment project explored what graduate social work interns learned as a result of participation in the BASICS Delivery Protocol Training and the implementation of their skills through delivery of BASICS interventions with Northwestern students.

RED WATCH BAND TRAINING

Health Promotion and Wellness
Lisa Currie
The Red Watch Band Training assessment project explored what students learn as a result of participation in an alcohol bystander intervention training program, including the ability to identify symptoms and positive helping behaviors for alcohol overdose symptoms.

LEARNING ASSOCIATED WITH ENGAGEMENT IN MSA

Multicultural Student Affairs
Charles Kellom
In the spring quarter of 2014, each of the four departments within Multicultural Student Affairs (MSA) (African American Student Affairs, Asian/Asian American Student Affairs, Hispanic/Latino Student Affairs, and the Gender & Sexuality Resource Center) launched separate surveys, gathering data to better understand the level of student engagement with each department and to begin to assess what students learn as a result of that engagement.

NEW STUDENT EXPERIENCE RETREAT

New Student and Family Programs
Josh McKenzie
The inaugural New Student Experience Retreat was held in April/May 2014. The retreat brought together nearly all student leaders who work with new students prior to the start of fall quarter classes. The goal of the retreat was to create a common core of training sessions and development.

NORRIS STUDENT EMPLOYEE LEARNING ASSESSMENT

Norris University Center
Amy White and Jasper Pierson
The Norris University Center employs over 200 students in areas such as marketing, operations, recreation, administration, and financial services. This assessment project, the first year of a longitudinal study, identified students’ learning at the end of their first year of employment through the use of early employment interviews and an end of the year survey.

FRIENDSHIP MISSION TRIP TO EL SALVADOR

Religious Life
Eric Budzynski and Jackie Marquez
The Spring Break Friendship Mission Trip to El Salvador was the focus of the student learning assessment project in Religious Life. The goal was to measure what students learn about the political, social, economic, religious aspects and increased globalization of life in El Salvador.

TRAINING COMMUNITY ASSISTANTS TO RESPOND AND INTERVENE

Residential Services
Cassie Eskridge, Tiffany Gonzales, Paul Hubinsky, and Brad Zakarin
Residential Services encourages students to develop deeper senses of personal responsibility and empathy that promotes a sense of community. The Community Assistant (CA) role and its associated training are critical to these outcomes because CAs are student leaders who represent Residential Services in residence halls on a daily basis.

HOW DOES INVOLVEMENT WITH ACCESSIBLENU IMPACT STUDENTS’ METACOGNITION AND SELF-ADVOCACY?

AccessibleNU (formerly SSD)
Alison L. May
Struck by the similarity between SSD’s department’s learning outcomes and those of other disability service offices (which were independently formulated), our assessment project sought to answer one question: Are students truly learning what we purport they are (our department learning outcomes) through their involvement with SSD?

LEARNING THROUGH THE STUDENT CONDUCT PROCESS

Student Conduct and Conflict Resolution
Lance Watson
The Office of Student Conduct and Conflict Resolution’s main responsibility is to resolve student conduct that is inconsistent with the community values and expectations for individuals and organizations. This assessment project explored the learning/development at Northwestern that takes place through the conduct resolution process.

SAIT STUDENT LEARNING

Student Affairs Information Technology
Mary Carp, David Gundrum, and Harry Seong
Student Affairs Information Technology assessed the acquisition of problem-solving, technical, customer service, and teamwork skills gained by student employees through training and on-the-job experience. Student workers in SAIT completed a survey at the end of the academic year that asked them to reflect on their abilities in these four categories both at the beginning of their employment and at the time of the survey.

EXPLORING LEARNING IN MOCK INTERVIEWS

Northwestern Career Advancement (NCA) (formerly University Career Services)
Maggie Heffernan, Brett Boettcher, and Larry Jackson
University Career Services offers mock interview services to students as an opportunity to develop and enhance professional interviewing skills, practice interviewing techniques in a safe space, get feedback on interview skills, and gain confidence about interviewing. This assessment project explored the learning that occurs through the mock interview process and the effectiveness of specific teaching methods.

LEARNING THROUGH “DEEP INVOLVEMENT”

Northwestern Career Advancement (NCA) (formerly University Career Services)
Mark Presnell
On the Six Month Survey of the Class of 2013, 88% of recent Northwestern graduates reported that they had been “deeply” involved in one or more student organizations, clubs, or varsity athletics as an undergraduate. What happened when they were asked to reflect on what they learned from their “deep involvement”? The result was 42 pages (single spaced in 10-pont font) of powerful reflections about learning outside the classroom.

PRESCRIPTION COUNSELING & HEALTHCARE CONSUMERISM FOR PHARMACY SERVICES

University Health Service – Evanston
Amber Parish and Brian Druley
The Health Service Pharmacy assessed the knowledge acquired by students who were provided counseling by the pharmacist related to their personal prescription medication(s). The goal of this brief counseling session is to improve students’ management and understanding of personal health and wellness needs.

LEARNING THROUGH THE HEALTH SERVICE EXPERIENCE

University Health Service
Brian Druley
In 2013 – 2014, the University Health Service (UHS) revised the quarterly satisfaction survey (i.e., now the Patient Satisfaction and Learning Inventory) sent to all students who received healthcare services through UHS to include several questions about learning.