Q. How do you evaluate your Center or program?

A. Although there are many ways in which student services units may be evaluated, most institutions rely on the CAS Standards - the standards developed by the Council for the Advancement of Standards in Higher Education."The CAS standards promote connections between the life of the mind and the life of the student, especially as the standards support the responsibility leaders in higher education have as advocates for educating the whole student" (CAS: The Book of Professional Standards for Higher Education, 1997, p. v).

LGBT Campus Resource Centers and Offices provide student services and student development programs, offer campus-wide support, and work to systematically and creatively offer opportunities for growth for entire institutions. It is important that we have recognized standards by which to assess and improve our service provision. These standards must be consistent with those of the other service provision units in Student Affairs. It is not only in practice that such standards are necessary but also in the preparation and curriculum development as we teach graduate students how to do this work.

The National Consortium believes that our LGBT Campus Resource Centers hold significant commonality and responsibility with other Student Affairs units. We wish to see the reflection of good and best program practices in our specific area as is expected of each currently recognized CAS functional area. To that end the Consortium became a member of CAS and developed the standards for our profession. The standards were reviewed by the CAS committee and then approved by the CAS Board. Using the current CAS Standards format, we can assess our Centers and programs in the follow content categories: the role of LGBT Centers; mission; programs; leadership; organization and management; human resources; financial resources; facilities, technology, and equipment; legal responsibilities; equal opportunity, access, and affirmative action; campus and community relations; diversity; ethics; and assessment and evaluation.

The final version of these CAS standards is available. Order the LGBT Programs Self-Assessment Guide online for $15. These are also contained in and are available for purchase from CAS in the CAS Blue Book ($35) and Self-Assessment Guides on CD ROM ($125) or in a 3-ring binder ($125)

Submitted by Ronni Sanlo. Dr. Sanlo may be reached at sanlo@ucla.edu

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