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
|
