Running head: ASSESSMENT PLAN

Veteran and Military Student Center Assessment Plan

Mike Farrell
SAA 7640
October 11, 2014
Dr. DuVivier
Wright State University

ASSESSMENT PLAN

Veteran and Military Student Center Assessment Plan

This assessment plan is designed with the intention of measuring the satisfaction of
veteran and military-connected students with the amenities, procedures, and processes of the new
Military and Veteran Student Center at Wright State University and identifying improvements
that can be made to enhance their satisfaction and better meet their needs.
Environmental Scan
The veteran student population on higher education campuses is growing quickly. Over
two millions veterans are expected to use educational benefits from Veterans Affairs by the end
of this decade (Jones, 2013). However, research shows that many members of this population
face an array of obstacles on their path towards earning a college degree that they must
overcome. These obstacles include, but are not limited to, the lack of a sense of belonging due to
differences in age and life experiences compared to the typical student they are taking classes
with, a feeling of unpreparedness due to either not being in the formal learning environment in
many years or a perception of not having a well-developed academic skill set, or possible mental
and physical issues as a result of combat (Boodman, 2011; Jones, 2013; Lighthall, 2012). Due to
these factors, among others, graduation and persistence rates for these students have historically
been low. As more veterans separate from the military and enroll in school, universities and
government organizations have looked for way to better serve prior military members and to help
them graduate. What these institutions have found is that veteran specific centers that offer onestop shop services such as; educational benefit counseling and processing, tutoring, networking
opportunities, community engagement, and physical space for the purpose of studying, relaxing,
and collaborating with peers, provides these students with the help they need and can lead to
higher rates of persistence and degree attainment. They are a place where students can find a

ASSESSMENT PLAN

sense of belonging by meeting other students that were part of the military family and consider it
a place where they feel comfortable and safe. Many of the staff members are typically exmilitary themselves or have family military connections. Veterans trust these staff members and
are willing to go to them for help when needed. An added benefit of these types of centers is they
help not only the targeted students but also the college environment, and the surrounding
community, as a whole. As the veterans feel more connected to the university, and have a sense
of belonging, they become more active on campus and in the community and put their leadership
skills to use by continuing to serve others around them as they once did in the military
(American Council on Education, 2011; Veteran Students of America, 2011). The benefits of a
one-stop center will only be realized, however, if students are pleased with the environment of
the center, and all of it amenities, and if its operations and programs are run effectively. If it is
not, it is unlikely that students will make use of the facilities and the programming that the center
offers will have low participation. The risk of losing students who deserve all the resources that
they need to reach their educational goals, along with the scarce monetary resources used for the
center, are too great to allow this to happen. Assessments must be done to ensure that it is
meeting the needs of the students and that the Veteran and Military Center is having the impact
that it was created to have.
Stakeholders
There are many groups that will have a stake in the reporting of the assessment findings.
To begin with, the students themselves are the primary stakeholders in this assessment. This
group has the most to gain from an assessment on the facilities they use. The data will be used to
directly benefit them by using it to improve the Center as indicated in the findings. The hope will

ASSESSMENT PLAN

be that they are pleased and will identify anything that they think needs to be improved and offer
suggestions on how to make it better.
The second most obvious stakeholder is the Veteran and Military Center and its staff.
Much financial, political, and mental capital has been spent on the creation and implementation
of the Center and the staff will want to ensure that it is delivering on its lofty promises to the
students, university, and community. The data will be used to validate the Centers practices and
offered amenities and adjust as necessary to meet student demands.
Wright State Universitys Executive Vice President for Planning, and Secretary to the
Board of Trustees, Dr. Robert Sweeney, will also have a stake in the findings. Dr. Sweeney has
been a champion of the Veteran and Military Center cause and has seen fit to allocate the funds
that were necessary to build and staff the center. He will want to know how the Center is being
received by the students and if the universitys investment is paying dividends.
Private and community donors may also be interested in the data to know that their
money is being put to good use or will be in the future. The Center has great relations with
various organizations in the Dayton area and is currently working on creating sponsorships in the
Center. These people will want to know that the center is being used by the students and that
they will be helping veterans in a tangible way.
Depending upon the findings of the assessment, other departments on campus may also
be stakeholders. This includes offices such as career services, financial aid, advisors in the
colleges, or others if they are identified in the assessment as a service they would like the Center
to provide or have programming with. The information should be shared with these interested
parties as needed.

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5
Collaborators and Resources

There are various potential collaborators and resources to use in the course of this
assessment. Those that will be used include; staff members to help collect data; veteran students
to fill out surveys and participate in focus groups; computer software to collect data on who is
using the Center by monitoring electronic card swipes at the point of entry, and various surveys
that were used in similar assessments at other universities but modified to fit Wright States
Center. In the future it will be be beneficial to collaborate with other offices, such as those
mentioned above as possible stakeholders, but for the purpose of this assessment it will not be
considered as the main focus is on the Veteran Center and not other organizations. If the data
shows that veterans would like other departments to start offering certain services or
programming it would then be a good idea to begin collaborating on implementation or further
assessment to determine an appropriate course of action. Statistical consultants could also be
used in the future, and would likely be very beneficial, but for the purpose and scope of this
assessment the investment is not deemed necessary.
Assessment Objective
The objective of this assessment is that forty percent of students who participate in the
survey or focus group will offer suggestions on how the Veteran and Military Student Center can
better meet their needs on campus.
Data Collection
The data generated from this assessment will be used to identify areas that the Center can
make improvements to that will result in the space being more attractive and beneficial for
students to use. Specifically, the staff will want to use it to improve the overall environment of
the facilities, validate or add to the amenities that are offered, enhance policies and processes to

ASSESSMENT PLAN

be more streamlined and efficient, and begin development and implementation of in-house
programming or services.
Due to the objective, and the intended use of the data, the data being collected will need
to be of both the qualitative and quantitative type. Quantitative data will be collected to
determine the amount of people who believe any change should be made in the Center to areas
such as environment, amenities, processes, and more. Data of this nature will also be able to
identify the actual changes that should be made or specific amenities or services that they believe
should be offered. This quantitative Qualitative data will then be generated to investigate the
quantitative data more in depth to determine student true needs. Specifically, the gathering of
specific ideas about specific changes that should be made with details and to have a better
understanding of the true reason why students want changes to occur. Complex solutions can
also be explored through the use of qualitative methods.
Methods
The assessments methods to be employed are surveys and focus groups. These two
methods were selected after being deemed the most appropriate for achieving the intended
objective of the assessment, meeting time and budget constraints, reaching a sufficient amount of
the intended audience, and for reporting needs and data use.
A survey, distributed through email to all veteran and military connected students at
Wright State and with hardcopies available in the Center, will generate the needed quantitative
data as discussed above. This method is fairly time friendly as it allows for a quick tally of
responses. A survey also has the capability of reaching the broadest audience as possible and the
quantitative nature of it will allow the results to be generalized to the veteran population overall.
A survey will meet the intended objective by identifying what needs to be changed and ideas of

ASSESSMENT PLAN

specific changes that can be made. Other institutions of higher learning, such as the University of
Arizona (2012), have used surveys in the past to determine the need for programming and
services geared towards veteran students on their campus to great success. Their initial needs
assessment lead to the creation of a Center and a subsequent online needs assessment survey led
to improvements being made in the office.
The focus group is to be used as the follow-up to the results of the survey and is
the source of the qualitative data being generated to meet the objective of the assessment. After
the results of the survey are tallied and analyzed, questions will be generated that will be used to
investigate requested changes and suggestions more in-depth in a group setting. The small group
interviews, consisting of participants that indicated they would like changes to be made, will
allow those conducting the assessment to determine the actual need for changes, over wants, and
to investigate more complex ideas and solutions that a survey would not be able to achieve.
Additionally, it allows for questions to be asked that were not originally planned because some
responses are unforeseeable but worth further exploration.
Implementation Plan
The chart below will be used as guidance for implementing the assessment plan.
Implementation Plan
Deadline

Action Item

Details

Sept 30

Literature Review

October 7

Assessment Goals and

Objective

1. Research relevant literature

and environmental scan
2. Write review of materials
for justification of assessment
1. What is the assessment
designed to achieve?
2. What will the data be used
for?

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October 11

Method Selection

October 21

Resource Collection

October 25

Resource Creation

October 28- November 11

Survey Distribute and

Collection

November 15

Data Analysis

November 21

Focus Group Material

Creation and Participant
Selection

December 5

Focus Group Facilitation

December 12

Data Analysis

December 19

Report Findings

1. Research methods that

match objective, use, time,
budget, needs, reporting, and
audience.
1. Investigate already existing
materials that may help in
implementation of assessment
to include other schools
1. What is still needed to
conduct assessment?
2. Collaborate and check with
other on creation of surveys,
questions, etc.
1. Email surveys to intended
audience and place in Center
for people to fill out by hand.
2. Tabulate incoming data
over the course of collection
3. Send out reminder emails as
needed
1. Finish tabulation of survey
data.
2. Consult with statisticians as
needed.
3. Write analysis
1. Create questions for further
exploration based off survey
results
2. Email and call potential
participants.
3. Find co-facilitator
1. Meet with focus group and
conduct meeting
1. Analyze data from survey
and focus group as a whole.
1. Write report of findings and
distribute to stakeholders and
other interested parties as
needed.

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9
Reporting Plan

The findings of the assessment will be reported to all stakeholders identified in this plan.
Students will be emailed a copy of the executive summary of the report to be made aware of the
results and of recommendations for improvement. It is important that the Center has transparency
and that the veteran population knows that the staff is dedicated to making the Center the best
place on campus for them and that it is constantly looking for ways to improve the services that
are being offered. Students will be able to request a full version of the report if they contact the
Center. The Director of the Veteran and Military Center will be given a report in the form of an
executive summary as well as an entire package of the results. The director will use this
information to guide the efforts of the Center and take the necessary steps to make the changes
that are needed. The Director will pass the executive summary on to other interested parties such
as the Vice President, community partner, and other campus departments as needed. The Vice
President will possibly use this report to validate student needs and make budgetary decisions
relating to veterans issues. It is hoped that the findings of the assessment will also result in
sponsorship of the Center and increased funding by outside agencies and organizations. It is also
hoped that other departments that offer services that are needed by veterans will use the report as
motivation to begin collaborations with the Center.
.

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10
References

American Council on Education (2010). Ensuring success for returning veterans. Retrieved
from http://www.acenet.edu/news-room/Documents/Ensuring-Success-for-ReturningVeterans.pdf
Boodman, S.G. (2011, November 28). Veterans find that their transition from combat to college
can be difficult. The Washington Post. Retrieved from
http://articles.washingtonpost.com/2011-11-28/national/35283175_1_student-veteransvietnam-veterans-traumatic-brain-injury
Bresciani, M., Gardner, M., & Hickmott, J. (2009). Demonstrating student success: A practical
guide to outcomes-based assessment of learning and development in student affairs.
Sterling, Va.: Stylus.
Jones, K. C. (2013). Understanding student veterans in transition. Qualitative Report, 18(37), 114.
Lighthall, A. (2012). Ten things you should know about today's student veteran. Thought &
Action, 28, 80-89.
Student Veterans of America (2010). Veterans center handbook. Retrieved from
https://deanofstudents.unc.edu/sites/deanofstudents.unc.edu/files/SVA%20%20Veterans%20Center%20Handbook%20for%20Institutions.pdf
The University of Arizona (2012). Student veterans needs assessment survey. Retrieved from
https://studentaffairs.arizona.edu/assessment/documents/VETS_Needs7-2012FINAL.pdf
Upcraft, M., & Schuh, J. (1996). Assessment in student affairs: A guide for practitioners. San
Francisco: Jossey-Bass.