Each cycle, SAIRO identifies departmental “Assessment All Stars” based on their outcomes from the annual assessment process reported in the Planning Tool. We are pleased to announce that the Graduate Writing Center, Recreation, and Counseling and Psychological Services are the recipients of the 2021 honors. Read below for an overview of their work and the impact of assessment on their department.
Graduate Writing Center
Outcome Assessed
Graduate students will develop the navigational capital to readily access support resources and maximize the potential of their academic programs.
What did they do?
The Graduate Student Resource Center (GSRC) collected user data for their Graduate Writing Center (GWC) and compared the proportion of users belonging to various groups to the proportion of those groups in the total number of graduate and professional degree students. Using this method, the GWC was able to identify which populations underutilized their services. They compared schools and divisions, masters and doctoral students, domestic and international students, students from different races or ethnicities, and students from different gender identities.
What did they find?
- Students from Law, Management, and Engineering under-utilize GWC services.
- Master’s students under-utilize GWC services even when accounting for the intended audience of each service. For instance, Master’s students under-utilize thesis programs which are primarily designed for doctoral students, but they also under-utilize workshops – programs which are designed for all graduate and professional degree students.
- International students are over-represented among GWC users overall but under-utilize dissertation programs specifically. However, international student usage dropped substantially during the 2020-2021 global pandemic.
- Students of color were represented at similar or higher rates when compared to their representation in the graduate and professional student population.
- Graduate students who identify as female are overrepresented among GWC users, and gender nonconforming students are also overrepresented.
These findings provide evidence that GWC is providing equitable access to under-served and historically under-represented populations.
How will they use the findings?
GWC will seek ways to outreach to departments that under-utilize their services as well as Master’s students. GWC will also continue to monitor international student usage as campus reopens. In the future, they will also track first generation student usage in a similar manner as this is a category of recent interest.
Why was the project chosen as an Assessment All Star?
This project demonstrates how departments in Student Affairs can incorporate equity considerations into their assessment projects. Disaggregating data by different groups of interest can lead to an understanding of who is using our services and programs and who is not (for utilization projects) and how different groups may be impacted differently by our services and programs (for other projects assessing departmental outcomes). These insights are important since they can lead to equity-oriented action; and therefore, more equitable outcomes.
Recreation
Outcome Assessed
The campus community will benefit from the sustainable stewardship of UCLA Recreation resources.
What did they do?
Recreation conducted a comprehensive audit on the technologies used by the department, their costs, functionality and whether any overlap existed between different platforms. The department also looked at existing data sources and partnered with stakeholders to understand the true operating costs of a Recreation facility.
What did they find?
- The department currently uses 70 unique platforms to help meet its organizational needs and responsibilities
- Approximately 50% of platforms used have some overlap in functionality
- Robust data on operating costs is available by partnering with UCLA Facilities and similar analysis can be performed for all facilities
- This partner data could be compared with internal data to create benchmarks for student access to facilities
How will they use the findings?
Recreation plans to create a standard process for the evaluation, purchase and implementation of new platforms, as well as a process that will reduce the amount of existing overlap between products the organization uses. The department also recommends developing an institutionalized departmental process for working with partners to analyzing data on the operating costs of facilities on a regular basis as well as some more in depth analysis on what factors contribute to increases or decreases in costs. These insights are important as they can allow Recreation to create a financial strategic plan and make informed decision about resources (such as pricing facilities appropriately for outside rentals).
Why was the project chosen as an Assessment All Star?
Both projects undertaken by Recreation demonstrate that assessing financial resources, while challenging, is a very illuminating process. The information analyzed provided the department with a clearer picture of how the organization uses technology and what it costs to operate their facilities and will support data driven decisions when it comes to stewardship of resources.
Counseling and Psychological Services
Outcome Assessed
CAPS will provide quality inter-disciplinary coordinated care, throughout its services, programs, and resources.
What did they do?
CAPS conducted several projects related to understanding staff diversity, efficacy of prevention & Outreach programs, student satisfaction, and annual utilization. Utilizing surveys distributed to staff, CAPS captured staff demographics and needs to build a comprehensive profile of diversity within the department. Students were surveyed regarding their utilization and satisfaction of CAPS services, events, and presentations and level of cultural relevance.
What did they find?
- The vast majority of Prevention and Outreach attendees find the presentations to be somewhat, quite a bit, or a great deal valuable and culturally relevant.
- Almost all attendees felt they had gained some, quite a bit or a great deal of knowledge on the subject of mental health and about on-campus resources - and felt they apply what they had learned to some degree, quite a bit or a great deal.
- Over half of CAPS clients surveyed indicated it would be very or moderately likely that they would utilize tele-health services even when in-person services become available.
- 79% found CAPS services moderately to extremely helpful at addressing their well-being concerns during COVID-19
- 15 languages other than English are spoken by various members of the CAPS staff. Therapy can be provided in Cantonese, Mandarin, Farsi, Spanish and Vietnamese.
- 68% of CAPS staff identify as female.
How will they use the findings?
Using this information, CAPS will continue to expand tele-health clinical and outreach services to both increase access to their services and improve the quality of their care. Concurrently, they will continue to develop plans for tracking utilization data to identify and address any demographic disparities in student access with the telehealth model. CAPS will also continue efforts for improving staff diversity and disseminating pertinent information to the larger UCLA community. Lastly, they will use this information to support alternative modalities to existing behavioral/ mental health issues on campus.
Why was the project chosen as an Assessment All Star?
CAPS’s assessment projects covered a breadth of knowledge covering staff, services, and students. Results from the surveys provided key points of improvement and expansion for the department, giving them a clear direction for improving the quality of tele-health, engaging in anti-racist practices and programming, supporting staff diversity, and potential avenues for identifying and supporting student needs.