Changing Advising Through Assessment
By asking assessment questions that have direct policy implications, a committee of Harvard advisors, faculty members, and administrators was able to implement specific and concrete on-campus advising initiatives. Only modest amounts of data were collected to effect meaningful changes in student behavior, course design, and assignments. Interviews conducted by undergraduates decreased faculty workload and increased student investment in the findings. Although the outcomes are university specific, the collaborations and processes by which they were generated can be used to guide assessment efforts at any type of postsecondary institution.
Contributor Notes
Richard J. Light is the Walter H. Gale Professor of Education in the Kennedy School of Government at Harvard University. With a doctorate in statistics, he explores challenging problems in American higher education. He has published seven books. His most recent, Making the Most of College, won the Stone Award for the best book on education and society. Light has served as President of the American Evaluation Association, and on the National Board of the American Association of Higher Education and the National Board of the Fund for the Improvement of Postsecondary Education. He has chaired the Panel on American Education for the National Academy of Sciences and currently is a member of the Board on Testing and Assessment. He is a Fellow of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences and chairs its project to explore changing demographics in education. At the Kennedy School, Light is Chair of a university-wide program called the Young Faculty Leaders Forum. Dr. Light may be contacted at richard_light@harvard.edu.
