CAS Strategic Planning Discussion Summary 2
CAS Board – Strategic Planning Discussion Summary
April 22, 2007
During the first session of the spring 2007 CAS Board meeting, a group of Board members gathered to have a preliminary discussion of current status, possible future directions, and strategic planning issues to provide input into the upcoming summer strategic planning meeting. The following is a summary of the discussion, grouped generally by similar themes.
· Do we want to be what we have been? (like a bank – hold standards) Or do we want to expand to other roles, such as professional development and education, research, a think tank, development of applications?
o Do we want to lead or to react?
o Have we had, or should we have, a change in the mission? We have already branched out from core student affairs areas to other areas.
o Other possible areas to consider: teaching/learning, the assessment of learning (e.g., teaching centers); international/global settings, as other countries work to develop student affairs programs & services.
o We may want to think about accreditation/certification re: CAS, perhaps standards for accrediting? Consider how to link more clearly to the academic side. Can we offer help in how to operationalize other outcomes (like those in academic areas)?
o Rather than accrediting, perhaps develop teams who would go in & assess outcomes? Peer teams to come & validate self-studies? Peer review of self-study notebooks?
· We should consider reaching out to groups beyond those we have typically targeted; this could include the state commissions on higher education, national organizations (e.g., American Association of Community Colleges, State Higher Education Officers, etc.).
o What should be the relationship between the professional organizations and CAS?
o We may want to redefine/expand the membership (organizations that don’t represent functional areas and individuals); this would increase awareness and revenue.
o We should consider outreach to consultants who work in higher education.
· What about the learning outcomes? Do they really apply to all of the functional areas we now address? What about other areas that may be interested in standards, but don’t find the current outcomes to be appropriate?
o There is a need to contextualize the outcomes; may want to explore using the Learning Reconsidered outcomes rather than the current 16 domains.
· We need to focus on harnessing technology, perhaps developing tools to assist in evaluation activities (cf. the work that Jean Yerian is doing with academic depts.); perhaps offer some sort of “tool kit” on the website.
· We might want to consider multiple formats for different uses: self study, program development, staff development.
o We need to better respond to the question, “How do I do it?”
· Where is the research that says that if you meet the standards, the outcomes are better? We need to better document effective practices & outcomes from using the standards.
o We could create research teams (like standards revision teams) or student outcomes teams; we could develop formal partnerships with preparation programs to generate research.
o We need to understand where people are learning about CAS.
o How can we best accumulate information on student outcomes, program reviews, etc.? Need a system for people to use to do on-going data collection.
o What is our connection with the scholarly community? Do we want to be research-based or standards-based?
· How can we best tell the story? We need case studies, examples, specific descriptions of ways of using the standards; need to use the website, include a resource list.
· CAS is in the position to make the argument for the whole institution as educators.
o How do we promote this conversation in our associations? How do we move the conversation from services to education? What is our role in helping people think about how we do the work?
o Again, the idea that teams of people could go to campuses to provide expert help and to promote this point of view.
o We need to be in the conversation when some version of No Child Left Behind comes to higher education.
· As we grow, we need to look at CAS structure, staffing, revenue, etc., to make sure that we are organized to meet our needs and mission.