Talking Stick - September/October 2016 - 40

STEP
1

Become Familiar with the SAG and ACUHO-I Standards.

STEP
2

Create a Space for Dialogue.

STEP
3

Select a Leader.

STEP
4

Identify a professional or group of professionals who are willing to become familiar with the ACUHO-I
Standards and SAG. Work with them to begin a conversation in the department about the importance of
standards and the need for self-study as a measure of housing and residence life's impact on the student
experience. This step is important in beginning to create professional buy-in and lays the foundation
for broader conversations. While this conversation begins in your department, it's a good idea to start a
parallel conversation with other stakeholders such as divisional leadership and external offices. Often,
someone has been through this process before and may have insights that can make the process easier
for your department. Jeff Hale, director of residential life at South Dakota State University in Brookings,
highlights the importance of reaching out. "This is the time to create buy-in and get other stakeholders
to the table to help you with the review. Dining services, admissions, your vice president, and your
immediate staff all need to buy into this process and can help you with the information that you collect."

Provide a forum for feedback, both internally and externally, to discuss the SAG as a measuring tool.
Professionals and stakeholders all carry a piece of your story and are influential in how you impact
students. Teresa Metzger, assistant director of academic initiatives at Colorado State University in Fort
Collins, thinks that approaching the self-study from the ground up is important. "We were fortunate to
have a residence director who has a passion for assessment, and she wanted to use our self-study as an
opportunity to build her knowledge and skills around assessment. To help encourage honest dialogue
she sent the self-assessment guide to everyone in our department, to all levels. When she collected
the information, we had a report that captured our strengths and areas of opportunity. The report was
powerful in that it gave everyone a voice and allowed us to have an honest conversation based on the
results."

Select a professional or professionals who can serve as a leader for the self-study. Most would assume
it should be the director, but with this process the director may need to take on a different role - that
of an executive sponsor - in order to minimize barriers and work to identify resources for the selfstudy initiative. The title of the professional has limited impact, but the leader of the self-study should
be able to do the following: facilitate and guide the entire effort of the project; serve as a link between
department leadership, staff, and the working group; and work to align resources, support, and
information sharing.

Establish a Governance Group and Framework.
The thought of a governance group or framework may sound intimidating, but working to establish
them early will allow you to communicate the steps needed to move the self-study forward, provide a
timeline and action steps, and keep everyone abreast of where you are in the process at all times. The
governance group does not require a large number of staff, but it does require the right mix of staff.
Those who have the best vantage points in the process provide support to the work group and have the
ability to share the purpose, importance, and commitment needed to complete the self-study. These
three elements are the basis of your framework.
Kyle Carter, the associate director of the office of residence life at Michigan State University in East
Lansing, remembers the approach his department used to incite excitement, build buy-in, and get
everyone on the same page. "Our divisional chief of staff and our director of assessment went to each
area of the department with a presentation designed to answer questions, provide assurance, and talk
about the process." Coming into the department allowed for the space to communicate why this effort
was important and to provide examples of why it was a priority for the department.

TALKING STICK

Talking Stick - September/October 2016

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