Talking Stick - November/December 2016 - 48

T

here is no shortage of data collection in the world of residence life, campus
housing, and student affairs. Individual departments assemble data on
student interests, behaviors, and conduct. Housing facilities departments
monitor bathroom cleanliness, the time spent to prepare a room, damage
reports, and summer income. Housing webmasters track page hits, Twitter
mentions, and Facebook likes. And the data just keeps growing to include
assessment of such issues as compliance measures, parent contacts, waste
streams, and still more. On at least some level, all of this data gathering is
done to assist in assessment efforts, but one should also remember that,
as Albert Einstein once said, "Everything that can be counted does not
necessarily count; everything that counts cannot necessarily be counted."

When conducting assessments, there
is the danger of collecting extraneous data,
and too much data can hamper efforts. Still,
others assert that when data collection can
be automated and unobtrusive, collecting as
many data points as possible is preferable. No
matter if data collection is limited or pervasive,
residence life departments must consider the
ethical implications of data collection and
assessment.
The first ethical question to consider is
whether or not assessment, and therefore data
collection, is even necessary. The answer to that
has been a resounding "yes" and for a variety
of reasons. In their book about assessment in
student affairs, M. Lee Upcraft and John Schuh
explain that "Faculty ask why student affairs
should be funded when resources for academic
programs are scarce. Students and their
families demand accountability for fees spent
for student services and programs; they insist
that funds are spent in accordance with their
wishes. Student Affairs practitioners [including
housing professionals] must have some basis
upon which to answer these external and

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TALKING STICK

internal demands."
More recently, in an article in Change
magazine, Kuh and fellow authors outlined
five trends that "make evidence of student
accomplishment increasingly indispensable:
a harsher economic environment, technologyenhanced platforms, an expanded role for
multiple providers and certifiers of learning,
the emergence of more comprehensive
and transparent credentialing frameworks,
and students' increasing responsibility for
maintaining a cumulative record of their
postsecondary knowledge and proficiencies."
Assessment has established itself as a
primary strategy by which higher education
faculty and staff, including residence life
professionals, support their contribution to
student success and institutional performance.
Understanding that assessment of student
affairs and residence life as a whole is an
ethical endeavor, the question turns to specific
assessment efforts and techniques. When
considering if a particular assessment, research
project, or data collection is ethical, one could
Talking Stick - November/December 2016

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