Events
2027 Student Affairs Assessment Institute™
September 26, 2027 @ 4:00 pm - September 29, 2027 @ 12:00 pm EDT
Student Affairs Assessment Institute
27-29 September 2027 • new orleans, la
Attendees should plan to arrive on 26 September
Develop Practical Assessment Skills for Real Campus Impact
ACPA’s Student Affairs Assessment Institute, sponsored by the Commission for Assessment and Evaluation, provides a guided, curricular experience where participants can develop essential assessment knowledge and skills for their professional toolkit. It offers a balance of instruction and hands-on experience designed to ensure attendees leave with the assessment skills and knowledge necessary to develop and execute quality assessment plans on their campuses.
Whether you are brand new to assessment, taking on new responsibilities in your individual unit, or charged with developing a division-wide plan for assessment, this is the answer for your professional development needs!
INSTITUTE TRACKS AND FEATURES
Assessment Institute attendees have the opportunity to select their track when they register for the Institute, making the experience educationally catered to each registrants professional journey. Tracks help guide attendees session selections at the Institute based on their focus area or role with assessment.
Programmer and Emerging Assessment Practitioner Track
Sessions will be focused on building assessment knowledge, confidence, and skills. Specifically, this track focuses on the following aspects of the assessment cycle: (a) writing goals, outcomes, and objectives, (b) designing theory- and evidence-based strategies, (c) implementing those strategies alongside a measurement plan, and (d) interpreting and using results for improvement plans. This track will also cover quick measurements that student affairs educators can implement to inform improvement of the current student experience.
Who should choose this track?
You work directly with students, programs, and the day-to-day work of student affairs, and you know assessment could be making that work stronger. This track is built for coordinators, program directors, and student affairs educators who are ready to build foundational assessment skills and put them to work immediately. If you are newer to assessment or looking to develop greater confidence and consistency in your practice, this is your track.
Experienced Assessment Practitioner Track
Sessions will be focused on expanding existing assessment knowledge, confidence, and skills for current or aspiring student affairs assessment specialists. Specifically, this track focuses on the methodological process: (a) designing a data strategy and measurement plan, (b) collaborating with student affairs educators to implement that measurement plan alongside strategies, and (c) analyzing data and reporting results. This track will focus on measurements that departments and divisions can leverage to improve student experiences and share impact stories.
Who Should Choose this Track?
You have been doing assessment work long enough to know the foundations, and you are ready to go deeper. This track is designed for assessment specialists, institutional researchers, and student affairs professionals who lead or support assessment across departments and divisions. If your work centers on measurement strategy, data analysis, and translating findings into action, this track will sharpen your edge.
Department and Divisional Leader Track
The act of assessment is more than measurement – it requires leaders to take an active role. Therefore, these sessions will focus on leading the assessment process from a big-picture perspective for department and divisional leaders. Specifically, this track will advance knowledge, confidence, and skills related to: (a) strategic planning, (b) identifying opportunities for data-collection collaboration, (c) data-informed reflection and decision-making, and (d) storytelling. This track will focus on assessment as a leadership process for quality improvement efforts and impact storytelling.
Who Should Choose This Track?
Assessment does not happen without leaders who understand its value and actively create the conditions for it to thrive. This track is for seasoned assessment department directors, AVPs, chiefs of staff, and VPSAs who shape strategy, culture, and decision-making at the department or division level. If your role is less about running assessments and more about building the environment in which good assessment can flourish, this track was designed with you in mind.