Thank you for stopping by to learn more about the Commission for Assessment & Evaluation. Take some time to look through our content and don’t hesitate to share how you’d like to get involved. Use the menu below to jump to a section of interest.
Please contact us at [email protected] or connect with the members of our Directorate Board with questions or ideas.
ABOUT CAE
Our Mission
The Commission for Assessment and Evaluation promotes assessment skills and knowledge to facilitate and support student learning, development, and effective student affairs practice.
Our Vision
ACPA’s Commission for Assessment and Evaluation will be an international leader in the development of sound practices and education in student affairs assessment and evaluation.
Key Initiatives
CAE offers a variety of programs for ACPA members and the broader student affairs assessment community, both at convention and beyond. Visit our LinkedIn most up-to-date information, or email [email protected] for more information.
The Student Affairs Assessment Institute
The Student Affairs Assessment Institute is an in-person experience offered every June where participants can develop essential assessment knowledge and skills for their professional toolkit. Click here for details of the 2025 Institute.
Student Affairs Assessment Mentoring Program
The CAE Mentorship Program is designed to connect experienced assessment professionals with emerging practitioners in higher education. Applications open in March.
CAE Awards
Every year, CAE recognizes dedicated assessment professionals at convention. The open nominations process allows professionals across the field to nominate themselves and others for recognition of their service. Nominations are solicited every fall.
Webinars
Webinars are offered on a semi-annual basis on emerging topics in student affairs assessment. Visit our YouTube page to view recordings of past webinars.
Collaboration
CAE collaborates with a variety of other entity groups in ACPA and is a founding member of the Consortium of Organizations for Student Affairs Assessment.
Get Involved
Do you LOVE student affairs assessment, even if it’s not your full-time job? Join the Commission for Assessment & Evaluation to stay up-to-date with all things higher education assessment.
Get CAE Updates
Joining an Entity through the ACPA Member Portal automatically identifies you as a member of that CAE! You will begin to receive CAE communications!
- Login to your ACPA Member Account
- Click on Community Groups (Chatter)
- Click Groups
- Click Active Groups
- Search for the Commission for Assessment and Evaluation, then click +Join
You can also fill out this form to be added to our email listserv, or follow us on LinkedIn.
Volunteer with CAE
CAE offers several opportunities to be an active leader in the field of student affairs assessment. Join our listserv or email [email protected] to be notified of upcoming opportunities.
- Apply to the Directorate Board. The Directorate Board coordinates and programs all CAE activities. Applications open in November.
- Serve as faculty for the Student Affairs Assessment Institute. We rely on our exemplary faculty to provide a quality experience of attendees. Applications open in December or January.
- Nominate a colleague for an award. Awards not only provide recognition for outstanding individuals and teams, but help us plan future educational opportunities. Applications open in early autumn.
News & Updates
Click here to share updates with CAE (e.g., position openings, upcoming events, etc.).
Reflections from Attendees on the Student Affairs Assessment Institute
For nearly a decade, ACPA’s Student Affairs Assessment Institute has served as the premier gathering of student affairs professionals seeking to build capacity in assessment. Whether you a brand new to assessment, taking on new responsibilities in your unit, or...
Five Ways to Improve Your Approach to Data Visuals Today
By: Becky Haas and Matt Venaas Best practices for visualizing data may not be the first thing we naturally focus on in our assessment work. But, if a fundamental goal of doing good assessment work is to make a difference on our campuses and enable others to take...
Don’t Delay: Publish Your Conference Presentation
By: Vicki L. Wise and Lisa J. Hatfield Perhaps you are interested in publishing but have never written an article. It can be intimidating to know where to begin. We suggest that you start with a recent conference presentation! In our book A Guide to Becoming a...
Learning to Love Assessment, Even When it’s Not in Your Job Description
By: Allison Vickers Like most higher education graduate students, I sat through my requisite research methods and assessment class. Like many graduate students, I understood the theoretical necessity of the class but secretly felt like assessment would always be...
People Don’t Want To Be Confused With Assessment: My Experience at the ACPA Student Affairs Assessment Institute
After four days of assessment talk at the ACPA Student Affairs Assessment Institute (AI), I returned to my home campus ready to take on the immense task of revising and revamping my office’s assessment strategy. Being energized by the conference and 100 Student...
AI Scholarship Recipient Experience: “Be Not Afraid.”
By: Jarvis Lane The ACPA Student Affairs Assessment Institute is intense but impactful. As a 2016 Scholarship recipient, I had the tremendous honor of attending the ACPA SAAI and collaborate with student affairs scholars and practitioners from all across the country....
Upcoming Events
CAE Awards
Every year, the Commission for Assessment & Evaluation recognizes dedicated assessment professionals at convention. The open nominations process allows professionals across the field to nominate themselves and others for recognition of their service.
CAE currently offers two awards: Outstanding Early Career Professional and Excellence in Equity-Centered Assessment. Nominations for the 2026 awards will open in September.
Past Winners
Outstanding Early Career Professional: University of North Texas Student Affairs Assessment Team (2025), Dr. Emily Braught (2024)
Excellence in Equity-Centered Assessment: James Madison University Center for Assessment and Research Studies (2025)
Leadership
The Directorate Board
Our Directorate Board is made up of a variety of people all who are dedicated to helping us accomplish our mission. Each year the Directorate board develops teams, sets goals for each team and members work year-round to accomplish their goals. This year’s goals include having fun, developing educational sessions targeted at new and mid-level professionals, developing our on-line tools and resources, providing educational sessions at Convention and solidifying our communications plans. If you like to write about assessment, plan or facilitate education sessions, help us better utilize social media or just want to learn more about assessment while applying your event planning or communication skills, consider running for our Directorate board.
Tori Rehr
Chair
The Ohio State University
Paul Holliday-Millard
Chair Elect
University of North Carolina, Charlotte
Austin Van Horn
Chief of Staff
James Madison University
Tanner Gill
Education Chair
University of North Carolina, Wilmington
Sarah LaFrance
Membership Chair
James Madison University
Mandy Westfall-Senda
Assessment Institute Past Chair
University of Hawaii, Manoa
Heather Strine-Patterson
Assessment Institute Co-Chair
Virginia Tech University
Zach Hooten
Assessment Institute Co-Chair
The Ohio State University
Shaun Boren
Special Initiatives Co-Manager
University of Florida
Crystal Cyr
Webinars Co-Manager
University of Colorado, Boulder
Brianne Steele
Newsletters Co-Manager
Western Michigan University
Jerri Danso
Elections Manager
University of Florida
Sierra Gray
Mentorship Co-Manager
Rutgers University, New Brunswick
DeVoneia Jordan
Endorsed Programs Co-Manager
California State Polytechnic University, Pomona
Michele Kleeman
Endorsed Programs Co-Manager
San Jose State University
Shiloh Lovette
Special Initiatives Co-Manager
Appalachian State University
Quan Phan
Awards Co-Manager
University of Oklahoma
Lin Zhang
Mentorship Co-Manager
University of Arizona
Tyler Eaton
Newsletter Co-Manager
Willamette University
George Still
Webinar Co-Manager
Fresno State
Resources
The Assessment Skills and Knowledge Standards
The ASK (Assessment Skills and Knowledge) Content Standards were developed by the Commission on Assessment and Evaluation to to articulate the areas of content knowledge, skill and dispositions that student affairs professionals need in order to perform as practitioner-scholars to assess the degree to which students are mastering the learning and development outcomes we intend as professionals. The ASK Standards can be used as a standalone resource to support development of assessment capabilities, or as a supplement to other materials (e.g., the ACPA/NASPA Professional Competencies). An overview of the ASK Standards is provided below and is also available in the ACPA Member Resource Center.
Recent Scholarship from CAE
As part of its mission to advance student affairs assessment, CAE participates in a variety of scholarship projects. Below are recent examples of scholarship led by the Commission.
Higher Education Assessment Syllabi Project
A joint effort across several associations, this project analyzed over 100 syllabi from higher education and student affairs assessment courses to provide a starting point for conceptualizing trends across these courses and thinking about the future of assessment in the higher education and student affairs context.
- View the article in the Journal of Student Affairs Inquiry, Improvement, and Impact (JSAIII)
- View the white paper.
New Directions Issue
Past CAE chairs Dr. Kellie Dixon and Dr. Alice Mitchell, along with several CAE Directorate Board members, led the creation of a New Directions for Student Services issue focused on assessment practices to leverage equity.
Past Webinars
This webinar provides an overview and introduction to generative Artificial Intelligence (AI) for student affairs assessment professionals. Assessing the impact of programs and services on student learning, development, and success is a critical function in higher education. Despite its importance, it’s often difficult for student affairs professionals to develop the skills to implement assessment and integrate assessment into daily practice. Generative AI holds great promise to more easily, efficiently, and effectively implement assessment as well as build assessment capacity. In this session, participants will see demonstrations of AI in assessment and engage in conversation with colleagues on possible uses.
Strategies for Familiarizing Yourself with Your Dept. and Institution’s Assessment Culture
Starting a new role in a new place can be overwhelming. Between understanding expectations for your new role, exploring team dynamics, and finding your way around campus, it is also important to get a sense of the culture of your department, division, and institution. It is likely the culture around assessment drives how your new colleagues define and measure success. This webinar will detail strategies that professionals new to a department or institution can apply in order to learn more about the assessment culture on their campus.
Writing, Presenting, and Publishing in Higher Education Assessment
In the field of assessment in higher education, many professionals seek opportunities to share knowledge regarding scholarly research, evidence-based best practices, and institution-based projects. Understanding that there are a plethora of opportunities to write, present, and publish available to higher education assessment professionals, the ACPA Commission for Assessment and Education wishes to highlight various pathways to such opportunities. The panelists for the webinar each currently work in assessment in higher education, and each has contributed to the field significantly through writing, presentations, and publications. The panelists will share their own personal and professional journeys to and through writing, presenting, and publishing, and they will share how higher education assessment professionals can contribute to the field through such means.
Commission History
Originally titled “Commission IX”, the Commission for Assessment & Evaluation (CAE) was among the first eleven functional areas recognized by ACPA in 1961. Over the course of over fifty years, the Commission has continued to grow, benefiting from forward-thinking leadership and an involved membership.
In 1986, Marcia Baxter Magolda chronicled the Commission’s 25-year history and, in conclusion, noted:
“…while activities have changed over the history of the Commission, the major focus during each period accurately reflected the needs of the profession at the time.”
Since Baxter Magolda’s reflective piece, the landscape of assessment in higher education, in general, and student affairs, in particular, has changed dramatically. Calls for higher education reform took hold late in the decade of the ‘80s and grew powerfully through the 1990s. Increasing demands for institutional accountability left colleges and universities, as well as accrediting agencies, scrambling for means to demonstrate what students were learning. Grades and graduation rates – albeit important – no longer sufficed as indicators of learning. Student affairs professionals needed to be able to demonstrate co-curricular student learning and development as well as efforts to improve practice based on evidence.
The Commission’s focus shifted has shifted towards student learning and institutional improvement. Efforts to enhance assessment skill capacity for student affairs professionals continued to grow as primary focal point for the Commission.