Student Affairs Dean’s Update Summer Quarter 2014
Table of Contents 02 | Message From Student Affairs VP Patricia Telles-Irvin 04 | Student Affairs Learning Outcomes 05 | Center for Student Enrichment Services 06 | Did You Know?
DIVISION OF
STUDENTAFFAIRS Dean’s Update SUMMER QUARTER 2014
Dear Colleagues, The Division of Student Affairs made significant progress this year. In the following pages, you will discover how our Student Learning Working Group collaborated to identify four essential learning domains for the student experience. The Poster Session in June allowed members of this group to share the results of their learning assessment projects with others and continue a dialogue about these results.
Message from Student Affairs Vice President Patricia Telles-Irvin
In addition to this project, our efforts saw the creation of a Center for Student Enrichment Services; a new department in place to help address the needs of low-income students. You may recall the data shared in the winter edition of this update and the responses from the focus groups. The content from this study supported this important initiative and a search is currently in place for the ideal candidate to provide direction and support. Finally, the results of the 2013 Consortium Mental Health Survey are included in the DID YOU KNOW section of this publication. As we encounter and work with our students, we must be mindful of the resources we can provide so they may achieve their goals and succeed in life. Warm regards,
Patricia Telles-Irvin Vice President for Student Affairs
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Vision We will be full partners in the student learning experience. The Division of Student Affairs partners with the academic schools/colleges and other University Divisions in allegiance with the University’s vision and mission to advance student learning and success.
Mission The mission of the Northwestern University Division of Student Affairs is to educate students, engage the community, and enrich the Northwestern experience. We pursue our mission through providing learning programs, services, and mentoring to maximize students’ potential, removing barriers to learning, strengthening readiness to learn, and sustaining a safe and healthy Northwestern community.
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Student Affairs
LEARNING OUTCOMES
PERSONAL DEVELOPMENT
INTERPERSONAL COMPETENCE
SOCIAL RESPONSIBILITY
COGNITIVE AND PRACTICAL SKILLS
Students who engage in Student Affairs programs, activities, and services will develop an integrated sense of personal identity, a positive sense of self, and a personal code of ethics.
Students who engage in Student Affairs programs, activities, and services will develop healthy, respectful, and collaborative relationships with others.
Students who engage in Student Affairs programs, activities, and services will demonstrate an understanding of and commitment to social justice and apply that knowledge to create safe, healthy, equitable, and thriving communities.
Students who participate in Student Affairs programs, activities, and services will acquire and use cognitive and practical skills that will enable them to live healthy, productive, and purposeful lives.
At Northwestern University, we believe student learning happens throughout and across the college experience. These four broad, divisionwide student learning domains and related student learning outcomes statements define/describe the co-curricular learning that takes place through the programs, activities and services offered by Student Affairs. These learning outcomes also consider and reflect the missions and strategic plans of the University and Student Affairs. These learning outcomes were developed over an 18-month period by members of the Division of Student Affairs who -4became known as the Student Learning Working Group 1.
On June 25, 2014, thirty-one members of the Division of Student Affairs presented the results of their department student learning assessment projects at a Poster Gallery Session held in 122 Parkes Hall. The posters illustrated 1) the learning outcomes for each program/activity, 2) the assessment strategy, 3) the teaching strategy, 4) the major findings (quantitative and qualitative), 5) and the next steps.
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CENTER FOR STUDENT ENRICHMENT SERVICES The Center for Student Enrichment Services (CSES) is being created in response to the identified needs of students of low socio-economic status. Recipients of the Pell Grant, along with those who are part of an identified scholarship, such as the Ryan Scholars or Questbridge program, will benefit from this center. One quarter of these students are also first generation attendees. In collaboration with Academic Affairs and various offices on campus, the intent of CSES is to assist these students in their efforts to succeed and increase their satisfaction with Northwestern. At the same time, they will be provided with opportunities that will allow them to fully participate in the university culture. The office of Campus Inclusion and Community is in the process of identifying a candidate to direct CSES, and anticipates having someone in place during fall quarter.
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DID YOU KNOW? Following are some of the results of the 2013 Consortium Mental Health Survey sent to a random sample of undergraduate and graduate/professional students at Northwestern. • In 2013 a third of the Northwestern undergraduate students (30%) and almost 40% of the graduate/ professional students reported that they had attended counseling prior to, or after attending the university, or both. Although not statistically significant, these percentages are on the rise compared with 2010. • Nearly one in five (18%) of the undergraduates and 13% of the graduate/professional students who completed the 2013 Consortium Mental Health Survey reported having seriously considered attempting suicide at least once. These percentages are up significantly compared with 2010 when 12% of the undergraduates and 7% of the graduate professional students reported having considered suicide. • Also on the rise are the percentages of undergraduate and graduate/professional students who report they have “considered causing serious physical injury to another person” (2010: 6% undergraduates and 3% graduate/ professional students; 2013: 11% undergraduates and 7% graduate/professional students). • Nearly one in five undergraduate (17%) and graduate/professional women (17%) reported having had sexual contact without their consent
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one or more times. This compares with 19% of the undergraduate and graduate/professional women who reported having had an unwanted sexual contact(s) or experience(s) in 2010. In 2010, Northwestern undergraduates and graduate/professional students—regardless of their school/college—reported the highest ratings for statements about social anxiety and academic distress. The same was true in 2013. In 2013, distress around academic issues was more acute for Asian American and Hispanic/ Latino than white undergraduates. Similarly, compared to white and international graduate/ professional students, Asian American students enrolled in graduate/professional programs reported experiencing more academic distress. In 2013 undergraduate students from low income family backgrounds were more likely to endorse statements related to family distress than were students who did not come from low income backgrounds. In 2013, undergraduate and graduate/professional students who identified as LGBTQ had higher mean scores on nearly all of the subscores than did students identifying as heterosexual.
What are the implications of this survey data? As a community, we must be ever vigilant and sensitive to the signs of distress among our students to insure they are knowledgeable about the resources available and have the resources necessary to support them in their academic journeys. The trends are clear: mental health issues are on the rise at Northwestern and every other college campus in the United States.
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