As a former assessment professional, I became used to being the least popular person in the room. Assessment is often an afterthought, when thought of at all, or an obligation imposed by others as an act of compliance or obligation. This stance, of assessment as something separate and “other” from the program or activity at hand, does a disservice to our students and can become a self-fulfilling act of futility. If you are not curious about the impact of your efforts, evidence about that impact is of little use.

There is another approach to assessment, however, that pairs program planning and assessment planning; where these two efforts are entwined such that they are actually both part of a single process. It is this integrated approach that I describe in a recently published chapter in a new edited volume, Supporting Military-Connected College Students: Applying Theory to Student Affairs Practice. I describe how planning for, communicating about, understanding, and taking action after your programming efforts are how good assessment and good programming can be done in tandem.

As resources for all kinds of programming grow scarce, it is increasingly important to plan for and communicate the outcomes of programming aimed at military-connected students. Regardless if the result is that programs and initiatives continue, change, or end, making those decisions in an evidence-informed way is the best way to ensure your efforts are having the intended impact.

The goal of this book, edited by Paul A. Tontz and Monteigne S. Long, is to provide instructors, administrators, and student affairs professionals with evidence-based understandings of military-connected students so that they can better plan for and provide meaningful learning and other opportunities. Other chapters in the book address frameworks for how student veterans and other military-connected students develop and learn while in college, what student outcomes are most pertinent for these groups, and what interested stakeholders should be aware of in the future.

Readers of this blog can orded a discounted copy of Supporting Military-Connected College Students by using the code available here. I also invite you to learn more about Ithaka S+R’s work on supporting student veterans.