Using Data-Informed Decision Making to Improve Student Affairs Practice

New Directions for Student Services, Number 159

Is the data available on your college campus fully utilized? Analyzing data does not have to be a complex process, but there can be obstacles to putting data to good use:

overworked staff or understaffed departments;

silos that prevent crossing institutional boundaries;

lack of research training; or

simply being overwhelmed by the possibilities.

Addressing these obstacles, this volume presents pragmatic ideas for implementing data-informed decision making to improve student affairs practice. It first illustrates how to easily analyze quantitative data and read assessment reports—demonstrating that advanced research knowledge is not necessary to make meaning of survey findings. It then provides suggestions for utilizing findings from large data sets typically available on campus and gives practical guidance for making sense of and using quantitative data to inform practice.

Also included is how to use data to understand the experiences of non-dominant populations on campus, which is especially relevant given the diversity of today's college students. Several chapters speak directly to using data to understand marginalized groups based on race, religion, and sexual orientation, while others focus on using data to understand campus diversity experiences.

This is the 159th volume of this Jossey-Bass higher education quarterly series. An indispensable resource for vice presidents of student affairs, deans of students, student counselors, and other student services professionals, New Directions for Student Services offers guidelines and programs for aiding students in their total development: emotional, social, physical, and intellectual.