dc.contributor.author	Weaver-Douglas, Janine M.
dc.coverage.spatial	United States	en_US
dc.coverage.temporal	2000-2015	en_US
dc.date.accessioned	2015-06-19T13:32:25Z
dc.date.available	2015-06-19T13:32:25Z
dc.date.issued	2015-05
dc.identifier.uri	http://hdl.handle.net/10428/2008
dc.description.abstract	This study explored how residence life and housing departments and programs assessed the resident assistant (RA) training programs that they held during the 2012-13 academic year. The purpose of this research was to understand the role that these assessments might play in the implementation and improvement of future RA training programs. Little research has yet been conducted in this area, or on the RA training process at higher education institutions more generally (Bowman & Bowman, 1985; Frame, 2009; Koch, 2011). The study investigated various aspects of how residence life departments assessed their training programs, including whether the assessments were formal or informal; how often the assessments occurred; the intended audiences for the assessments; the tools and processes utilized in the assessments; and the ways in which the collected data were used. The qualitative data for this study were collected from surveys, documents submitted by respondents, and individual interviews. The survey was distributed in fall 2013 via email to over 400 higher education institutions in the South Eastern Association of Housing Officers (SEAHO) region. The data yielded a number of major findings, including that RA training programs utilized assessment to measure effectiveness of the programs and preparedness of the RAs. It was found, that most programs created their assessments internally, with the primary assessment audience being RAs themselves, and that the program leaders used the assessment data to frame upcoming trainings for current and future academic years. Until this study, there has been little assessment of graduate staff or campus partners, and the assessment that has been conducted has not been shared beyond the residential programs.	en_US
dc.description.tableofcontents	CHAPTER I: INTRODUCTION 1 \| Statement of the Problem 4 \| Purpose of the Study 5 \| Research Questions 5 \| Chapter II: LITERATURE REVIEW 7 \| Student Affairs Practices 8 \| Industrialization of Student Affairs 9 \| Relationship among Theory, Practice and Research 11 \| Assessment and Evaluation 12 \| Formal Beginnings of Assessment 12 \| Assessment in Higher Education 17 \| Assessment in Student Affairs 18 \| Council for the Advancement of Standards in Higher Education (CAS) 22 \| Theoretical Framework 27 \| Summary 32 \| Chapter III: METHODOLOGY AND DATA ANALYSIS 34 \| Research Questions 34 \| Population 35 \| Research Paradigm 38 \| Research Design 40 \| Positionality Statement 41 \| Limitations 44 \| Sampling Plan and Sample Size 50 \| Data Collection 51 \| Procedures 57 \| Participants 60 \| Data Analysis 60 \| Code and Theme Identification 67 \| Trustworthiness 69 \| Ethical Considerations 71 \| Conclusion 74 \| Chapter IV: FINDINGS 75 \| Context of Study 77 \| Survey Respondents 77 \| Document Analysis Findings 80 \| Participant Profiles 80 \| Smith 82 \| Miller 83 \| Jackson 85 \| Brown 86 \| Cruise 87 \| Stevens 89 \| Jones 90 \| Walters 92 \| Williams 94 \| Anderson 95 \| How Residence Life Programs Assess RA Training 97 \| Use of Surveys for Assessment 104 \| Evaluation/Assessment Design 107 \| Cyclical Processes of Assessment 109 \| Stakeholders in RA Training Assessments 112 \| Tools and Processes Utilized in RA Training Assessment 117 \| RA Position Expectations for Job Performance 119 \| How Residence Life Department/Programs Use Assessment Data 123 \| RA Feedback 123 \| Planning Future Trainings 125 \| Internal Practice Sharing 130 \| Communication and Feedback 132 \| Summary 134 \| Chapter V: CONCLUSIONS AND RECOMMENDATIONS 138 \| Overview of Study 138 \| Conclusions 140 \| Use of Surveys to Evaluate Training 141 \| Assessment Design and Implementation 143 \| Assessment Data and its Uses 148 \| Communication during Assessment Process 154 \| Implications 156 \| Practice 157 \| Policy 164 \| Future Research 170 \| Significance of the Study 174 \| Summary 177 \| REFERENCES 180 \| APPENDIX A: Institutional Review Board Approval 188 \| APPENDIX B: Letter of Approval from SEAHO President 190 \| APPENDIX C: Recruitment Emails 192 \| APPENDIX D: Survey Instrument 195 \| APPENDIX E: Interview Participants Communications 215 \| APPENDIX F: Interview Script and Instrument 221 \| APPENDIX G: Codes and Themes Used for Data Analysis 224 \| AUTOBIOGRAPHICAL STATEMENT 227 \|	en_US
dc.language.iso	en_US	en_US
dc.subject	Resident Assistant	en_US
dc.subject	RA Training	en_US
dc.subject	Assessment	en_US
dc.subject	Residence Life	en_US
dc.subject	Housing	en_US
dc.subject	Resident Advisor	en_US
dc.title	Making Meaning of Assessment: The Role and Usage of Assessment in Resident Assistant Training	en_US
dc.type	Dissertation	en_US
dc.contributor.department	Education	en_US
dc.description.advisor	Siegrist, Jerry
dc.description.committee	York, Travis
dc.description.committee	Tsemunhu, Rudo
dc.description.committee	Wiley, Ellen
dc.description.committee	G
dc.description.degree	Ed.D.	en_US
dc.description.major	Leadership	en_US