Georg RomeroLibrary Director

Cabrillo College LibraryApril 15, 2010

Presentation focus is on services ◦ Free-range audience, hard to capture◦ Challenging

Not on classes or workshops◦ Captive audiences◦ Easier

In 2005:

Almost nothing available on assessing services, plenty on assessing classes

Focus was on starting & having SLOs This was all new to most of us

In 2010:

A little more information available Timely SLO survey from 2009 (June Turner, Palo Verde) Some services covered at some colleges (Cabrillo,

Cuyamaca, Los Medanos) A few sessions like this one

Focus is now on measurement, & actions taken

Not so new to us…

So, how did we begin, in 2005?

Challenge: how to attribute specific learning outcomes to transaction services?

Assumption: SLOs not intentionally onerous Decision: we will make this useful for us!

Key: campus SLO Coordinator appointed Early step: creation of campus “core”

competencies Key: decision to measure service

operations against the core competencies, rather than requiring individual SLOs ◦ Affected: Library, Student Services, Learning

Centers, etc.◦ Minimized the fear & trepidation

First step: what are our services?

◦ Regular meetings - invited all library staff, not just librarians

◦ Identified all services, both direct & indirect◦ Correlated each with core competencies◦ Identified possible assessment methods, if any

Some assessment alternatives identified:

◦ Narrative descriptions◦ Focus groups◦ Post-transaction sampling interviews/surveys◦ User surveys

Selected: survey – most actionable for the most services

Having students self-assess on core competencies is legitimate, for what it is

More than just a general satisfaction survey: ◦ What are students doing?◦ How long have they been here?◦ Service trouble-spots

Change regularly, focus on current issues, look for patterns

Key: SLO mindset among staff: “what are we teaching our students?”

Key: “Institutionalized” process into program planning cycle

Regular annual library user surveys Statistics & other data posted on web, so

we can find & share them easily Sailed through accreditation, with a

commendation!

Looking back – would I change anything?

No – the shared voyage of discovery, how we got there, almost more important than where we arrived.

Students do tell us the Library improves their learning!

Strong dissatisfaction with aging laptops (we got new ones)

Unhappiness with computer logon requirement (gone after initial semester)

Want more computers (working on it) and word processing (have it)

Newer students less satisfied/impressed with library (tried a “greeter” program)

Focused Circulation more on teaching & learning, less on punishing

Increased Technical Services responsiveness to specific student needs

Increased “team” mindset, across the board

Much left to be done:◦ Useful survey data not yet acted upon◦ How to maintain SLO mindset in spite of staff

changes, time, budget issues◦ Need to update & submit campus Assessment

forms…

http://libwww.cabrillo.edu/staff/slo/ - This presentation package

http://libwww.cabrillo.edu/staff/library-numbers.html - Cabrillo’s library statistics & data web page

http://pro.cabrillo.edu/pro/ - Campus Planning & Research, with links to SLOs, Accreditation, etc.

http://pages.paloverde.edu/staff/library/slosurvey.doc - CCL-EXEC survey on library SLOs, by Janine Turner (Palo Verde College)

Thank You!