Services PSSA Guidelines

PURPOSE

Northwestern Michigan College is a learning-centered college committed to continuously improving its programs and services. To know what needs to be improved we must look inside our units at the actions we perform and the services we provide. The Program and Services Self-Assessment is the mechanism for looking inside and identifying what it is we do that could be improved upon. Peter F. Drucker (1999), the innovator in methods of self-assessment, has this to say about the process:

“The self-assessment process is a method for assessing what you are doing, why you are doing it, and what you must do to improve an organization's performance. It asks the five essential questions:
o What is our mission?
o Who is our customer?
o What does the customer value?
o What are our results?
o What is our plan?
Self-assessment leads to action and lacks meaning without it. To meet growing needs and succeed in a turbulent and exacting environment, social sector organizations must focus on mission, demonstrate accountability, and achieve results.”
--Peter F. Drucker. 1999. The Drucker Foundation Self-Assessment Tool: Process Guide. New York: Drucker Foundation and Jossey-Bass, Inc.

Self-assessment at NMC allows the college to provide comprehensive academic curricula, to offer programming and services responsive to the needs of its constituents, and to improve curricula and services while remaining financially accountable to its community. Self-assessment is critical to our model of institutional effectiveness. Inherent to the continuous improvement process is an institutional commitment to self-assessment, the foremost goal being to provide quality programs and services. (NMC Policy 312.00)
However, “[y]ou cannot arrive at the right definition of results without significant input from your customers. In business, a customer is someone you must satisfy. If you don't, you have no results. And pretty soon you have no business. In a nonprofit organization, whether you call the customer a student, patient, member, participant, volunteer, donor, or anything else, the focus must be on what these individuals and groups value-on satisfying their needs, wants, and aspirations” (Drucker 1999).
Once our services define their mission and recognize their customers’ needs, they must ask themselves, “What must we do today to achieve results?” Planning, and then doing, is the “continuous process of strengthening what works and abandoning what does not, of making risk-taking decisions with the greatest knowledge of their potential effect, of setting objectives, appraising performance and results through systematic feedback, and making ongoing adjustments as conditions change”(Drucker 1999). The purpose of self-assessment at NMC is for the constant honing of our programs and services with a constant focus on providing a learning-centered environment and improving to our customers.

PROCESS and PRODUCT

At NMC the quality of the process of self-assessment is every bit as important as the discoveries it unveils. Because self-assessment is for the constant resharpening of the services we offer, our units must review their performance on an ongoing basis. Service units at NMC must identify their mission, their customers, the desired outcomes of their actions, and their results. Then every two years units will formally review the appropriateness of their desired outcomes, measures, and instruments for gathering their measures to assess their performance. The results will be conveyed formally in a self-assessment report (see Table 1 below) to your Executive Director and to the PSSA coordinators. However, informally the units are expected to use their performance results for planning continuous improvement. How does the process work?

Step 1.

The first step in performance self-assessment is to define your mission. Answer the question: Why does your unit exist at NMC? The desired outcomes of your unit follow from your mission. Your desired outcomes are also your unit’s goals.

Step 2.

The second step is to identify your customers and their needs. Are they students? Other NMC units? The community? State or federal government? Talk to these customers about their needs. Do students require quick methods of registration? Do NMC units need budgeting advice? Does the community need certain kinds of information easily accessible on NMC’s website or in the newspaper? You can make some assumptions about the quality of services you would like to provide, but the real testament of your performance will come down to whether you are satisfying your customers.

Step 3.

The third step is to state the desired outcomes for your unit. Outcomes evaluation looks at the impact your service has on your customers. These outcomes can be short-term, intermediate term and long-term. Outcomes are the following:
• the impact of your service upon your clients
• the impact of your service upon learning
• the quality of your service

Methods for Identifying Outcomes for your Service

• Seek ideas from a variety of sources, both within and outside your department, before finalizing your list of outcomes. Multiple perspectives will give you more information on the expected impact of your service. Examine your services major activities. For each one, ask, "Why are we doing that."
• Talk with people who have used your services. What were their expectations of your service, and what has been the actual impact. This can be done through interviews, surveys (via email), or focus groups.
• Review records of complaints about your service. They may suggest outcomes that your clients expected to receive but did not.
• Check with national professional associations whose members represent your type of service. Outcomes such groups may have identified may be applicable to your area.
• Collaborate with other services that have similar goals and purposes as your own.
• Does your service have the following impacts upon your clients?
  • Changes in knowledge, attitudes, perceptions
  • Changes in skills
  • Changes in effectiveness

Your most important outcomes will relate to the quality of service you provide to your customers. Quality service to customer outcomes would include one or more of the following:

Reliability - The ability to provide what was promised, dependably, and accurately. When you fulfill a customer order correctly and on time, you show reliability

Assurance - The knowledge and courtesy you show to customers, and your ability to convey trust, competence, and confidence. When you smile and tell a customer, "I can help you with that" - and do - you build assurance.

Tangibles - The physical facilities and equipment, and your own (and others?) appearance. When you take time to make yourself and your work area presentable, you are paying attention to the tangibles.

Empathy - The degree of caring and individual attention you show customers. When you are sensitive to an individual customer’s needs when solving a problem, you show empathy.

Responsiveness - The willingness to help customers promptly. When you notice a customer puzzling over something and offer help and information, you show responsiveness.

Issues to Consider When Defining and Selecting Outcomes

o There is not a right number of outcomes. The Assessment Team recommends that for the first round of the self-assessment that you measure 3-5 outcomes, but you may come up with many more than that.
o You may have multiple levels of outcomes - some may be immediately available to your clients, others may be more long term.
o Is it reasonable to believe the service area can influence the outcome? If not, the outcome is probably not appropriate.
o Will measurement of the outcome help identify program successes and help pinpoint and address problems and shortcomings?
o Will your clients and staff accept the outcomes as valid and appropriate to your service?
o Prioritize your outcomes.

Step 4.

The fourth step is to define measures for your outcomes. Measures are observable pieces of data that let you evaluate your outcome and serve as a basis for comparison. After you have articulated your service outcomes, it is time to develop the means of measuring them. Without measurement you cannot determine the extent to which you are, or are not, achieving the outcomes. The measurement of outcomes provides you with necessary feedback on your services performance. Without feedback on performance it is almost impossible to improve it.

Step 5.

The fifth step in the process is to determine how you will collect the data you need to assess your performance. What are the instruments you will use to collect your measures? It may be that currently conducted NMC surveys, especially those connected with Institutional Effectiveness could provide you with the means to your measures. For example, the Student Satisfaction Survey, NMC Transfer Survey, and Non-Returning Student Survey all measure student opinion of many of NMC's services. Another possible method for obtaining measures is benchmarking. Benchmarks are measures established by services at other institutions similar to NMC.

Step 6.

The sixth step is reporting the results of your assessment. Summarize the findings obtained from your assessment measures. The results of the assessment measures become the vital signs of the service. They are going to tell you how well you are doing and what needs to be improved.

Step 7.

The seventh step is to lay out a plan of action for improvement. In this section you need to specifically address what changes you intend to make, if any, based on the results. In addition, you will specify the time frame for when these changes are to be made and additional approval as needed.

Step 8.

The final step is to review your self-assessment as often as it takes to complete your action items identified in Step 7. Formally, you will evaluate your outcomes, measures, methods, and results annually.

For More Information
W.K. Kellogg Evaluation Handbook: http://www.wkkf.org/Knowledgebase/Pubs/

A Review of Evaluation Resources for Nonprofit Organizations: http://www.ccp.ca/information/documents/gd44.htm

Basic Guide to Outcomes-Based Evaluation for Nonprofit Organizations with Very Limited Resources: http://www.mapnp.org/library/evaluatn/outcomes.htm

United Way of America's Outcome Measurement Resource Network: http://national.unitedway.org/outcomes/
Services Self-Assessment Coordinators: