CAS Releases its 2012 Materials

The Council for the Advancement of Standards in Higher Education (CAS) released the eighth edition of the book, CAS Professional Standards for Higher Education, in August 2012. The book of standards is the defining source of professional standards for many of the services provided to students in higher education.

The CAS Professional Standards for Higher Education book introduces five new functional areas of standards and guidelines: Campus Police and Security Programs, Parent and Family Programs, Sexual Assault and Relational Violence Programs, Transfer Student Programs and Services, and Veterans and Military Programs and Services. In addition, the General Standards have been updated to include technology and distance education services. The book continues to carry 38 functional areas already published, while several functional area standards and guidelines have been revised and unanimously approved by the CAS Board of Directors.

Along with the book, CAS also released an updated CD of all 43 functional area standards and guidelines and Self-Assessment Guides (SAGs). Other information on the CD includes an e-learning course about how to conduct self-assessment, a PowerPoint presentation that can be used to give an overview of CAS and the assessment process, and links to the CAS website. The SAGs provide users with strategies for assessing program and service effectiveness based on evidence a campus-based team would gather and evaluate.

Both the book and the CD are available to order through the CAS online store. Visit https://www.cas.edu, and select the "store" button along the top of the page. Information about CAS and its efforts over its more than three decades can be found at https://www.cas.edu.