CAS Releases the Self-Assessment Guide for the Cross-Functional Framework for the First-Year Experience

The Self-Assessment Guide for the Cross-Functional Framework for the First-Year Experience (SAG for CFF for FYE) is essential to the work of individuals and teams engaged in coordinating intentional, campus-wide efforts to support first-year students experiences and success.  This self-assessment guide is designed to translate the cross-functional framework's standards, guidelines, and descriptions of enhanced practices into tools for conducting self-study of cross-functional teams' first-year experience initiatives.

The SAG complements The Cross-Functional Framework for the First-Year Experience produced earlier this year by the Council for Advancement of Standards for Higher Education (CAS) in partnership with the National Resource Center for The First-Year Experience and Students in Transition. The CFF for FYE lays out a flexible, high quality framework for a comprehensive and campus-wide approach to the first year. Institutions looking for guidelines to structure partnerships with departments, arrange horizontal leadership, and develop buy-in and sustainability of first-year efforts can look to the CAS CFF for FYE as a trusted resource for best practice developed by experts and promoted by a reliable organization that, itself, is based on principles of cross-functional collaboration.

The Self-Assessment Guide for the Cross-Functional Framework for the First-Year Experience offers guidance for assessment of impact and outcomes of the FYE team as part of a self-study. The SAG helps inform perspectives on the strengths and deficiencies of the cross-functional teams, as well as plan for improvements. The SAG provides a list of suggested evidence and documentation; the CFF for FYE standards, guidelines, and enhanced practice descriptions; rating scales; and summary questions. Finally, a Self-Study Summary of Good Practices, Strengths, Areas for Improvement, and Opportunities for Enhanced Practice is provided to offer direction in developing an action plan and to ensure that the findings of the self-study are used for improvement and enhancement of the work of the cross-functional team.

Simply put, the CAS SAG for CFF for FYE is an essential tool for institutions that want to prioritize student success, make it a central activity on campus, and ensure structures are in place to support these initiatives.

The new Self-Assessment Guide for the Cross-Functional Framework for the First-Year Experience, as well as the Cross-Functional Framework for the First-Year Experience are available for purchase at the CAS store.

To assist higher education professionals interested in implementing the CFF for FYE standards with the aim of working across organizational silos to establish structures, the National Resource Center for The First-Year Experience and Students in Transition has organized a three-day Institute on Cross-Campus Collaboration for the First-Year Experience, November 4-6, 2019. For more information and to register, visit the Institute on Cross-Campus Collaboration for The First-Year Experience.