I feel privileged to write my first Council for Advancement of Standards in Higher Education (CAS)-based blog post, for R2! My name is Andy Milton, and when working in my “regular job”, I am the Director of Wellness and Recreation at St. Ambrose University. When serving the collegiate recreation field and the NIRSA, I also serve as the NIRSA CAS Director. I’m pumped to be talking about CAS, what it means for the field of collegiate recreation we all know and love, and what it means and could potentially do for your department. Whether your new to CAS or an avid user, I’m always available to help answer any questions you may have regarding CAS, and using it accordingly. I strongly encourage you to visit the CAS website at www.cas.edu) to learn more! I’m an advocate for the collegiate recreation standards, and want to help you get to know them, use them, conduct reviews, and more, on your respective campuses!
What is CAS? (from the CAS website www.cas.edu)
Founded in 1979, the Council for the Advancement of Standards in Higher Education (CAS) is the pre-eminent force for promoting standards in student affairs, student services, and student development programs. CAS creates and delivers dynamic, credible standards, guidelines, and Self-Assessment Guides (SAGs) that are designed to lead to a host of quality programs and services. CAS aims to foster and enhance student learning, development, and achievement. CAS Standards respond to student needs, the requirements of sound pedagogy, and the effective management of 47 functional areas and 3 cross-functional areas. Individuals and institutions from over 40 CAS member organizations comprise a constituency of over 115,000 professionals. Representing a significant majority of higher education practitioners in student programs and services throughout the country and beyond, CAS provides tools to higher education leaders assessing institutional effectiveness, student learning, and outcomes.
How do I access CAS and the Collegiate Recreation standards? Visit the CAS site, purchase a digital or hard copy of the 10th edition of the CAS standards book, “CAS Professional Standards in Higher Education,” and read the Collegiate Recreation standards that are on pages 181-192. A second resource that’s available are the Self-Assessment Guides, ” which can be used to supplement the standards.
How can the CAS be utilized in the field of Collegiate Recreation and/or within my department or area? The standards can be used in a variety of ways – individual program or area assessment, comprehensive departmental assessment, department or program area start-up, and more. Common ways self-assessment is conducted utilizing the collegiate recreation standards can be done are internally within your department of a particular program area or entire department, and done by you and your staff, or done by a internal review team consisting of individuals across campus. Also, external review teams could do a CAS-based review where a team of individuals visit your campus as part of the assessment process. Check out the cas.edu website under “Standards,” and then “Program Review” for some great information.
Ok, what’s a good place to start? A few suggestions: Purchase the standards. Read through them. Discuss with your staffs (if applicable) ONE area of your department’s programs, services, facilities, etc., to assess using the any one of the 12 standards within the Collegiate Recreation section. You’ll be surprised at how much you’ll glean simply by starting small as you review how you “match up” the standards to your department! A second suggestion: Purchase the Self-Assessment Guide (SAG) for Collegiate Recreation standards and utilize that document to self-grade the chosen ONE area you assess.
Please visit cas.edu as it really has a lot of helpful information whether you’ve never seen or heard of CAS, you’re a seasoned veteran, or somewhere in between!
I’m always here to help, so please do not hesitate to reach out to me to get questions answered. I want to hear from you! Thanks for your time I really appreciate it!
Andy Milton, NIRSA CAS Director
563-333-5675
For more information check out the CAS Brochure
