Nicky Patton

Student Programs and Assessment

8/18/2020

Faith in Assessment, Evaluation, and Research

My faith is at the center of my life and how I live it. I was raised in a very God-centered

family. My parents did an amazing job of turning my sisters and I to God, and taught us to be

Christ-followers from a very young age. Because of the way that I was raised, I have strong

morals that determine how I live. This extends to my work, wherever I might be employed at the

time. Specifically to this paper, my faith determines my work in assessment, evaluation, and

research.

In every area of work there are plenty of opportunities to be unethical, or even to break

the law. The career path of student affairs is no exception. Specifically in assessment, evaluation,

and research, practicing good ethics is important. Assessment is a very important part of student

affairs work, and small decisions, such as what to include in a survey report, which people to

interview, and who you share the results with, have a huge impact. In my life, my decisions are

not only guided by ethics, doing something because it seems right or it might feel good, but more

specifically, my decisions are guided by my faith. I choose to act in a way that I know God

would be pleased of, in the way that Jesus himself would act. Because my faith is so important to

me, pleasing God has been my desire. My faith is almost like a second layer on top of the moral

code that humans are born with. While I am certainly far from perfect, these two items together

guide me in making ethical decisions in my work.

 One area in which my faith guides me is in assessment design. The Bible says in

Colossians 3:23, “whatever you do, work heartily, as for the Lord and not for men.” In their book

Student Affairs Assessment: Theory to Practice, Gavin W. Henning and Darby Roberts state that

“in the end, student affairs assessment should lead to program and service improvement as well

as accountability to various stakeholders” (Henning and Roberts, 2016 p. 52). These two quotes

together teach me that God wants me to do my best and give my all to everything that I do. In

order to do my best at my job and create the best experience for students, I must assess.

However, I can't just throw together a haphazard assessment and call it good. This must be an

assessment that actually leads to improvement across the board. Therefore, my faith leads me to

determine that I must design assessments that are thorough, accurate, and helpful.

Another area in which my faith guides me is in sharing results. When it comes to

disclosing how an assessment has gone, it would be very easy to omit unfavorable facts, not

share the details with people who wouldn’t like them, change certain results, or simply pretend

that you did not actually complete an assessment. I believe that each of these actions, however,

would be dishonest, and not only is that unethical, but it also is not an action that would please

God. Hennings and Roberts discuss the importance of sharing all aspects of an assessment,

including the negative results and shortcomings of the process. By doing this, you can actually

better address the problems at hand and in turn create greater change. By sharing all important

information with everyone who needs it, not only am I acting ethically, but I believe that I am

also serving my institution to a greater degree.

My faith impacts all that I do, including my work, all the way down to how I share

assessment results. I believe that in order to best represent God, I must do my best when I am
creating results, and I must be honest and upfront when sharing results. By doing this, not only

will I please God, but I will also better serve my institution.

References

Henning, G. W., & Roberts, D. M. (2016). Student Affairs Assessment: Theory to Practice.

Sterling, Virginia: Stylus Publishing.