Review of “Building a Culture of Evidence in Student Affairs: A Guide for Leaders and Practitioners”

Lance C. Kennedy-Phillips   |    Volume Nine  |   

The main argument of Building a Culture of Evidence in Student Affairs, edited by Marguerite McGann Culp and Gwendolyn Jordan Dungy, revolves around the evolutionary, not revolutionary, process of establishing a culture of evidence. They advocate that the change be one of gradual development, not sudden upheaval. Throughout the book, the main discussion reinforces the point that designing and creating a culture of evidence is an ongoing process. As Kuh, Gonyea, and Rodriguez (2002) point out, assessments that use evidence-based data tend to provide information that can be reliably used by administrators to inform their decisions. Therefore, building a culture of evidence should not be seen as a one-time initiative, but is part of the regular business process of the student affairs division. This book’s design supports this premise and helps practitioners by offering tutorials that guide the development of evidence based assessment.

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