Mark Allen Poisel is the associate provost for Student Success at Pace University in New York. Prior to his current position, Poisel served in several positions at the University of Central Florida including associate vice president for Student Development and Enrollment, director of Transfer Services, and adjunct faculty member for the leadership minor/certificate. He currently serves on the advisory boards for the National Resource Center for The First-Year Experience and Students in Transition and the Association for the Study of Transfer Students. Poisel presents at international, national and regional meetings, including ACPA, NASPA, CSRDE, the Annual Conference on The First-Year Experience, the International Conference on The First-Year Experience, and the National Conference on Students in Transition, as well as SACS Annual Meetings. Poisel recently co-editied a monograph on transfer student success published by the National Resource Center.

Course Description:
This course will provide a comprehensive overview and discussion of transfer student success across multiple institutions with an emphasis on partnerships, campus culture, recommended services, student engagement, and program assessment. Participants will be provided with an overview of suggested strategies for improving the transfer student experience on their campuses with the opportunity to assess, analyze, and review their current policies, procedures, and services that directly impact transfer students. Participants will explore the various opportunities, challenges, and unique needs of transfer students with a focus on developing an action plan to implement or enhance the programmatic initiatives for transfer student success at a specific campus. Individuals who work with transfer or new students (i.e., enrollment management, first year programs, orientation, academic advising, retention, or academic support) are encouraged to enroll.

Padgett is the senior analyst for co-curricular assessment and research at Northern Kentucky University. Prior to this role, Padgett was the assistant director of research, grants, and assessment at the National Resource Center for The First-Year Experience and Students in Transition, where he facilitated a number of national surveys and oversaw research collaborations and grant opportunities between the National Resource Center and the higher education community and the University of South Carolina campus. Padgett was also a research assistant at the Center for Research on Undergraduate Education at The University of Iowa and a project associate at the National Survey of Student Engagement (NSSE) at Indiana University. Padgett has published multiple manuscripts on college impact, research methodology, and the first-year experience in national journals, book chapters, and research reports.

Course Description:
This course will provide an introduction to proper survey development, construction, and administration. With persistent concerns about survey fatigue and increased pressure for accountability measures, participants will be introduced to the methodology of survey design in an effort to gather highly reliable and valid responses.  This course will assess the survey administration timeline, including an introduction to techniques that will increase the reliability and validity of survey instruments, selecting the proper format of the survey instrument, developing and constructing survey items, and conducting and administering the survey.  Participants will engage in survey construction exercises that identify fundamental characteristics and practices that will ensure more reliable and valid responses.  This course is designed for professionals interested in institutional research and related positions who have a novice or intermediate understanding of survey construction and administration.