Summary Reports

The Office of the Vice President for Student Affairs (OVPSA) partnered with Human Resources & Organizational Effectiveness (HROE) to facilitate a one-day supervisor training, held on April 30, 2026, for staff members within the Division of Student Affairs who supervise staff and were nominated by their departments to attend. The training included topics such as communication, conflict resolution, Texas A&M University’s Human Resources policies, and leadership development. This is the second time the supervisor training has been offered, and the second time Student Affairs Planning, Assessment & Research (SAPAR) has helped assess it.

According to the staff Intranet site, the Division of Student Affairs (DSA) Staff Development Team “works to enhance the competencies of professionals in the Division of Student Affairs by facilitating purposeful, innovative, and engaging activities that educate, train, and develop.” This includes hosting six monthly division meeting programs per academic year. The Staff Development Team (SDT) wanted to assess division staff to determine if the monthly programs were meeting their needs and gather ideas for future meetings. Student Affairs Planning, Assessment & Research has previously assisted the Staff Development Team in assessing their monthly programs. This was the second time a needs assessment was conducted.

The MSC Programs Stark Northeast Tour provides students with the opportunity to explore premier cities in the US and expand their personal Aggie network during spring break. This year, the trip happened from March 7-15, 2026. Trip participants were assessed through an electronic survey throughout the trip to gauge how well the outcomes were met and the overall impact of this experience on these students. This is the first time Student Affairs Planning, Assessment & Research (SAPAR) has assessed this program.

Department of Student Activities staff wanted to understand more about their student employees’ experiences while working in their department. Specifically, staff wanted to identify why student employees (student assistants) stay working within Student Activities, the marketable skills they learned through working in Student Activities, and whether they felt respected and valued by their supervisors and peers. During the spring semester, Student Affairs Planning, Assessment & Research (SAPAR) worked with Student Activities staff to develop and facilitate individual student employee interviews and a short survey to gain insights from their student employees. The attached report summarizes the results from short survey and the interviews, and provides recommendations based on those results.

The Memorial Student Center (MSC) Student Programs Office has 16 MSC Program Council committees who provide programs and speakers for campus events throughout the year. Three Program Assemblies, made up of groups of student leaders and advisors, meet to approve programs and speakers for upcoming events put on by the MSC committees. The MSC Program Council leaders wanted feedback from its committees’ student leaders at various levels of leadership regarding their experiences with the program planning process and Program Assemblies (PAs) to find out how to improve its effectiveness and committee support. The survey developed was sent to MSC Program Council leaders, Vice Presidents, Committee Chairs and Directors (student leaders who are members of committees and present program proposals and speaker approvals at Program Assemblies). The attached report summarizes the results of the survey and provides recommendations stemming from those results.

The purpose of this assessment was to understand the experiences of students who participated in Howdy Camp, sponsored by Aggie Transition Camps (ATC). Howdy Camp is an optional extended orientation camp for students transferring to Texas A&M University and first-time in college students starting in the spring semester. This year, camp was held in College Station in early January 2026, however, in 2025 there was also a session at Lakeview. A few weeks into the semester, one survey evaluation was sent to co-chairs, counselors, and teamers, and another survey was sent to participants (campers) to assess their camp experiences and whether the participant (camper) learning outcomes were met. In addition, the counselors’, co-chairs’, and teamers’ assessment intended to ascertain if they felt equipped through their training to confidently lead small groups and assist new students in their transition to Texas A&M during and after camp.

Each spring, the MSC Student Conference on National Affairs (SCONA) hosts a conference to provide “programs for students across Texas, the nation, and the world to exchange ideas and discuss the role of the United States in the global community.” The theme for SCONA 71 was “Instruments of Power: American Influence on the Global Stage,” and it was held on February 10-14, 2026. SCONA 71 utilized speakers and team facilitators with first-hand experiences in the topics to guide delegates in the creation of a policy paper. MSC SCONA has worked with Student Affairs Planning, Assessment & Research to assess various aspects of the conference most years since 2008.