Needs Assessment

Chanise Holmes
CUR/528
December 12, 2015
Professor Laura Armer

Training
A needs assessment for admissions and financial aid advisors will be conducted. Needs
assessments are attempts at estimating deficiencies. We can think of these deficiencies as unmet
needs, gaps in services, or problems that have not been previously recognized. McKillip (1998)
defines needs assessments as decision-aid tools used for resource allocation, program
planning, and program development based on the assumption that planned programming can
alleviate distress and aid growth (p.262) (Royse & Thyer, 2010). Our plan with the needs
assessment it so aid growth with our employees in how they aid the students we serve.
Purpose
With our needs assessments we will be able to evaluate the knowledge that new and
experienced advisors have to be able to see where they lack knowledge. Once we have that
information we will be able to move forward to assure that the proper trainings are put into place
to address their deficiencies. Specifically, other reasons for this assessment are, To determine

whether existing intervention are known to or are acceptable to potential clients. To determine if
there are barriers preventing clients from accessing existing services. To obtain information for
tailoring a program to a specific target population (Royse & Thyer, 2010 p.55). For this purpose
we will complete the needs assessment at the schoolwide level.
There are several types of needs assessment. The type that will be used for the college
advisors will called a felt need. This is considered feedback that is given by the participants. It
can have downside as sometimes participants may not give their full opinion. Also, as these
assessments will be sent out via email, some employees may think their responses arent
confidential which my limit their participation or skew the way they answer the questions.
As the needs assessment is being constructed, we must also determine the stakeholders.
Stakeholders are all those who have an interest in a program each group of stakeholders can
have a different perspective on the program and may use the same data to argue that a program is
a waste of public funds or a dire necessity depending on whether they favor or oppose the
program (Royse & Thyer, 2010 p.58). When looking at the stakeholders of this needs
assessment I find the following to be stakeholders:
Academic Advisors
Admission Advisors
Financial Advisors
Current Students
Future students
Past students
All competing universities
Investors
The direct stakeholders will be financial advisors, academic advisors, admissions
advisors and current and future students. The information that is evaluated during the needs
assessment will directly impact a change that these stakeholders will see. Another direct

stakeholder will be all investors as they will be the ones risking their money to make
improvements. The improvements need to result in greater student retention, increased future
student applicants and enrollment to recoup the invested cost. Below you will be able to find the
allocated budget.
Budget
Evaluation Designer labor cost
Instructor labor cost
Distribution cost
Travel costs
Misc Costs:
Equipment
Outside vendor
Consultant
Other

Labor Cost
$4,000.00
$3,000.00
$100,000.00
$100,000.00
$207,000.00 Total
$10,000.00
$10,000.00
$15,000.00
$20,000.00
Grand
$262,000.00 Total

This is a detailed description of the time it will take to complete line items for the given
assessment.
Time Allotment
Needs Assessment
Prepare Project Plan
Conduct Content/Learning Analysis

Hours
.5
3
5

Develop Design Package

Develop Prototype Plan
Develop Flowcharts
Develop Script/Storyboards
Produce/Acquire Media (Photos, audio,
video)
Author Assessment

10
8
5
25

Evaluate the Assessment

15

15
40

Total
hours of
126.5 assessment
Assessment Prep Time

50 hours

Informants
As the information is being collected companywide there are no known resources. The
information that will be acquired does not currently exist. We want to gather information to
examine the specific needs of the employees within the company. This will allow us to tailor the
training specifically to their needs. Those that will be taking the needs assessment will be
incoming employees and veteran employees. The information that will be assessed will be able
to give a view into how advisors will be able to better serve the student body.
We want to make sure that students are being given the proper information and resources
to make sure they get the most of their student experience. The assessment will be able to obtain
the feedback from advisors and their experience with students. This will help the advisors,
students, and the university be successful as a whole. This needs assessment will be one that can
be completed every few years. It will allow ongoing improvements and to ensure that progress is
made from the previous assessment.
Methodology
As we consider the design of the assessment, there will be a consultant that will be over
the planning and execution of the needs assessment. The consultant will be able to research the
topic and make sure that we are addressing the appropriate purpose. Once we know that we have
the appropriate purpose we want to make sure that we stay on target with asking the appropriate

questions during the needs assessment. The consultant will also be the main point of contact with
the stakeholders.
The consultant should address the stakeholders concerns and have them implemented into any
revisions in the needs assessment until there is a final draft. The consultant will also make sure
the needs assessment is complemented in a timely fashion and on budget. Things that will be
considered by the consultant will be the procedure to produce the final assessment draft. This
will aid in the process to arrive at the final draft of the assessment and the distribution of the
needs assessment to all of the employees. This will be done electronically via a link to all the
advisors emails.
The consultant will make sure that the assessments runs smoothly and overcome any barriers
from the beginning of the process to analyzing the data that is produced from the needs
assessment. The consultant will later be in charge of the implementation of developing programs
to help the advisors do a better job at working with the students they serve.
Needs Assessment
Below is the link to the needs assessment.
https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/YGY2672

References
Royse, D., & Thyer, B. (2010). Program evaluation: An introduction (5th ed.). Australia:
Wadsworth Cengage Learning.