In 2003, the California State University, Northridge (CSUN) undertook the challenge of becoming a learning-centered institution. In a 2005 article, the authors discussed how the learning-centered model at CSUN has renewed its previous, scattered efforts at student retention. In this article, the authors describe the transformation that occurred at…

Like Dorothy in the Wizard of Oz, faculty members and student affairs educators often believe that the answers they seek about assessment are secrets kept by an all-knowing, powerful person. If they can just find the Wizard of Assessment and be granted the secret assessment formula, all will be well. The student affairs educators at California…

In some organizations, coming to a consensus about what members' work is collectively about might be fairly straightforward. At a comprehensive public university serving more than thirty thousand students, reaching such a consensus is, more often than not, a real challenge. A tradition of faculty and staff autonomy, full schedules, competition for…