The Assessment of a Tutoring Program to Meet CAS Standards Using a SWOT Analysis and Action Plan

Abstract

This article summarizes the use of SWOT (Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities, and Threats) analysis and subsequent action planning as a tool of self-assessment to meet CAS (Council for the Advancement of Standards in Higher Education) requirements for systematic assessment. The use of the evaluation results to devise improvements to increase the effectiveness of the program and its services fulfills Part 13: Assessment and Evaluation of the CAS standards. Professional tutors in the reading, writing, and mathematics developmental laboratories of the Learning Resource Center (LRC) of Lincoln University, Pennsylvania welcomed the use of SWOT analysis and developed an evidence-based action plan to increase the effectiveness of the program.

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Notes on contributors

Patricia Fullmer

Patricia Fullmer is the Interim Director of the Learning Resource Center (LRC). Dr. Fullmer manages the Reading, Writing, and Mathematics tutoring laboratories, the student development workshops, the Athletic Study Hall Program, and the Act 101 Achievement Program. Dr. Fullmer was instrumental in implementing online tutoring, and in having the LRC certified in all three levels by the International Tutoring Program Certification of the College Reading and Learning Association (CRLA). She also facilitated a self-assessment following the guidelines of the Council for the Advancement of Standards in Higher Education (CAS) and implemented a SWOT analysis and evidence-based action plan for all programs in the Learning Resource Center. Dr. Fullmer taught the following courses at the University of Phoenix: Introduction to Psychology, Psychology of Personality, Human Motivation, and Popular American Culture. In addition, Dr. Fullmer has been a behavior specialist for Elwyn, Inc., a guidance counselor in a middle school and a high school in Delaware, and a consultant for Crisis Intervention, West Chester, PA. Dr. Fullmer also worked as a director of a treatment center and as a rehabilitation counselor in Vermont. Dr. Fullmer taught the following courses at Green Mountain College, VT: Introduction to Psychology, Psychology of Personality, and Abnormal Psychology. She has also worked for the City of Philadelphia and the State of Pennsylvania as a social worker. Dr. Fullmer earned her doctorate in Innovation and Leadership in Education from Wilmington University, and she earned her master's in Counseling Psychology and her bachelor's in Anthropology from Temple University. Her dissertation research involved developing recommendations to modify the implementation of a new technology in a four year college.