With the Student-Run Coffee Shops closed during the 2020–2021 academic year as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic, the Office of Student Centers took advantage of this time to conduct a program review to identify the program’s strengths as well as areas needing improvement. The program review was a valuable opportunity to build a stronger foundation for the coffee shops to flourish and to enhance the leadership development experience for students.
The program review committee was comprised of campus partners, stakeholders, and coffee shop staff. The committee held regular meetings over the Spring Quarter to:
- Explore best practices from peer institutions;
- Determine the quality and effectiveness of key on- and off-campus partners;
- Articulate the learning outcomes for students involved in the program;
- Identify future priorities; and
- Determine a process for regularly assessing the program moving forward.
To accomplish these goals, the committee considered feedback from staff focus groups as well as a comprehensive self-study document that highlighted current and historical information about each shop. At the end of this process, the committee created a list of recommendations.
Program Review Recommendations
- Clarify the program’s goals to include community building and student leadership development as top priorities.
- Create a campus community development plan for each coffee shop.
- Develop a cohesive and collaborative working relationship across the shops.
- Reimagine student employee learning outcomes to ensure they are measurable.
- Reassess each shop’s business plan before reopening.
- Set a financial target for each coffee shop.
- Recruit and hire a well-qualified Program Manager within the Office of the Student Centers.
- Remove as many transactional elements as possible from the Program Manager’s portfolio to allow them to focus on student leadership development and other key responsibilities.
- Create a set of program-wide student managers.
- Reinforce safety and sanitation as a core priority of the program.
- Set a regular assessment schedule.