Relationship-Centered Assessment in Higher Education: A Model for Leadership and Practice

This book offers a practical, human-centered framework for fostering meaningful relationships in higher education assessment. The authors present the RARE Model—Relate, Affirm, Readiness, and Embolden—to provide leaders with concrete strategies, microskills, and reflective exercises. This book offers a practical, human-centered framework for fostering meaningful relationships in higher education assessment. Recognizing that the hardest part of assessment isn’t the data but engaging faculty and staff, the authors present the RARE Model—Relate, Affirm, Readiness, and Embolden—to provide leaders with the relationship-building skills essential to their success. The text includes a flexible toolkit of concrete strategies, microskills, and reflective exercises within the RARE Model, enabling readers to transform stakeholder connections into intentional, co-designed partnerships tailored to their unique contexts, roles, and needs. Rather than prescribing a one-size-fits-all approach, this book meets assessment professionals where they are, inviting them to experiment with practices that honor the deeply human dimensions of assessment leadership.