Founded in 1996, the Atlantic Social Research Corporation's
(ASRC's) solution-centered focus is to work closely with two types of
clients: Nonprofit Organizations and Higher Educational Institutions.
For Nonprofit Organizations (NPOs), ASRC provides clear, concise and actionable program evaluations designed to integrate all organizational stakeholders in the process to fully address mission-based goals, strategic planning priorities, and meet annual reporting requirements of funding agencies.
For our partners in higher education, ASRC offers customized, easily integrated and timely deliverables for two- and four-year colleges and universities uniquely designed to meet or exceed their missions' strategic planning, curricular and operational assessment, and regional accreditation priorities and goals.
A value-added dimension of a partnership with ASRC is access to Data Points; a resource-intensive website administered by ASRC that includes articles on best practice assessment tools, video tutorials on, and links to, important and timely assessment and accreditation topics, and a blog to share ideas and communicate responses to questions posed by our clients.
Highlights of the Professional Consulting Services ASRC Offers to Nonprofit Organizations and Two- and Four-Year Colleges and Universities:
ASRC Partners Closely with Your Nonprofit Organization to:
1. Review, Clarify and Strengthen Alignments Between Your Mission-Based Goals and Strategic Planning Initiatives, Including the Roles of Your Staff, Administration, Board and Clients in the Process
2. Provide a Clear, Concise and On-Time Program Evaluation Based on Customized "Action and Assessment Plans" Designed to Document, Measure and Assess Your Mission-Based Goals and Strategic Planning Priorities
3. Develop an Intuitive and Actionable Evaluation Report for Your Organization's Stakeholders that Meets or Exceeds Critical Annual Compliance Requirements to Funding Agencies
ASRC Partners Closely with Your College or University to:
1. Review, Clarify and Strengthen Your College or University's Accreditation Readiness Report (ARR) at any Stage in the Development and Submission Process.
2. Review Your Emerging or Existing Evidence Inventory with Emphasis on Completeness and Accuracy in their Alignments to Meet MSCHE's Seven Regional Accreditation Standards and Related Requirements of Affiliation
3. Offer Recommendations for Successful Operational Procedures that Help Ensure the Structure and Process Needed to Complete all Phases of Self-Study.
4. Help Develop, Implement and Analyze Multi-Method Program Evaluations and Curricular Assessments that Lead to Tailored Reports on Academic and Operational Program Outcomes to Assess Continuous Improvement of Your Institutional Mission and Meet Your Self-Study Needs
5. Review, Refine and Enhance the Curricular Alignments Between Your Course-, Program-, and Institution-Level Learning Outcomes
based on an Innovative and Proven Course-Level Assessment Reporting (CLAR) System
6. Review, Refine and Enhance Your Operational Program Outcomes based on Innovative and Proven Action and Assessment Plans (A&A Plans) Designed to Align with Your Mission-Based Goals, Strategic Planning Initiatives and Regional
Accreditation Standards
7. Develop a Single, Highly Intuitive, Customized Crosswalk Database that Integrates and Aligns All Curricular Assessment, Operational Program Evaluation and Strategic Planning Outcomes with Regional Accreditation Standards for Fluid and Transparent Reporting
8. Review, Clarify and Strengthen Your Self-Study Design Prior to Liaison/Commission Review
9. Review, Clarify and Strengthen Your Draft Compliance Report Required by the Commission
10. Review, Clarify and Strengthen Your Draft Self-Study Report at Any Stage in the Development and Submission Process
Welcome to ASRC Solutions
About ASRC's Founder
Andrew Scott Ziner, Ph.D.
President, Atlantic Social Research Corporation
Andrew Scott Ziner earned his doctoral degree in sociology and applied statistics at the University of North Texas in 1986 and founded the Atlantic Social Research Corporation (ASRC) in May 1996. Dr. Ziner's longstanding private research practice includes more than three decades of developing, budgeting and administering over two hundred quantitative and qualitative program evaluation studies, both immense (HART HOPE VI community revitalization in Allentown, PA) and modest (Easton Middle School Success Program in Easton, PA), presenting deliverables to distinct populations and building community alliances with project stakeholders (e.g., corporate leaders, government and social service executive administrators, board directors, and college administrators).
Dr. Ziner's professional career in higher education includes an extensive thirty-four year record of teaching, research, and both administrative and executive service at large and small colleges and universities in the public and private sectors. Relevant highlights include appointments in the following capacities: Associate Professor (tenured) and Director of the Social Science Research Institute (Cedar Crest College), Director of Assessment (Drexel University), Executive Director of Institutional Research and Assessment (Bucks County Community College), Director of Assessment and Accreditation (East Stroudsburg University), Vice President of Institutional Effectiveness, Planning and Assessment and, in turn, College President (Eastern International College). In the latter three positions, Dr. Ziner served as Accreditation Liaison Officer (ALO) to the Middle States Commission on Higher Education (MSCHE).
Throughout his career in higher education, Dr. Ziner's expertise in strategic planning, curricular and operational assessment, program development and evaluation, and both program and regional accreditation led him to successfully carry out a wide range of charges. Highlights include documenting, measuring and assessing institutional effectiveness and continuous improvement at the course, program, and institutional levels, enhancing organizational efficacy through operational program evaluations, and ensuring compliance with accreditation standards, regulations and policies through a range of comprehensive, integrated and sustained strategic initiatives. Dr. Ziner also has conducted program feasibility studies using secondary data and EMSI software where he analyzed market data and labor force trends to assess the viability of proposed academic degree programs. This rigorous process, often overlooked by executive administrators in higher education, provides entrepreneurial insight into the scope and scale of potential job markets for program graduates (e.g., to identify and weigh competition) and leads to the integration of industry-driven curricular needs (i.e., specific soft and hard skills) into their degree requirements.
At Drexel University (Philadelphia, PA) and East Stroudsburg University (East Stroudsburg, PA), Dr. Ziner designed, implemented and reported on critical program evaluations and campus-wide assessment and accreditation initiatives in the context of MSCHE Self-Study. These energies resulted in oral and written commendation from MSCHE in Spring 2012 and Spring 2017, respectively, for innovative, three-pronged, strategies and instrumentation he developed, facilitated and implemented. At East Stroudsburg University and Eastern International College, Dr. Ziner's responsibilities also included the development and submission of the institution’s Compliance Report to MSCHE which is required before the Self-Study Report can be submitted prior to the site team visit.
In the fall 2019, Dr. A.S. Ziner left academe to transition from President of Eastern International College back to his private research practice with ASRC. His company's dual mission is to partner with Non-Profit organizations to address their program evaluation and reporting needs and, separately, to work closely with two- and four-year colleges and universities in their pursuit of MSCHE regional accreditation.