By Alice A. Mitchell
Assessment data is a cornerstone of operations in higher education and campus housing, leveraging metrics like student satisfaction and outcomes to drive decision making. However, data alone often fails to engage or inspire action. Spreadsheets filled with percentages, survey responses, and statistics can quickly become overwhelming or, worse, ignored.
The real challenge is to make that data meaningful to its intended audience. In the competitive and ever-evolving landscape of campus housing, professionals are under increasing pressure not only to gather useful data but also to present it in a way that resonates with various stakeholders, from students to senior leadership. And while there may be some die-hard number crunchers who will devour spreadsheets and numbers, it is more likely that storytelling – a method that transforms raw data into a narrative, making complex information accessible, memorable, and, most importantly, compelling – will be more likely to leave a lasting impact.
Though storytelling offers a powerful way to engage an audience, many housing professionals hesitate to adopt it. One of the biggest concerns revolves around credibility. When the presenter shifts from simply presenting raw data to weaving it into a story, there’s a fear that it might be perceived as manipulation or cherry-picking. By highlighting certain data points over others, professionals worry they’ll be accused of shaping the story to fit a desired outcome rather than letting the data speak for itself.
Jackie Klinger, assistant dean of students and a college house dean at Franklin & Marshall College, felt this hesitation early in her career on a different campus when she wanted to convey what she saw as the effects of a high-risk drinking culture in one of her buildings. She wanted to find a way to not only highlight the problem but also educate her students and drive meaningful change in the community. Rather than rely solely on hard data from police reports and surveys, she enriched this information with personal stories from students and staff, weaving a narrative that emphasized both the risks and the solutions. “If you try to cherry-pick a story that’s more positive than the data showcases, and then somebody asks a question about that data afterward, that can be a really tough decision,” she notes. The potential for needing to respond to difficult questions or pushback from skeptical colleagues or supervisors is another hurdle. When data is presented in narrative form, it naturally invites curiosity, and with curiosity comes scrutiny. Professionals might fear that opening up a story to interpretation could lead to more questions than answers, putting them on the spot to defend or further explain the data behind the story. In this case, though, Klinger remembers, “We were asking what we needed to do to support students better. The data and the story helped us create real solutions.”
When done correctly, storytelling doesn’t diminish the data’s credibility. Rather, it enhances it by making it more relatable and actionable. The key is to acknowledge the challenges upfront and embrace storytelling as a tool for transparency and engagement rather than spin. This is because stories have power. Stories are often told for entertainment, and in assessment they can help develop links between data pieces and a bigger picture. Often, that’s exactly what is desired for an assessment audience: the ability to establish relevant links between the information presented and the bigger picture.
There are many skills associated with assessment. Stereotypically, many of those can skew in the quantitative direction, but they gain strength when they are combined with more narrative skills. Tina Tormey, director of residential education and housing at The College of New Jersey, drew on her journalism background to understand the importance of humanizing data. “Sharing data is like doing a tour of the residence halls in the middle of the summer when they’re empty,” Tormey explains. “Storytelling with data is when you’re actually going through the building, engaging with the community when students are there, and the halls are decorated, and there's programming that's happening.” This simple shift in perspective – focusing on how data could be presented as part of a human experience – allowed her to change how she communicated with families about the benefits of on-campus living.
Sometimes, the storytelling doesn’t even need to rely on words. When Hilary Lichterman, director of housing and residence life at Seattle University, examined data showing the staggering number of hours that her staff, particularly non-exempt employees, were working, she recognized the toll this was taking and knew she needed a way to communicate the severity of the issue to leadership. Using a technique known as photo elicitation, she handed her staff cameras and asked them to document their day-to-day experiences. The result? A treasure trove of visual data that added context and emotion to the statistics she had been presenting. “I would have never known that the administration building was representing how entry-level staff viewed support from executive leaders,” Lichterman says. By giving her staff the tools to visually tell their stories, Lichterman made the data resonate in a way that mere numbers couldn’t.
Even when professionals recognize the value of using storytelling in assessment, some may still be intimidated by the thought of putting it into practice. For many, though, that fear is given too much weight. Humans are natural storytellers and can draw on their personal perspectives and needs to make storytelling work for them. Good stories, after all, pull the audience in by using one or more key elements: a quest, a mission, or a desire that drives the characters forward. What situation incited their actions? What challenges did they face along the way? This approach provides just enough context to capture attention while leaving room for the audience to engage with the unfolding narrative.
As Tormey notes, understanding the needs of multiple audiences is critical to crafting a compelling story. “I think a lot about the work I do with admissions and enrollment services to help train their staff on how to talk about our residence halls and the value of living on campus,” she observes. “But I don’t just focus on what admissions needs to know. I have to know what prospective students, high schools, and community colleges also want to know. Sometimes there are multiple audiences that you have to serve with the stories you are telling.”
Good stories, especially in the realm of data, aren’t bogged down with unnecessary details upfront. Instead, they begin with a hook, an element that immediately captures attention. Much like Luke Skywalker’s journey in Star Wars, a story must pull the audience into the action right away. Traditional research articles often start with a literature review, delving into heavy background information before getting to the point. But storytelling flips that on its head, boiling the context down to the essentials, pulling the audience in, and allowing the narrative to unfold naturally.
In the world of assessment, a good lead might be a thought-provoking question or a striking quotation paired with a relevant graphic or data point. Once the audience is hooked, strong stories use design elements to maintain engagement. These elements could be conflicts – like clashing ideas or tough choices – or progressive complications that deepen the tension. A pivotal moment or a twist can thicken the plot, keeping the story from feeling predictable or monotonous. This isn’t a graduate school research report. It’s a story: Skywalker, with his data-driven lightsaber, narrates the quest for a solution to a vexing campus challenge.
Finally, there is the climax of the story where the characters and their actions build toward that defining moment. A good story also anticipates its ending. Is it a triumphant conclusion? A cautionary note? Or maybe an open-ended call to action? Good storytellers begin with the end in mind, constructing their narrative arc to guide the audience along with them.
Consider Klinger’s experience addressing high-risk drinking in her residence hall. She could have simply presented the numbers of incidents, survey results, and police reports. But instead she crafted a narrative that took the audience through the problem, weaving in quotations from students, real-world experiences from staff, and hard data to emphasize the urgency of the issue. A good lead quotation, paired with an evocative image, might have been enough to grab attention. From there, she could introduce a few provocative data points, enough to engage the curiosity of her audience. A well-placed twist – perhaps in the form of unexpected findings – could turn up the narrative tension another notch.
Once the audience is hooked, strong stories use design elements to maintain engagement. These elements could be conflicts – like clashing ideas or tough choices – or progressive complications that deepen the tension.
In storytelling, it is not necessary to share every data point; only those most relevant to the story’s arc are needed. The story may include conflicting or surprising data, but those details only add depth to the narrative. Storytelling in assessment is not about cherry-picking facts; it’s about focused curiosity, a thread that runs consistently throughout. Think of it as the collaboration between a data analyst and a skilled journalist, combining precision and narrative flair to craft a presentation that would be a hit on YouTube, with or without Luke Skywalker. Ultimately, good storytellers maintain control over their plot and guide their audience through it. Assessment data can be scattered and overwhelming, but in a story only the most essential points are brought to light. This way, even complex or conflicting findings become a central part of a narrative that’s engaging, relevant, and actionable.
Storytelling isn’t just about crafting a compelling narrative. It’s about driving action. The stories told by each of these professionals led to real, tangible outcomes. Lichterman’s use of photo-elicitation resulted in immediate changes to staff scheduling and workload management. By showing not just the hours worked but also the lived experiences of her staff, she was able to secure the institutional support necessary to create a more sustainable work environment.
Klinger’s narrative around high-risk drinking behaviors led to more targeted interventions in her residence hall, from increased educational programming to better support systems for students at risk. Her ability to tell a story that combined both hard data and personal experiences created a holistic approach to addressing the issue.
Data alone rarely has the power to inspire action, but when combined with storytelling, it becomes a catalyst for change. The key to unlocking data’s potential is not in the numbers themselves, but in the story those numbers tell. In the end, storytelling is about connecting with an audience, understanding the purpose of the narrative, and driving toward a core takeaway that makes the data not only understandable but also actionable. By embracing storytelling, housing professionals can turn even unexpected or challenging data into an opportunity for growth and improvement.
Alice A. Mitchell is a research associate with Elantra and an associate editor for the Journal of Student Affairs Inquiry, Improvement, and Impact.
