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National Survey of

Student Engagement

NSSE

Usin NSSE tAssess an IeUneauate Eucatin

Lessons rom the ieLd 2009



Since 1998, we have learned a great deal more about

how students learn in college. The National Survey o

Student Engagement, NSSE, as originally conceived,

rests on systematic studies o student learning and

development linked empirically to student experiences

and behaviors compiled over 40 years. In designing

a new vision o quality, we wanted to be sure that

the practices we called attention to as “engagement”

really mattered or student learning. That philosophy

has guided NSSE ever since. But as we learn more

rom cognitive science, the resulting insights conrm

the ecacy o the kinds o things NSSE measures.

More importantly, they help illuminate why these

practices and experiences are so powerul and exactly

how they work. At the same time, they underscore

the varied paths that individual students pursue when

making meaning o the same subject matter.

Used in combination, NSSE and the Faculty Survey o

Student Engagement (FSSE) provide a powerul way

to engage aculty in serious thinking about curriculum

and pedagogy. Similarly, the Beginning College

Survey o Student Engagement (BCSSE) allows

colleges and universities to undertake sophisticated

longitudinal studies that can reveal detailed patterns

o development or dierent kinds o students.

Just as important, NSSE data have grounded a

Fewsignicant and growing literature on college student

growth and development that both advances

the eld’s “basic science” and can readily

support improvement.

Institutional users have been an important part o

NSSE’s intellectual capital. They have unceasingly

made suggestions or improvement, attended lively

user group gatherings at higher education meetings

across the country, exhibited an uncommon

willingness to take part in experiments, and sharedtheir stories o institutional use. Indeed, some o

the most important components o the enterprise

today—FSSE, or example—arose directly rom

trying out new ideas at participating campuses.

As institutions continue to experiment with ways

to use and improve NSSE in the coming years,

harnessing this growing body o collective wisdom

has become more important than ever. This volume

captures the emerging lessons rom the eld,

providing instructive accounts and inspirationalexamples o how colleges and universities are

using NSSE results to enhance undergraduate

teaching and learning.

Hanessin the Cectie Wis the NSSE Use Cunit

By P t. ewll, Vc P,

naal C hg euca

maag sy (nChems)

I. Foreword

II. Lessons rom the Field 2009

III. Featured Institutions

IV. Institutional Examples by Topic

V. Quick Takes

VI. Conclusion

VII. Reerences and Resources

2

Tae Cntents

2

3

4

11

24

27

30



The National Survey o Student Engagement

annually surveys rst-year and senior students

at participating baccalaureate-granting colleges

and universities to assess the extent to which they

engage in and are exposed to proven educational

practices that correspond to desirable learning

outcomes. Institutions use the results to develop

programs and practices that promote student

engagement. The survey is administered in thespring term and is short, reliable, and easy or

students to complete. It asks undergraduates about:

• theirexposuretoandparticipationin

eective educational practices

• theiruseoftimeinandoutofclass

• whattheyfeeltheyhavegainedfromtheir

educational experience

• thequalityoftheirinteractionswithfaculty

and other students

• theextenttowhichtheyfeeltheinstitution

provides a supportive environment

Participating institutions receive a detailed

report with customized comparisons to selected

institutions, supporting materials and resources,

and a student-level data le. To date, approximately

1,400 colleges and universities in the US and

Canada have participated in NSSE.

The NSSE Institute or Eective Educational

Practice was created to develop user resources

and respond to requests or assistance in using

student engagement results to improve student

learning and institutional eectiveness. Since

the NSSE Institute’s inception in 2003, sta and

associates have completed a major national study

o high perorming colleges and universities, made

dozens o presentations at national and regional

meetings, conducted workshops and Webinars

or NSSE users, created user resources, including

Accreditation Toolkits and Working with NSSE

Data: A Facilitator’s Guide, and worked with many

campuses to enhance student success.

ovvw nsse

Usin NSSE t Assess an Ie

Lessons rom the ieLd 2009

Assessment is a worthwhile undertaking when

meaningul data are generated, evidence-based

improvement initiatives are thoroughly considered and

discussed, and results are ultimately used to improve

educational eectiveness. NSSE results are oriented

toward such practical use. Each year, more campuses

use their NSSE results in innovative ways to improve

the undergraduate experience. In this publication wehighlight the approaches dierent types o institutions

have taken to move rom data to action.

Because NSSE ocuses on student behavior and

eective educational practice, colleges and

universities have ound many instructive ways

to use survey results:

•Accountability

•Accreditationself-studies

•Alumnioutreach•Assessmentandimprovement

•Benchmarking

•Communicationwithinternaland

external stakeholders

•Facultyandstaffdevelopment

•Generaleducationreform

•Grantwriting

•Institutionaladvancement

•Institutionalresearch

•Retention•Statesystemperformancereviews

In the spring and summer o 2008, NSSE conducted

an in-depth examination o how institutions use their

NSSE results. Sta members rom the NSSE Institute

and doctoral students rom NSSE client service

teams interviewed more than 40 representatives

rom participating colleges and universities. The

institutions represented a range o size, Carnegie-

type, region, locale, and private-public control.

Uneauate Eucatin

3



or policies. For preparation o its sel-study or theHigher Learning Commission (HLC), YSU used

NSSE results, in-house questionnaires, and data on

retention and diversity. Stringer considered all o

these data resources to be very valuable in the design

o YSU’s new 2007-2013 Academic Strategic Plan,

which emphasizes teaching, learning, and student

engagement. The campus is dedicated to helping

students integrate their curricular and co-curricular

experiences. Future review o NSSE data will be used

to enhance YSU’s participation in Campus Compact,

a national initiative that promotes community service,civic engagement, and service-learning in higher

education. Although YSU joined Campus Compact

in 2008, Stringer hopes to use NSSE results and other

resources to assess the impact o service-learning

experiences on students.

YSU has ormed an Assessment Council with 14-16

members. The Council was established through the

Provost’s Oce and includes aculty, sta (including

Institutional Research & Policy Analysis, Student

Aairs, and representatives rom each college), and

students. All members o the Council received a copy

o the actual NSSE report (including raw data). The

report was read by all members and discussed in

Councilmeetings.TheGeneralEducationCommittee

also participates in the Assessment Council and

considers NSSE results to rene the general education

goals. Ater careul review o the data by the Council,

Stringer makes presentations to numerous campus

constituents such as the President’s Cabinet, Student

Life,StudentGovernmentAssociation,academicadvisors, and others.

CurrentlyatYSU,theAssessmentCouncil,General

Education Committee, and Institutional Research play

vital roles in reviewing and interpreting NSSE data.

For the uture, YSU plans to implement a Council on

Teaching and Learning that will include campus-wide

representation—including academic aairs, student

aairs, and advising sta—to discuss data on

student learning.

Ug nsse rul suy“sp slup”

pA C E U N I v E r S I T y ( N y )

Pace University has participated annually in NSSE

since 2002. Results have been shared extensively

with the Board o Trustees, Presidents’ Council, and

senior administrative councils. The Provost’s oce

has placed special emphasis on sharing results with

aculty and the entire university community. NSSE

results have not only been shared, but have beenacted on and incorporated into various institutional

assessments. Very early on, the Oce o Planning,

Assessment, and Institutional Research along with

the University Assessment Committee teamed up with

the Porzheimer Center or Faculty Development and

the Center or Teaching, Learning, and Technology to

present Faculty Development Days to review NSSE

results. The programs prompted discussion among

aculty concerning NSSE Benchmarks o Eective

Educational Practice such as Academic Challenge,Active and Collaborative Learning, and Student-

Faculty Interaction. Best practices were also shared.

In addition to sharing NSSE data with the various

administrative councils, individual deans and

department heads requested presentations on the

results or their department aculty and sta. Each

year, interest in “how we are doing” grows within the

institution. Several NSSE items helped assess Pace’s

progress in achieving specic goals o its strategic

plan in which a special emphasis was placed upon the

goal o “student-centeredness.” NSSE items also were

easily adapted to the goals and objectives o specic

programs and initiatives such as:

•measurementofprogressinservice-learning

•developmentofcapstoneexperiences

•participationinstudyabroad

5



• reafrmationofPace’scommitmenttoadiverselearning environment

• increaseinpositivestudentself-reportsin

mastering the learning objectives o the 2003

Core Curriculum

Some specic examples ollow that urther illustrate

how NSSE results have been used by Pace or

institutional improvement.

Improving the Sophomore Experience

Pace University had long provided coordinated

programs or rst-year students to promote their

success. These eorts seemed eective as evidenced

by a stabilized rst-year retention rate o 76–77%,

beginning with all 2000 cohort. However, no

special initiatives or programs addressed the needs

o students in their sophomore year and there was

growing concern over a retention rate that ater two

years dropped o by more than 9%. Motivated

by this persistence data and the success o the rst-

yearexperience,the“SophomoreWorkingGroup,”comprised o aculty, academic administrators, and

student aairs proessionals, began to ocus on

developing a special program or “experience”

or sophomores.

In reviewing NSSE 2004 rst-year results, the

WorkingGroupsoughttobetterunderstandareas

where Pace was doing well and those that needed

improvement in students’ relationships with aculty,

other students, administrators, and sta. Schreiner

and Pattengale’s (2000) Visible Solutions or

Invisible Students: Helping Sophomores Succeed

provided the group with additional insights into the

sophomore year. They ound that the phenomenon

o “sophomore slump” corresponded with a

numberofNSSEquestions,sotheWorkingGroup

incorporated these items into a short survey which

was administered to sophomores to assess the extent

to which students might be experiencing

this phenomenon.

Findings rom student responses to this surveyrevealed, or example, that relationships with aculty

played a critical role in students’ assessment o their

educational experiences and achievements, and that

specic bureaucratic procedures or registration,

nancial aid, and payment o ees were a source o

rustration or students.

Sophomore ocus groups were also conducted to

urther contextualize NSSE responses to the Pace

environment. Focus group ndings were consistent

with previous ocus groups conducted among a largersample o the general Pace student population, and

indicated sources o students’ satisaction and their

key reasons or attending and remaining at Pace.

Specic actions and programs resulted rom the

ndingsoftheSophomoreWorkingGroup,including

the development o comprehensive transition and

support programs or sophomores such as the “Pace

Plan”, a comprehensive advisement model or both

academic and career advisement, and the expansion

o aculty mentoring opportunities to increase quality

interactions with aculty, and restructuring the

registrar, bursar, and nancial aid oce.

6

Pac Uvy



Digging Deeper: Examining Variation

Within and Over Time

In an eort to provide usable results to each school or

college, Pace conducted a local NSSE administrationin 2005. This provided larger samples or each o its

schools and resulted in a more insightul prole o

their students’ engagement experience. The Oce

o Planning, Assessment, and Institutional Research

used NSSE results to determine whether there were

signicant dierences in the engagement experience o

students across schools and colleges.

Pace used NSSE data to carry out additional studies

on the experiences o transer students compared to

native students; commuters compared to resident

students and rst-generation students. In addition,

NSSE results have been used by proessional schools

at Pace in their accreditation eorts with AACSB,

ABET, CCNE, and NCATE. Pace also incorporated

NSSE results in its Middle States Sel-Study in

preparation or a spring 2009 reaccreditation visit.

Pace also looked over time at two satisaction

questions on NSSE to identiy relationships between

engagement practices and membership in one o thetwo extreme satisaction groups, “Low Satisaction”

dened by “poor or air” rating and “denite or

probable would not repeat experience” versus “High

Satisaction” dened by “good or excellent” rating

and “probable or denite would repeat experience.”

Although results indicated that the trend in most

areas was one o improvement, the percentage o

unambiguously satised students (i.e., those who

ound the experience satisactory and would attend

the same institution) hovered steadily between 65

and 70% over a ve-year period, compared to Pace’s

Carnegie peers who consistently demonstrated

higher scores.

In all, 37 engagement activities correlated positively

with student satisaction and perceptions o the

Pace experience. The analysis demonstrated that the

engagement activity most strongly correlated with

student satisaction was the quality o academic

advising. This was ollowed by “provided the support

to help you succeed academically,” “quality o your

relationships with aculty members,” “coursework

contributed to acquiring a broad general education,”and “quality o your relationships with administrative

personnel and oces.”

The University Assessment Committee disseminated

the ndings o the ve-year student satisaction

analysis as widely as possible, beginning with

the University’s leadership—all members o the

President’s Council which included the Vice President

o Student Aairs, and all members o the University’s

management team. Results rom the ve-year study

and a report highlighting Pace’s NSSE results werealso shared with the Board o Trustees. Faculty

members were a prime audience or the satisaction

results since many o the activities identied were

within their control. Because aculty members are

oten aced with reports o what is wrong, the

Assessment Committee thought it was especially

important or them to see what was “right.”

“ W ly up nsse a sse aa encuae capu cuy ak esnsiiit u eanin an enaeent.”

—Margaret W. Cohen, Associate Provost or Proessional Development and Director

o the Center or Teaching and Learning, University o Missouri-St. Louis

7



The AssessmentCommittee published

a newsletter reporting

on the ve-year study

o NSSE results that

was sent through the

provost’s Listserv to

all Pace aculty in late

March 2007. To ollow

up, a workshop on the

study was presented

at the annual Faculty

Institute in May.

Results Infuence Revision o

Freshman Seminar

The infuence o the ve-year satisaction results

ed directly into an issue getting a great deal o

attention and concern at Pace: a proposed revision in

the Freshman Seminar, UNV 101. One o the most

important changes proposed was to have ull-timeaculty rom each o the schools and the college teach

the UNV 101 course. In the past, proessional sta

and long-time adjunct aculty taught the seminar

along with a handul o ull-time aculty. The NSSE

student satisaction results provided additional

evidence or the associate provost to convince deans

and ull-time aculty that the assignment o ull-

time aculty to UNV 101 would have a signicant

impact on the rst-year experience. As the instructor

o the seminar also served as the student’s advisor,a second change extended the advisory role o the

aculty member rom a one-semester to a year-long

relationship with the student. First-year students

would be assigned to seminar sections based upon

their proessional school or college selection. As

a result, rst-year students would come into early

contact with a ull-time aculty member rom

their school or college in a meaningul advisory

relationship. With the help o NSSE evidence to

strengthen the proposal, all 2007 UNV101 sections

benetted rom the expertise o 57 ull-time

aculty members.

Results Inorm Reorganization

o Student Services

The satisaction study, which identied that “quality

o your relationships with administrative personnel

and oces” contributed to student satisaction, and

the sophomore survey results that revealed the need

or improvement in student services, particularly the

Registrar, Bursar and Financial Aid, made a strong

case or the creation o “one-stop services.” In 2007,

these oces were restructured and renamed the

Oce o Student Assistance. A new administrator

was hired to oversee the operation and a new series

o assessments was perormed to identiy the most

pressing problem areas. Pace’s president was keen

on using engagement results or improvements

and made student satisaction a high priority. He

extended Pace’s commitment to the improvement o

service delivery and has supported ormal programs

to empower Pace sta to take greater responsibility

or resolving student problems. Student engagement

data provided Pace University leaders with empirical

evidence o areas where action and change

was needed.

NSSE TIP #1:

Pg nsse rul WbMany colleges and universities have displayed some or all o their results on the Web. This is an

appropriate way to highlight institutional strengths and demonstrate an institution’s commitmentto quality improvement. Some institutions display all their NSSE reports online, while others

post selected results highlighting institutional strengths or news releases emphasizing institutional

participation and ndings relevant to institutional perormance priorities. More institutions are

posting their NSSE Executive Snapshot and the NSSE Pocket Guide Report: “What Students are

Saying...,” two short reports that summarize key student engagement ndings. Participants in the

Voluntary System o Accountability (VSA) that elect to eature NSSE results have the opportunity

to post additional inormation about their perormance. See the NSSE Web site or NSSE-VSA

updates, www.nsse.iub.edu/html/vsa.cfm. Examples o institutional Web sites that display

NSSE results in support o the assessment, transparency, and accountability initiatives in higher

education are eatured on the NSSE Web site. These sites are in keeping with NSSE’s policy on

rankings and guidelines or analyzing and interpreting results.

8



component. NSSE results have indicated that Viterbo

students, in comparison to their selected peers, scoredmore highly on learning about diverse perspectives

as a result o class discussions and written

assignments that have intentionally incorporated

dierent racial/ethnic, religious, gender-related,

and political perspectives.

Intercultural study and exchange experiences

enhance the Viterbo curriculum and oster diversity.

With the assistance o a Title VI grant in 2006–2007,

Viterbo University started a Latin American Studies

Program.TheGlobalEducationofcepromotes

study abroad programs to students and assists

aculty in nding international opportunities or

proessional development.

NSSE Results Infuence Pedagogy

As part o a Title III Program, Viterbo aculty

members have increased the use o active learning

strategies and technologies to create a learner-

centered classroom. Faculty participated in intensive

active learning workshops during university in-service

and out-service weeks rom 2004 to 2008. All had

access to a Title III “Coach” who was trained in

active learning teaching strategies and who reviewed

aculty projects, observed their teaching, and nally

evaluated the aculty member’s practice. Faculty

submitted progress reports to the Title III Director

and Coaches. NSSE results rom both 2006 and

2007 reinorce the eectiveness o active learning

strategies at Viterbo—students’ responses indicated

they learn more when they are intensely involved in

their education, asked to think about what they arelearning in dierent settings, and collaborate with

aculty and other students on projects.

Using NSSE in Higher Learning

Commission-North Central

Association Accreditation

Viterbo used survey data throughout its HLC-

NCA Comprehensive Sel-Study. Two targeted

areas where NSSE results established evidence to

meet accreditation standards were diversity and

active learning strategies (see above). Christensen

also used NSSE Institutional Report data reports

and supporting documents, raw data les, and

NSSE’s HLC-NCA Accreditation Toolkit as

additional resources to support the sel-study. Her

presentations at the HLC-NCA annual conerence

in April, 2007, and at the 2007 annual meeting o

the Association or Institutional Research in the

Upper Midwest (AIRUM) on “The Role o the

Institutional Researcher in Accreditation,” ocusedon preparing NSSE data or multiple audiences and

using institutional data in the accreditation process.

For example, in one PowerPoint slide, Christensen

included a chart she had created that displayed

Viterbo’s NSSE results mapped to HLC-NCA

accreditation standards.

10

NSSE TIP #2:

Lkg nsse daa w o sucNSSE results can and should be linked to other data sources on campus to determine whether

improvement eorts are having the desired eect. Because it is possible to identiy individualstudent respondents, with appropriate approvals NSSE results can be linked with inormation

rom academic and nancial aid transcripts, retention studies, ocus groups, and results rom other

surveys to develop a rich, comprehensive picture o the undergraduate experience.

Some institutions want multiple years o data beore taking action. Other institutions corroborate

NSSE results with existing evidence to address areas o concern, such as student use o technology,

amount o assigned reading and writing in certain majors, and quality o academic advising.



11

Institutina Eaes Tic

makg nsse daaPa a syac

A Appac

C A l I F o r N I A S TAT E U N I v E r S I T yN o r T H r I d g E ( C A )

Caliornia State University Northridge (CSUN) has

participated in NSSE our times over the past ve

years. Data rom its NSSE 2007 administration were

widely circulated or the rst time on campus by

the Oce o Institutional

Research (IR). CSUN had

participated in a paper

administration in 2006, as

part o the BEAMS project.

This yielded relatively small

numbers o responses,

making results less reliable,

so they were not widely

circulated. The current

Director o InstitutionalResearch, Bettina Huber,

opted or the Web-only

approach in 2007, along

with an oversample o rst-

year (FY) students, with

the result that just over

1,900 students completed

the NSSE survey. Thanks

to these “good numbers,”

meaningul subgroup

analysis was easible or the

rst time.

All departments and colleges

at CSUN are expected to

provide annual planning

reports. To assist with

this process, the IR oce

provided tables broken

down by college (see Table 1)

as part o a general overview o the 2007 NSSEndings presented at a spring 2008 session o the

Provost’s Proessional Development Series. The

NSSE senior data, broken down by college, served

as a ocus or college-specic discussion groups

held at the end o the session. Using the rich data

rom the oversample o FY students, Huber is

currently comparing the progress o FY students

who participated in University 100 (an introduction

to the University) with those who did not take the

class. She is also examining dierences in engagement

tabl 1 ABstrACt thinKinG sKiLLs: nsse resULts BY CoLLeGe



among seniors who entered the university as rst-yearstudents or later in their college careers as community

college transer students.

Rather than using the NSSE Benchmarks o Eective

Educational Practice, CSUN’s IR sta members

have developed their own groupings o survey items

to inorm dierent educational processes students

experience and to evaluate the eectiveness o certain

campus services. For example, student responses

regarding academic advising have been helpul

in locating individuals’ diculties with advisingservices within a broader context o airly widespread

satisaction. Huber has also ound the option to

select peer comparison groups very useul and looks

at the perormance o CSUN in relation to other

CSU campuses and other large public, primarily

nonresidential institutions.

CSUN was among a ew dozen colleges in the

nation participating in the all 2007 beta test o the

VSA (see p.4) and provides inormation to the College

Potrait, a common Web template that institutions canuse to meet the ollowing objectives:

•Demonstrateaccountabilityandstewardship

to the public

•Measureeducationaloutcomestoidentify

eective educational practices

•Assembleinformationthatisaccessible,

understandable, and comparable1

CSUN will continue to use NSSE data in uture

activities such as planned improvements to variousuniversity programs and exploring possible

dierences in the experiences o rst-time FY and

transer students. Huber would also like to examine

in more detail specic NSSE item clusters, such

as those that comprise what she calls “abstract

thinking skills” (judgment, analysis, memorizing)and are included in the Level o Academic

Challenge benchmark.

C l E m S o N U N I v E r S I T y ( S C )

Clemson University has administered NSSE

consecutively over the past seven years, beginning in

2003. A campus NSSE team was ormed to provide

aculty and administrative sta with resources and

inormation about how to use NSSE in practice,

and how to enhance the campus’s administration.Recently, renewed eorts to share NSSE results

across campus and have meaningul conversations

about putting the results into practice have begun.

Clemson’s president, James F. Barker, has set an

institutional goal to become one o the top 20 public

institutions in the nation by 2011. To reach this goal,

increased ocus has been placed on intentional data

collection to ensure that all assessment instruments

utilized are providing useul and actionable data.

In addition to NSSE, Clemson participates in

COACHE, a job satisaction survey created by

the Collaborative on Academic Careers in Higher

Education at Harvard University that gathers

inormation on tenure-track aculty, and in the VSA.

For the rst time in 2007, Clemson chose to

customize its NSSE comparison groups. Eleanor

Nault, Clemson’s Director o Assessment, reports that

this option has made the data reports much more

useul. She has also ound the NSSE benchmarks to

be very helpul or institutional level analysis.

In addition to individual campus goals, the South

Carolina State Budget and Control Board requires

that all higher education institutions apply the

Baldridge Criteria® reporting guidelines used to

measure organizational perormance. The Board

used national criteria or educational quality and

12

1 Voluntary System o Accountability Web site.

Retrieved on August 11, 2008, rom

www.voluntarysystem.org/index.cfm.



13

adapted them to address the Baldrige Criteria. Inits accountability report to the State Board, each

institution must benchmark its perormance against

these criteria. Clemson accomplishes this task by

integrating NSSE, VSA, and other institutional data.

NSSE results have been presented to the entire

Division o Student Aairs, sparking productive

discussions concerning areas where the campus is

succeeding in connecting with students, and areas

that may require some attention. Stemming rom the

increase in emphasis on eective assessment measures

at Clemson, the new Vice President o Student Aairs,

GailDiSabatino,invitedDr.GeorgeKuh,Director

o the Indiana University Center or Postsecondary

Research and then Director o NSSE, to campus in the

all 2007. Dr. Kuh suggested that assessment eortswork to identiy underengaged students. Clemson’s

NSSE data has since been aggregated to identiy large

enough groups o students to successully pinpoint

characteristics o those who may be underengaged.

Giventhenumberofyearsthecampushas

administered NSSE, their pool o respondents is large

enough or this method to be eective.

Presented with NSSE data, Clemson aculty membersexpressed concern over student reports o too ew

in-class discussions that address issues o diversity.

The campus has since determined that aculty and

students may have been interpreting the question

dierently. However, preserving the classroom as

a sae space or conversations on diversity is very

important to the University and aculty have been

oered opportunities to learn more about teaching

methods to engage students in these types o

discussions. In addition, workshops on other types

o pedagogical strategies have been developed and

oered to aculty members.

NSSE data has been tied to other campus decisions

at Clemson. Over the past three years, Clemson has

initiated Creative Inquiry Projects—undergraduate

research activities where aculty members guide small

groups o students through a multi-semester project

in various disciplines. Projects are designed to

help students develop problem-solving and critical

thinking skills, as well as the abilities to work onteams and express themselves eectively in written

and verbal communication.

A campus press release rom last year highlighted how

the Creative Inquiry program and other initiatives

such as internships and cooperative experiences

had, according to Clemson’s 2007 NSSE results,

increased the numbers o students participating in

undergraduate research to a level signicantly higher

than institutions in Clemson’s selected peer group.

Looking orward, Clemson plans to use NSSE data

to evaluate rst-year programs such as living and

learning communities. Clemson’s response rate to the

survey is approaching a level where the numbers o

students involved in these communities are a large

enough part o the random sample o its student

population that more targeted analysis o their

responses will be possible.

Cl Uvy



H A S T I N g S C o l l E g E ( N E )

For decades, Hastings College (HC) has been telling

potential students that its students are engaged,

they learn, and they are satised. Faculty and

administrators at the institution elt condent in this

statement based on personal eedback rom students

but, until recently, there had been no concrete

evidence to support their assertions. In 2006, with

HLC-NCA accreditation looming, Hastings decided

to adopt a systematic approach to measuring student

outcomes to validate these claims. Participation in

NSSE was chosen as a key component o this

assessment approach.

To encourage survey participation, HC’s President

Phil Dudley signed the NSSE e-mail invitation that

asked students to respond to the NSSE request to

participate. This personalized approach worked well

and the school had a 75% participation rate. Such a

high response rate bolstered the college’s condence

in its NSSE data since it suggested the results were

closely representative o the total student population.

Upon receipt o 2007 NSSE data, Rich Lloyd,

Vice President o Academic Aairs, and other

HC administrators were pleased to nd that the

results “conrmed what they already knew.” High

benchmark scores and positive growth in almost

all areas in both rst-year and senior results

conrmed that HC students were actively engaged

in their education.

According to Lloyd, Hastings had administered

surveys in the past but their use was sporadic.

However, HC is now committed to adopting

assessment strategies that provide useul data or

accreditation and dissemination to external groups.As Lloyd noted “The HLC-NCA language is clear;

they expect colleges to prove they are accomplishing

their mission.” HLC was on campus in the spring

o 2005 and asked Hastings to le a progress report

by June o 2007. NSSE, and other assessments,

were selected to address key components in the

institution’s response.

Hastings also wanted a plan that it could use or

internal assessment. As a small campus in rural

Nebraska, student scores on diversity-related items onthe NSSE survey were not as high as those involved

in assessment had hoped, so Hastings drilled down

to specic item responses to determine which areas

needed improvement. By using NSSE results to

target specic diversity needs, Hastings was able to

implement new programs to improve these areas and

to encourage more interaction among students rom

dierent religious and ethnic backgrounds. The new

programs included publishing an annual campus-wide

diversity calendar, establishing the Faculty DiversityInitiative, and increasing study abroad opportunities.

Campus administrators share NSSE results, along

with those o other assessment instruments, with all

new students in a simple one-page overview. Finally,

students’ responses to NSSE survey items are posted

on the Hastings Web site and accessed through a

prominent link on the home page.

14

“ nsse cpl u xg aa uc pv a e ceteictue, a a b a caaly u capu ethinin

a eiainin ugaua lag xpc.”

—Brian D. Pettigrew, Assistant Vice President (Institutional Research &

Planning)&Registrar,UniversityofGuelph,Guelph,Ontario,Canada



Lloyd says Hastings still has a long way to go indetermining how to “tell the story with NSSE.”

He believes a systematic approach to assessment

and commitment to use o the data will result in

signicant gains as Hastings College continues to

grow and change.

p E A C E C o l l E g E ( N C )

Peace College is a private, liberal arts college or

women located in Raleigh, North Carolina. Faculty-

student interaction is central to Peace’s mission and

NSSE results serve as a gauge o how well they are

doing in ullling that mission. Student-reported

data on the extent to which they are challenged

in their coursework is o major concern to aculty

and administrators at Peace and signicant ocus is

placed on the NSSE benchmark, Level o Academic

Challenge. Two outcomes o this ocus were the

addition o a required statistics course to the general

education curriculum and continuing conversations

regarding pedagogy. Starting in 2008, Peace began

comparing student perormance rom the Collegiate

Learning Assessment (CLA) along with NSSE to

gather more in-depth data on this benchmark.

Having recently completed its eighth administration

o NSSE, Peace had made the reporting o NSSE

results a part o the campus culture and an expected

component o the campus’s regular assessment

plan. In addition to use as an assessment tool,

Peace’s marketing oce has used NSSE results as a

public relations resource or the campus. Dr. David

B. McLennan, Associate Dean or Institutional

Eectiveness and Proessor o Communication

and Political Science, issues annual reports to the

institution’s curriculum committee and presents NSSE

data to the aculty several times each year, charging

them to review specic aspects o the data. While

these groups are presented with detailed inormation,

senior administrators at Peace receive a broad

overview o all NSSE results. Even though NSSE

results are widely disseminated across campus, Peacewould like to dig deeper into its NSSE data and plans

to begin more comparative analyses.

U N I v E r S I T y o F C A l I F o r N I Am E r C E d ( C A )

The University o Caliornia (UC) Merced is the rst

new American research university o the 21st century.

NSSE was a part o the UC Merced assessment

strategy beginning with its very rst student body in

the 2005-2006 academic year. In addition to ullling

accreditation requirements, the administrators at

UC Merced saw a need or data to track progress

over time as both the students and the campus

develop and grow—or ormative eedback according

to Nancy Ochsner, Director o Institutional

Planning & Analysis.

Prior to beginning their positions at UC Merced,

key administrators such as Ochsner had worked

with NSSE data at other institutions. When they

were hired by UC Merced and tasked with openinga new university, these administrators immediately

turned to NSSE as a source o credible data to help

them monitor student support services and encourage

aculty to embrace a holistic view o students’ UC

Merced experience. In particular, administrators

involved in assessment and planning hope to use

NSSE data to help aculty and sta understand the

student experience and maintain eective academic

and co-curricular connections with students.

UC Merced has not yet received a Carnegie

classication. In the uture, the institution will be

classied as a research university. However, or now,

the ability to compare their institution with other

institutions participating in NSSE is critical to UC

Merced administrators. The customization o the

peer comparison groups is particularly important as

the institution grows and expands. They want to be

able to benchmark UC Merced experiences both with

15



research universities (mostly much larger) and withselective liberal arts colleges (more similar in size).

NSSE allowed the campus to dene both groups or

comparisons and, as UC Merced develops, they will

redene their comparison groups appropriately.

UC Merced has received data rom two past NSSE

administrations and is participating again in 2009.

Results already refect the unique UC Merced student

experience. For example, during the rst academic

year o operation, there were no classrooms on

the campus and classes were held in the libraryas acilities were being built and opened or use.

Responses to NSSE refected that experience.

NSSE responses also mirrored student responses to

other surveys conducted by UC Merced, including

the system-mandated University o Caliornia

Undergraduate Experience Survey (UCUES).

UC Merced administrators carried out additional

analyses to urther conrm that NSSE results refected

the student experience on campus. They disaggregated

NSSE data using dierent demographics to

understand the experiences o a number o selected

groups such as rst-generation and transer students,

students o dierent races or ethnicities, and students

in dierent majors. UC Merced considers these

analyses, made possible by using NSSE raw data,to be essential or an institution with such a diverse

student body.

UC Merced has also made use o other NSSE

resources, particularly the PowerPoint presentation

included with the Institutional Report and research

papers and presentations available on the NSSE Web

site. These materials have helped administrators and

sta make sense o the large amount o data returned

to NSSE participants, and to share results with othercampus audiences. In sorting through the data,

Ochsner ound it helpul to ocus attention on eect

sizes since there was so much inormation

to process.

Thus ar, UC Merced administrators have shared their

NSSE data with senior administration, including the

Chancellor’s Cabinet and various deans, and students,

including the Vice Chancellor or Student Aairs

AdvisoryGroup.“ThestudentsatUCMercedgetexcited about the fndings too,” Ochsner told NSSE

sta. “The goal is to amiliarize them with survey

data,” she continued. Some next steps or Ochsner

and other administrators involved in assessment

include beginning discussions with aculty on using

NSSE data and working on their partnership with

the newly ormed Center or Research on

Teaching Excellence.

U N I v E r S I T y o F d E N v E r ( C o )

The University o Denver (DU) has a tradition o

administering the NSSE survey and Janette Benson,

the Director o the Ofce o Academic Assessment,

hopes to enhance the tradition by looking at new

ways to utilize NSSE results. The oldest private

university in the Rocky mountain region, DU serves

almost 5,000 undergraduate students. Based on

16

Pac Cllg



previous NSSE benchmarking results, the college hashigh levels o engagement in comparison with its

peers. Benson believes DU’s NSSE results have the

potential to provide the University with much more

than comparative inormation.

Benson is enthusiastic about including analysis o

NSSE results as one component o the institutions’

larger academic assessment plan. Drawing on

her background as a cognitive developmental

psychologist, Benson plans to disaggregate NSSE

results. “We should be using NSSE as part o a directassessment o what the University o Denver is doing

on campus or dierent groups o students,” said

Benson. As a aculty member and administrator, she is

optimistic that she will help DU’s aculty continue to

nd value in using NSSE results to learn more about

their students.

Institutional Research and senior administrators

were particularly excited about DU’s 2008 BCSSE

administration. Benson hopes participating in both

NSSE and BCSSE will allow the University to collect

longitudinal data on incoming students. She believes

the institution could benet greatly by looking at

both students with low- and high-engagement scores

in NSSE and examine their previous high school

experiences and expectations or college.

In the uture, Benson plans to examine the types

o learning that occur in dierent educational

programs at DU. She will begin by assessing some

o the key eatures o general education uniqueto DU. Using evidence rom the eld o cognitive

developmental psychology that suggests a higher

level o learning goes on in areas where students

have the most motivation and expertise, such as their

majors, Benson hopes to dig deeper and break down

NSSE results by major area o study. She believes

the outcomes within the majors might be a better

indicator o what students are actually learning.

NSSE comparison reports are a benecial part o theoverall NSSE survey results, according to Benson,

and she uses them to benchmark DU’s perormance

against other schools. By making a commitment

to incorporate NSSE into the overall institutional

assessment plan, Benson and others will be able to use

the data or more targeted analysis. She believes this

approach will eventually help DU ully understand

how to best educate students in accordance with its

institutional mission.

Pg suegag ug

sa Lap a

Cllaba

U N I v E r S I T y o F T U l S A ( o k )

The University o Tulsa (TU) is a private doctoral-

degree granting university with an average student

enrollment o slightly over 4,100. O this total,

approximately 3,000 are undergraduates. The campus

is close to downtown Tulsa, OK, an urban center with

a population o 550,000. The University’s mission

refects the core values o excellence in scholarship,

dedication to ree inquiry, integrity o character, and

commitment to humanity.

The decision to participate in NSSE was made by

the Vice-Provost or Academic Aairs in 2001.

Institutional administrators were motivated to

learn more about the experiences and expectations

o their students and to discover i aculty and

sta impressions o students were accurate. TU

participated in NSSE in 2001, 2004, and 2007; and

in Faculty Survey o Student Engagement (FSSE)

in 2004 and 2007. In addition, the College o Law

administered the Law School Survey o Student

Engagement (LSSSE) in 2004 and 2007.

17



student responses rom selected NSSE items, the vice-

provost was able to present to the Dean’s Council a

revealing look at student-aculty interaction

on campus.

Although NSSE results were mainly used or

reaccreditation purposes, the Admissions and

Student Services oces were very interested in

student responses that Tanaka had pulled out or

the sel-study on survey items 7d and 7g, which ask

students i they plan to or have: a) worked with a

aculty member on a research project, or b) pursued

an independent study or a sel-designed major.

Admissions and Student Aairs plan to use these

data along with scores on diversity items in recruiting

materials. These oces have created an advisory

board o high school counselors rom across the

country. TU unds the counselors to come to campus

or an annual meeting to gather their expertise on

meeting the needs o rst-year students.

Winona Tanaka, a Clinical Associate Proessor

rom the TU College o Law, is the current Vice

Provost and Associate Vice President o Academic

Aairs whose responsibilities include heading up

administration o NSSE and working with surveyresults. Over the past ve years, she has actively

promoted the use o NSSE results or assessment and

planning across campus. In addition, ater attending a

NSSE users workshop, her oce has provided unds

or two aculty members, the dean o students, and

several senior administrators rom enrollment services

and university assessment to attend additional

NSSE workshops. Dr. Alex Wiseman, an Assistant

Proessor in the School o Education, attended a

NSSE workshop and later delivered presentations to

the Student Services sta at TU using many o the

materials—such as handouts, slides, and exercises—

he had gathered in the NSSE sessions.

The culture at TU is to “work together” across

division lines. Tanaka has presented NSSE results

in the Dean’s Council, at the annual campus-wide

meeting o aculty and sta, to Student Services

sta, and to internal HLC accreditation committees.

Presentations ocused on using NSSE results as

indirect measures to support selected standardsin TU’s sel-study, a component o the HLC

reaccreditation process. NSSE data was used to arm

a number o assertions in the sel-study.

Proessor Tanaka uses NSSE benchmark data or

broad comparisons. When carrying out analysis o

specic areas, she requently uses disaggregated raw

data. For example, TU prides itsel on the quality

o relationships between students and aculty. Using

18

“ BCsse a nsse ul av hee uie u kg a plag v paw ya a capu gag a ba-ba stateic annin cess.”

—Marianne D. Kennedy, Proessor and Coordinator o Assessment and Planning,

Southern Connecticut State University

txa A&m Uvy



Responsibilities or assessment have moved romthe Vice Provost or Academic Aairs to the

Director o University Assessment over the past year.

University Assessment hopes to collaborate with a

aculty member in each college who will serve as a

champion or helping their colleagues understand the

importance and useulness o NSSE data or analysis

at the college level.

epwg iual

sakl Cv nsserul Ac: dvy,

su Aa, aculy,

Cucag rul

T E x A S A & m U N I v E r S I T y ( T x )

Texas A&M University (TAMU) was opened in 1876

as the rst public institution o higher learning in the

state. Currently TAMU has a student enrollment o

46,000-plus students (8,500 are graduate students).

About 25% o rst-year students are the rst in their

amily to attend college

NSSE data have been used in a variety o ways at

TAMU. Texas law requires public universities to

report student satisaction data to the state. Since

2001, the Texas A&M University system has used

NSSE as a tool to report these data. Associate

Director o Measurement and Research Services,

Mark Troy, sends out NSSE results to all Deans as

well as a custom-tailored college-level analysis o thedata. Several colleges, such as Agriculture and Liberal

Arts, have used NSSE data or their institutional

eectiveness reports.

Several task orces at TAMU were established to

better measure the institution’s progress in serving

students. One o these task orces ocuses exclusively

on writing. In 2005, another task orce identied 20

characteristics a TAMU graduate should possess, one

o them being writing eectively. However, when

compared to other institutions, the task orce oundthat TAMU students were not perorming as well

as their selected peers on this characteristic. Ater

targeted analyses o specic NSSE item responses

related to communication, TAMU established the

University Writing Center, a student calibrated peer-

review program, and “W courses”—courses with

intensive writing components in many majors. Similar

targeted analyses o NSSE items related to student

research have been conducted in support o TAMU’s

initiative to enhance the undergraduate experience

through inquiry/research-based education.

To share NSSE results and encourage campus-wide

interest in the assessment process, Troy has made

presentations on NSSE to the University Assessment

Committee, a group that deals with all assessment-

related topics or the University and to some o the

college assessment committees. Troy has also ound

the NSSE pocket guide to be a very useul tool or

sharing NSSE results. He and his sta pulled out

TAMU’s results related to the guide questions andcompiled a report which was sent across campus to

academic advisors and admission ocers.

U N I v E r S I T y o F N o r T HC A r o l I N A , W I l m I N g T o N ( N C )

The University o North Carolina, Wilmington

(UNCW) enrolls over 10,000 undergraduates who

pursue 73 baccalaureate programs and, or over 10

years, has been recognized as one o the top public

universities in the South. A recent conversationwith university leaders rom institutional research,

academic aairs assessment, and student aairs

assessment revealed how this institution has

empowered various stakeholders to use NSSE results

to take meaningul action in their respective areas.

For UNCW executive leadership, NSSE provided

a snapshot o student engagement at the university

as well as a comparison o UNCW students with

19



sel-selected peers. Assistant Vice Chancellor, Lisa

Castellino, who coordinated NSSE administration

and oversaw the dissemination o ndings, discovered

that visually representing NSSE results was highly

eective or large and varied audiences. Castellino

used graphics to cluster UNCW results on the ve

NSSE benchmarks and to represent its survey scores

as compared to peer institutions. She used arrows to

indicate whether the institution’s mean was above orbelow their comparison groups and dierent colors

to denote the strength o dierences. Her visual

presentation o ndings along with a summary o

areas o strength, progress, and mixed perormance

helped make the data easily understood by all

campus audiences.

The Oce o Institutional Research and Assessment

at UNCW recently made NSSE data available through

a secure server. The Oce had been challenged to

respond to various requests by university assessment

experts or specialized analyses o NSSE data. By

providing server access to NSSE data, campus

assessment proessionals were enabled to conduct

their own analyses related to specic unctional

areas. NSSE data has now become a living resource

or decision making in the university. Future plans

include providing access to multiple years o NSSE

data and adding more UNCW-specic inormation,

such as student residence, academic major, grade

point average, and standardized test results.

Additionally, the Division o Student Aairs has

used NSSE data as an impetus or improvement in

the areas o advising, diversity, and co-curricular

activities. In an initiative ocused on career planning

and advising, the Division ound that survey

responses rom students o color and those majoring

in physical sciences and engineering indicated

that they were less likely to consult with aculty

or advisors about their career plans. The Division

recruited more career advisors o color, developed

a mentoring program or minority students, and

increased stang to reach out to physical sciences

and engineering majors. NSSE results related to

diversity also showed variation in the requency that

students rom dierent racial and ethnic backgrounds

participated in conversations with diverse peers.

These ndings prompted the Division to host

diversity workshops and conerences, to increase

support or select subpopulations, and to create

new sta positions or advising multicultural

organizations and conducting multicultural

programming. Finally, NSSE ndings and other

eedback led to a UNCWeekends campus initiative

to increase co-curricular engagement.

NSSE TIP #3:

Bcak aga agul cpa gupTo assist in benchmarking eorts, NSSE allows institutions to select other participating institutions

to orm comparison groups with a minimum o six other institutions. Using a Web-based tool,institutions determine the comparison groups included in their institutional reports based on criteria

they establish or by selecting rom the list o participating colleges and universities. Suggestions or

creating meaningul comparison groups can be ound in the Customizing Your NSSE Institutional

Report document at www.nsse.iub.edu/links/comparison_groups.

Institutions use peer comparisons (normative perspective) to conrm or challenge assumptions

about perormance. A criterion-reerenced view o student engagement, whereby the institution’s

results are compared against a predetermined value or level that the institution deems appropriate

or students, can provide a more meaningul gauge o perormance given institutional mission,

size, curricular oerings, unding, and so orth.

20



The Watson School o Education at UNCW has

used NSSE data to develop summary reports that

compare student engagement results in individual

departments with all other students at the university.NSSE data on diversity have also been made available

to the Watson School Diversity Committee. These

data were used as part o the basis or discussions

in the diversity committee that led to the planning

and implementation o a diversity showcase. By

combining and averaging three years o NSSE results,

academic departments with smaller majors had

additional respondents which provided more reliable

measures. These reports, organized around the ve

NSSE benchmarks, oered descriptive summariesand item level requencies or rst-year and senior

students. While NSSE ndings are becoming more

integrated in the decision making process, the

response rate seems to be an obstacle to overcome or

academic units like the Watson School o Education.

su aculy iac

THE CollEgE AT broCkporT,STATE UNI vErS I Ty oF NEW

y o r k ( N y )Located in a small town on the historic Erie Canal, The

College at Brockport, State University o New York

(SUNY Brockport) is located 16 miles west o Rochester,

NY, and about 45 miles east o Bualo. SUNY

Brockport was one o the ounding institutions in the

pilot (2003–2004) o the Foundation o Excellence® in

the First College Year process and participated in NSSE

or the rst time in 2004. Since then, the institution has

participated in the survey every year.

Ater receiving NSSE results or several years,

department chairs at Brockport began to express interest

in the survey and ask about the responses o their specic

students. To better help aculty serve students, LillianZhu, Director o Institutional Research and Planning,

utilized the group variable columns in the population

le to identiy the academic majors o students. Then,

she created binders or each department which included

NSSE mean comparisons and requency distributions

reports rom students in that department over the span

o our years compared to the entire Brockport sample.

In addition, she and her institutional research (IR) team

wrote a one-page summary detailing specic results that

department chairs should pay special attention to in bothhighlighting and improving their eorts.

Zhu and her IR team also provided reports to the

Educational Opportunity Program (EOP), Honors

program, and the Delta College program, an alternative

tothetraditionalGeneralEducationprogram.Delta

College oers students an interdisciplinary approach

to required courses with a special ocus on career

preparation. Students work closely with aculty and

take up to 10 classes together as a cohort.

Zhu continued working with department chairs and

aculty ollowing the distribution o binders. Brockport

had also participated in FSSE three times rom 2006-

2008. Through various presentations to and discussions

with school deans, Zhu addressed dierences or

mismatches present in aculty and student perceptions

revealed in comparing FSSE and NSSE results. For

example, the amount o time aculty indicated students

should be investing in class was very dierent rom

21

“ W’v u u nsse ul upp aj eansin lag cu, acut eeent av, a

ca a l u upp l.”

—Rosa L. Jones, Vice President or Student Aairs and Undergraduate Education,

Florida International University



22

the amount o time students actually reported. Thesediscussions have led to the development o several

action plans to improve the undergraduate experience

at Brockport.

With the system participation o all SUNY schools in

2008, Zhu looks orward to making use o comparison

data to review Brockport’s perormance with other

system institutions.

U N I v E r S I T y o F C I N C I N N AT I ( o H )

The University o Cincinnati (UC), a public research

university in Cincinnati, Ohio, uses NSSE results to

assess ongoing initiatives and establish new ones.

In response to student satisaction and technology

use scores, the university established a “One-Stop

Service Center” and provided students with 24-hour

access to selected computer labs. UC has also used

NSSE results to inorm curriculum planning as it has

expanded learning community oerings. Additionally,

NSSE participation and data have been used to ulll

assessmentrequirementsfortheOhioNeedsGrant,a

student success grant with unding tied to institutionalimprovement and new program evaluation.

When asked about the primary use o NSSE data,

Caroline Miller, Senior Associate Vice President and

Associate Provost or Enrollment Management,

replied, “We use it to inorm stang decisions and to

determine student satisaction levels and the quality

o services and experiences (academic and social)

students have—particularly in regards to diversity

matters.” NSSE results are shared on campus with

individual colleges and student aairs units, enrollmentmanagement, and committees and task orces. These

groups use NSSE in conjunction with other data to

assess specic areas such as recruitment, retention,

student satisaction, and involvement and participation

levels based on race and gender. NSSE results are also

regularly included in the President’s Report Cards,

www.uc.edu/reportcard , a publicly-available document

published or the Board o Trustees intended to show

university perormance on key indicators.

Uvy tula



23

W I T T E N b E r g U N I v E r S I T y ( o H )Wittenberg University is a private liberal arts college

located in Springeld, Ohio, with an undergraduate

enrollment o 1,950 ull-time students. The

institution promotes student engagement through

shared leadership and collaboration. President Mark

Erickson created the President’s Task Force to study

student engagement in the academic and co-curricular

environments on campus. Along with the task orce,

three other committees were ormed to ocus on

the long term institutional goals o education andcommunication, social context and values, and

community standards and compliance.

For the Wittenberg task orce, student engagement

inormed a rubric that targeted eorts on student

learning and academic growth. To advance these

eorts, the student engagement committee developed

action plans based on the Inventory or Student

Engagement and Success (ISES) (Kuh, Kinzie,

Schuh, & Whitt, 2005), a sel-guided ramework or

conducting a comprehensive, systematic, institution-

wide analysis; carried out more in-depth analyses

o their NSSE data; and ollowed-up these activities

with a climate study. It was hoped that such eorts

would provide evidence to show whether Wittenberghad increased levels o student engagement. The

institution also intends to study engagement trends

over time, to compare their NSSE results with selected

peers, and to consider how other colleges engaged

aculty as key partners in the assessment process.

A challenge Wittenberg aced was encouraging

aculty investment in the student engagement concept.

Leaders o the student engagement committee

careully chose aculty representatives rom across the

campus who had a strong commitment to studentsand to service. As they began to understand that

student engagement was rooted in academics, the

selected aculty members became more invested in

the charge o the committee. Faculty then carried out

a particularly useul exercise using several prompts

rom ISES ramework to identiy unctional areas o

the institution that helped to strengthen and promote

student success. They talked with students, aculty

peers, and administrators about these areas to urther

promote understanding o the concept o studentengagement. These discussions were elt to increase

commitment to student engagement among aculty,

administrators, and students at Wittenberg.

“ nsse bcg cagly lpul pvg stuent success

a bulg uic cnfence c cllg

a uv pv acg a lag.”

—Paul E. Lingenelter, President, State Higher Education Executive Ocers (SHEEO)



24

I N d I A N A U N I v E r S I T y- p U r d U EU N I v E r S I T y I N d I A N A p o l I S ( I N )

Indiana University-Purdue University Indianapolis

(IUPUI), a large public university in downtown

Indianapolis, Indiana, has participated in NSSE our

times since NSSE’s launch in 2000. To make use

o NSSE results, IUPUI has mapped NSSE data to

campus-wide principles o undergraduate learning

or curriculum and co-curricular development

(service-learning, research with aculty, and study

abroad) and uses the data as perormance indicatorsin those critical areas. NSSE data are also mapped

to perormance indicators in strategic planning and

institutional improvement, specically or gains on

diversity goals, in technology use and participation

in service-learning; corroborating data rom other in-

house instruments (advising); and evaluating rst-year

programs. To inorm stang decisions, the Oce o

Inormation Management and Institutional Research

at IUPUI has presented data rom NSSE to the

Board o Trustees and various units and departmentshighlighting the positive engagement/educational

impact o on-campus employment or students, and

has encouraged departments and units to hire more

students to ll sta positions.

Several concrete changes at IUPUI have been

motivated by NSSE data. Based on participation

results related to service-learning in thematic learning

communities, stronger linkages between service

experiences and learning outcomes have been created

and opportunities or participation in service-learning increased. A new program, RISE, or RISE

to the Challenge, was implemented to ensure that

all students take part in at least one o the ollowing

Quic Taes

our high-impact experiences prior to graduation:undergraduate research, study abroad, service-

learning, or internship experience.

IUPUI also participated in FSSE in 2006. Based on

its results, IUPUI implemented curricular changes

ocused on diversity; specically, aculty use o diverse

perspectives in the classroom. IUPUI also explored

other areas o disconnect between aculty and

student responses.

N o r T H E r N m I C H I g A NU N I v E r S I T y ( m I )

Northern Michigan University (NMU) is a public

university with 9,400 undergraduate and graduate

students. Northern, located in the Upper Peninsula, is

also one o three universities in the state o Michigan

to serve a community college role or its region.

NMU is noted or its ocus on using technology in

higher education and is one o the largest notebook

computer campuses in the US. Full-time students

receive either a ThinkPad or iBook as part o tuition.

The Associate Vice President o Institutional Research

at NMU, Paul Duby, chose to participate in NSSE

because he elt it is a survey instrument that measures

holistic and aective learning processes. NMU

places great emphasis on encouraging students to

get involved in service-learning. The Superior Edge

program, which currently has over 1,500 students

enrolled, combines community engagement, diversity

awareness, leadership development, and real-world

experience. Duby considers NSSE the best instrument

to assess the impact o service-learning through more

meaningul constructs o processes and outcomes.



25

U N I v E r S I T y o F d Ay T o N ( o H )The University o Dayton (UD) is one o the

nation’s 10 largest Catholic universities and Ohio’s

largest private university, with an enrollment o

6,800 ull-time undergraduates and more than 70

academic programs in arts and sciences, business

administration, education and allied proessions,

engineering, and law. UD participated in NSSE

in 2004, 2005, and 2007, which will allow the

institution to identiy student engagement trends

over time and support evaluation o responses bysubgroups o students who completed the survey both

in their rst-year and senior years. NSSE results along

with other assessment data will help the University

draw a more complete picture o its students

and programs.

Academic divisions and departments have used NSSE

analyses to identiy areas o strength and possible

areas o concern. Divisional deans received reports

o student engagement results in specic colleges

as compared to all other students at the institution

and or individual departments compared to other

students in the division. By drilling down into the

data, institutional leaders gained a prole o their

students in various majors as well as a comparison

to students in other departments and divisions. For

example, the institution examined dierences in

the level o engagement or rst-year students whopersisted at the university with that o those who

withdrew. The ndings were not surprising—students

who persisted at the institution spent more time

with instructors, elt they got more eedback on

assignments, and participated more requently in

classes. These data helped dene a basic core o

experiences that contributed to students’ success.

The School o Engineering at UD used NSSE data

to assess their approach to rst-year advising. When

comparing student ratings o advising on NSSE priorto and ater program changes, the school decided

to keep the new advising system or now. They will

continue to monitor students’ ratings on advising.

W E S T m I N S T E r C o l l E g E ( U T )

A private, comprehensive liberal arts institution

located in Salt Lake City, Utah, Westminster College

enrolls approximately 2,000 undergraduates. The

college has administered NSSE 7 times, FSSE 4

times, and BCSSE once since 2001, and utilizes

combined survey results to better understand student

engagement on campus and to eectively plan or

the uture.

Paul Presson, Associate Provost or Institutional

Research and Assessment, nds that comparisons

and analyses using what he terms the “linked” data

rom all three surveys to analyze engagement trends

over time is essential to its Westminster’s long term

planning. He explains, “We take it seriously. Westarted a new process o what we call ‘eectiveness

retreats’ where we bring in senior sta, deans, board

members and we spend hal a day looking at NSSE,

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26

NSSE TIP #4:

ipvg Capu Cfc rulFaculty members and administrative sta oten raise questions about the validity and reliability

o student sel-reported data. It may be helpul to build a case or the validity o the ndings atyour institution. In response to skeptics who question whether their results really capture student

educational experiences, some institutions have administered local instruments with items similar

to those in NSSE to validate their NSSE results to the campus community. The use o additional

instruments may help build a stronger sense o the validity o the ndings.

NSSE has done a lot to establish the robustness o the survey. Consider reviewing the NSSE

Psychometric Properties document when planning a aculty or administrative retreat and plan to

have a ew copies on hand or those who want more details. The document can be downloaded

rom the NSSE Web site, www.nsse.iub.edu/pdf/conceptual_framework_2003.pdf .

BCSSE, and FSSE and the senior surveys, alumni

surveys, career center surveys—I spend basically

the whole all semester looking at those ndings.”

FSSE results have provided a point o reerence to

understand students’ engagement at Westminster.

Most NSSE and FSSE comparison results have been

consistent. However, in some cases NSSE and FSSE

results identied mismatches between student and

aculty responses.

To provide an example o how Westminster has

integrated its survey data, NSSE results indicated

that students elt satised with their level o contact

with aculty or academic advising but did not eel

they were getting enough career advising and general

emotional support. The college looked at FSSE

results to veriy that aculty perceived that students

elt these types o interactions were important, then

implemented a new career advising program and

created a learning community requirement or rst-

year students. Westminster will use BCSSE results

to urther rene and monitor its understanding o

student needs or institutional support.

Wbg Uvy



27

NSSE provides inormation that helps colleges anduniversities plan strategies and programs to assess and

improve the quality o undergraduate education. The

institutions eatured in this report illustrate valuable

maxims and instructive lessons or maximizing the

use and impact o NSSE results.

Ga ua a c

nsse a a l a

ac capu.

Develop a communication strategy beore and ater

survey administration so stakeholders will take

interest and support the incorporation o NSSE into

institutional improvement eorts.

At Pace University, assessment and institutional

research sta members teamed up with the aculty

development and teaching and learning centers on

campus to create aculty sessions where NSSE results

were presented. Deans and department heads also

scheduled special presentations with their department

aculty. New students at Hastings College receive aone-page assessment overview which includes NSSE

results. Results are also posted on the Hastings Web

site. Senior administrators and institutional research

sta at Viterbo University actively promote NSSE as a

measure o educational quality and publically display

survey results on the institutional Web site.

Cllaba a a lap

pg u gag.

Members o the Admissions and Student Aairssta at the University o Tulsa (TU) include NSSE

benchmark scores in their recruiting materials. TU

also reviewed NSSE results to better understand the

rst-year experience and ormed an advisory board

o high school counselors rom across the country

to gather expertise in meeting the needs o

incoming students.

iy ub-ppula uc a acac pa a/

pcfc gup u. Cllc

ul ug u

a uabl a pa

u lvl upp pcalz

acca .

Pace University used selected NSSE results or

seniors by major in its specialized accreditation

eorts or AACSB, ABET, and NCATE. CSU

Northridge disaggregated NSSE senior data, broken

down by college, on NSSE items related to abstract

thinking skills. They also conducted a targeted

oversample among rst-year students so that they

compared experiences between rst-year students

who participated in a class that introduced them to

University with those that did not. SUNY Brockport

utilized the group variable columns in the population

le to identiy the academic majors o students

and then created binders or each department that

included NSSE mean comparisons and requency

distributions reports rom students in that department

over the span o our years compared to the entire

Brockport sample.

iy p cpa gup

(av ppcv) cf

callg aup abu

pac. C a c-

c vw u

gag cx

u’ .

Customization o its peer comparison groups allows

UC Merced, a new research university, to compare its

students experiences with both research universities

(mostly much larger) and with selective liberal arts

colleges (more similar in size). This customization will

allow UC Merced to redene its comparison groups

appropriately over time.

Cncusin: vauae lessns the Fie



28

Pacpa a cu u cu cpa w

la u a cu-

al qu uvy.

Viterbo University has joined a consortium o

Catholic institutions to urther explore how religious

aliation infuences students’ lives.

U nsse ul y pal

aa u ac b capu

by qualav u.Quantitative assessments provide a useul, but

incomplete picture o the student experience. To

gain more detailed inormation, institutions have

used their NSSE results as a jumping o point or

developing a protocol or ocus groups and student

and aculty interviews. Pace University identied

several NSSE item results rom rst-year students that

concerned them, and then explored these topics more

in-depth via ocus groups.

Vala fg by lkg nsse aa aa uc. Cba

gag ul w

ual aa ca cfc

c-akg.

Clemson University integrates NSSE, VSA, and

other institutional data into a version o Baldrige

standards adapted to assess education quality to meet

South Carolina state budget perormance guidelines.

Youngstown State also uses its NSSE results or

Ohio’s College Portrait/VSA project. Viterbo mapped

its results to HLC-NCA standards to support its

Comprehensive Sel-Study. Student responses on

NSSE items related to two targeted areas, diversity

and active learning, helped establish evidence or

meeting accreditation standards. Comparing BCSSE

and NSSE data helps the University o Denver to

understand how high school experiences may aect

the college success. The University o Tulsa, SUNY

Brockport, IUPUI, and Westminster College review

the alignment and disconnect o aculty and student

expectations and experiences using NSSE and FSSE

data in tandem. As a “living resource,” NSSE data are

available to assessment researchers along with other

institutional data, through a secure, dedicated server

at the University o North Carolina Wilmington.

icpa nsse aa agc

plag a ca a culu

a capu.

Review o NSSE data is part o regular assessmentplanning and considered ormative eedback at Peace

College. NSSE results are also one component o the

University o Denver’s larger academic assessment

plan. At the University o Cincinnati, NSSE results

have been used to ulll requirements or state grants

aimed at student success. UC and IUPUI as well have

used their survey data to inorm campus stang

decisions.Vb Uvy



29

tala aa ac.To help students urther integrate their curricular and

co-curricular experiences, Youngstown State will use

NSSE results to assess the impact o their experiences

in service-learning and community services activities.

When Texas A&M University ound that their

students did not perorm as well as their selected

peers on NSSE items related to communication skills,

TAMU established a University Writing Center,

a student peer review program, and added cross-

disciplinary, writing-intensive, “W” courses. Toimplement its plan to create a greater awareness o

diversity on campus, Hastings College implemented

a diversity calendar, a aculty diversity initiative,

and increased study abroad opportunities. Northern

Michigan University ound NSSE to be a useul

measure o the impact service-learning has

on its students.

Fina W

Collecting and documenting how NSSE colleges anduniversities use their results is an ongoing process. We

want to know how you are using your NSSE data.

Please send specic examples o internal reports or

brochures highlighting NSSE data, usage strategies,

and special activities to us at [email protected]. These

examples will orm a shared resource or colleges and

universities and assist in our continuing eorts to

improve the quality o the undergraduate experience

or all students.

NSSE resuces reeence Institutins in this ret

Regional and Specialized Accreditation Toolkits

www.nsse.iub.edu/links/accred_toolkits

A Guide to Contextualizing Your NSSE Data:

Cognitive Interviews and Focus Groups

www.nsse.iub.edu/links/cognitive_interviews

Working with NSSE Data: A Facilitator’s Guide

www.nsse.iub.edu/links/facilitators_guide

NSSE Multi-Year Data Analysis Guide

www.nsse.iub.edu/links/mydag

NSSE Webinar Series

www.nsse.iub.edu/webinars

Customizing Your Institutional Report: A Guide

to Selecting Your Comparison Groups

www.nsse.iub.edu/links/comparison_groups

NSSE Users Workshops

www.nsse.iub.edu/workshop_presentations

NSSEPocketGuides(EnglishandSpanishversions)

A Pocket Guide to Choosing a College:

Are You Asking the Right Questions on

a College Campus Visit?

Una Guia de Bolsillo Para Escoger una

Universidad: Cómo hacer las Preguntas

correctas en tus visitas universitarias

http://nsse.iub.edu/html/pocket_guide_intro.cfm



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Director Alexander C. McCormick

Associate Director,

Research & Data Analysis RobertGonyea

Associate Director,

NSSE Institute & BEAMS Jillian Kinzie

Assistant Director,

Survey Operations Todd Chamberlain

Finance Manager MarilynGregory

BCSSE Project Manager

& Research Analyst James S. Cole

CSEQ Project Manager Julie Williams

FSSE Project Manager Thomas Nelson Laird

LSSSE Project Manager Lindsay Watkins

NSSE Institute

Project Manager Kathy Anderson

Research Analysts Allison BrckaLorenz

Ali Korkmaz

Amber Lambert

Shimon Sarra

Rick Shoup

Ofce Coordinator Erin Whisler

Ofce Secretary Barbara Stewart

Webmaster Jonathan Tweedy

CSEQ/Local NSSE

Project Associate Wen Qi

FSSE Project Associates AmyGarver

Mahauganee Shaw

NSSE Institute

Project Associates Dan Bureau

Jennier Buckley

NSSE Client Services Manager Jennier Brooks

NSSE Client Service

Project Associates Tiani Butler

KevinR.Guidry

Antwione Haywood

Theresa Hitchcock

Tony RiberaDebbie Santuccci

Malika Tukibayeva

Lisa Wallace

Than u t aitina NSSE sta an ject

assciates wh hee with this ject

Julianna Banks Chad Christensen

Elizabeth Beeler Amanda Niskodé-Dossett

Pu-Shih Daniel Chen Katie Zaback

Natina Sue Stuent Enaeent Sta



iaa Uvy C

Pcay rac

1900 ea t s, su 419

Blg, in 47406-7512

P: 812-856-5824

tll : 866-435-6773

ax: 812-856-5150

e-al: @aa.u

Wb: www..ub.u

lessons from the field 2009

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