NSSE & FSSE Registration Open
Registration is open for NSSE and FSSE 2010, initiating the eleventh survey cycle for NSSE and the seventh for FSSE. The registration sites for the two surveys are integrated to allow institutions to register for both surveys at once or each survey separately.

Beginning with the 2010 NSSE, all Web-only administrations will survey all first-year and senior students. Additionally, the pricing for both NSSE and FSSE 2010 will remain the same as 2009.

Please contact our office at nsse@indiana.edu or 812-856-5824 if you have questions.

Click here to register for NSSE or FSSE 2010.

Tuesday Webinars with NSSE are free Webinars for faculty, administrators, institutional researchers, and student affairs professionals who want to better use and understand their NSSE data. Webinars scheduled for the remainder of 2009 include:

• September 15: Driving Data Down: Using NSSE Results in Department, School, and Major-level Assessment Activities
• September 22: Considering Results from the Consortium for the Study of Writing in College (This Webinar is designed for members of the Writing Consortium institutions only.)
• October 13: Linking NSSE Data to Other Institutional Data

Webinars are scheduled for 3pm (Eastern) and are free but advance registration is required. NSSE will send e-mail messages to targeted audiences 2-3 weeks in advance of each Webinar with a link to the registration form on the NSSE homepage. Webinars fill up very quickly but all sessions will be available in recorded format shortly after the live session.
Our Web site shows a complete schedule of upcoming Webinars as well as recordings of past Webinars. Past Webinar topics have included:

• Using High Impact Activities to Maximize Student Gains
• Tips on Maximizing the Value of Your NSSE Institutional Report: Customizing Comparison Groups
• Digging Deeper Series - Advanced Use: Multi-Year analysis
• Digging Deeper: Intermediate Concepts
• Digging Deeper Series - Core Concepts
• Beyond NSSE Benchmarks: Underused Nuggets of Effective Educational Practice
• Using BCSSE Data: Understanding That Student Expectations Are Important

In our new publication, Using NSSE to Assess and Improve Undergraduate Education: Lessons from the Field 2009, we highlight the approaches different types of institutions have taken to use their NSSE results in innovative ways to improve the undergraduate experience. The volume captures emerging lessons from the field and provides instructive accounts and inspirational examples of how colleges and universities are using NSSE results to enhance undergraduate teaching and learning. Copies will be included in the Institutional Report 2009 and are also available for download from the NSSE Web site.

In the March issue of E-News, we introduced a list of exceptional institutional Web sites that publicly display NSSE results in support of the assessment, transparency, and accountability initiatives in higher education. These sites align with NSSE’s policy on public reporting of data and comply with many of our recommendations for analyzing, interpreting, and sharing NSSE data. Since March, we have expanded that list and added new examples. If you would like to have your institutional Web site be considered for inclusion, please contact your Client Services Team.

University of Louisville

For the spring 2009 NSSE administration, the University of Louisville (UL) launched an extensive campaign to promote the survey. Documented in an extensive marketing plan, the campaign was coordinated by a core team of eight members, including faculty, institutional research administrators, assessment professionals, and marketing experts. As pictured in their detailed plan, the coordinated campaign used many forms of advertisement, including: outdoor banners, yard signs, posters, website banner ads, newspaper ads, and a dedicated Web site.

The central message of the campaign was “Every Card Counts.” Every advertisement emphasized this theme using coordinated colors, graphics, and text. In addition, nearly every advertisement featured a photograph of and a quote from one of several undergraduates who helped promote the survey. Typical of the featured quotes is: “My voice matters. This February, I’m taking the NSSE survey to let U of L know about my undergraduate experience.”

These increased efforts – exemplified by the “Every Card Counts” campaign – helped UL double its NSSE response rate in 2009 compared to their most recent NSSE administration in 2007. By obtaining a greater investment of students, faculty, and staff in NSSE, the University of Louisville is changing the culture of assessment on campus. The University of Louisville is laying firm groundwork for a successful culture of evidence.

Using NSSE in Institutional Research, the current volume of New Directions for Institutional Research (Vol 141, Spring 2009), explains the value and relevance of student engagement data with an emphasis on how results from NSSE have been used for various purposes. Edited by Robert Gonyea and George Kuh and written primarily by NSSE researchers, the book discusses how student engagement data can help colleges and universities satisfy the demand for more evidence, accountability, and transparency of student and institutional performance. The book can be accessed online (check with your library to see if your institution has a subscription to InterScience).

BCSSE 2009 Registration Still Open
Registration for BCSSE is going strong. This is BCSSE’s third year. In the first two years, almost 200 institutions participated in BCSSE. As of mid-June this year nearly 90 institutions across the US have registered to administer BCSSE to their incoming first-year students! Don’t miss out.

Where do I get more information about BCSSE?
Visit our website at www.bcsse.iub.edu, email us at bcsse@indiana.edu, or call our toll free number: 866-435-6773. We would be more than glad to help you with any questions you may have. Also, your institution’s library likely has access to the New Directions in Institutional Research publication, Using NSSE in institutional research (2009). This book is full of good information on how to institutions can effectively use their NSSE, BCSSE, and FSSE data.

Missed the BCSSE Webinar?
On March 3, there was a free Webinar, “Using BCSSE Data: Understanding That Student Expectations Are Important.” If you are interested in viewing this Webinar, please visit the Webinar Archives, or you can view a list of upcoming Webinars.

What research is done with BCSSE data?
BCSSE survey results are presented at several national higher education conferences throughout the year. Most recently, papers were presented at the Association for Institutional Research annual forum and the Annual Conference on the First-Year Experience. Also look for presentations at upcoming conferences such as the National Academic Advising Association Annual Conference and the National Association of Orientation Directors. A full listing of papers and presentations can be found at the Publications and Presentations section of the NSSE Web site.

When Parents Hover: Student Engagement and Helicopter Parents
Authors: Rick Shoup, Robert M. Gonyea, George D. Kuh
Summary: In recent years, so-called helicopter parents are said to hover over their student in ways that could interfere with learning and development. But do they really? Contrary to popular belief, this study finds that students with highly-involved parents engage more frequently in many areas including deep learning activities, report greater educational gains, and are more satisfied.

Shoup, R., Gonyea, R.M., & Kuh, G.D. (2009, June). When parents hover: Student engagement and helicopter parents. Paper presented at the Annual Forum of the Association for Institutional Research, Atlanta, GA.

Students Generally Report Test Scores Accurately
Authors: James S. Cole, Robert M. Gonyea
Summary: This study finds that students are generally accurate when self-reporting their SAT and ACT scores. The study also confirms what others have reported – that when students are inaccurate, a disproportionate number of them over-report their scores and that lower achieving students are less accurate compared to higher achieving students. Overall Cole and Gonyea found that self-reported test scores are accurate proxies for actual test scores and can be used with confidence.

Cole, J. S., & Gonyea, R. M. (in press). Accuracy of self-reported SAT and ACT test scores: Implications for research. Research in Higher Education.

How Often Is “Often” Revisited
Authors: Thomas F. Nelson Laird, Ali Korkmaz, Pu-Shih Daniel Chen
Summary: What do students mean when they respond "sometimes", "often", or "very often" on NSSE? How many times have the students done an activity per week, month, or academic term? Do the meanings change from item to item? To learn the answers to these questions for a subset of NSSE items, check out a recent study presented at AERA.

Nelson Laird, T.F., Korkmaz, A., & Chen, P.D. (2008, April). How often is “often” revisited: The meaning and linearity of vague quantifiers used on the National Survey of Student Engagement. Paper presented at the Annual Meeting of the American Educational Research Association, San Diego, CA.

2009 AIR papers and presentations
NSSE staff and other researchers presented many papers and sessions at the 2009 meeting of the Association for Institutional Research (AIR) in Atlanta, Georgia. Papers, presentation slides, and workshop materials are available in the Conference Papers and Presentations section of our Web site.

• Working with Multiple Years of National Survey of Student Engagement Data: Strategies and Tips by Julie Williams, Robert Gonyea, Allison BrckaLorenz, Amber Lambert, and Thomas Shoup
• World Class Macros: Practical Applications of Microsoft Excel Macros for an Institutional Research Office by Rick Shoup, John Moore, and Ali Korkmaz
• Adopting SPSS Macros to Maximize Office Productivity by Rick Shoup and Shimon Sarraf
• The Engagement of Career and Technical Education Students Who Transfer to Four-Year Institutions by Wen Qi and James C. Cole
• Assessing Student Engagement at the Classroom Level by Robert Smallwood, Judith A. Ouimet, and Todd Chamberlain
• Time Spent on Research with Undergraduate Students: Gender Differences Among Science, Technology, Engineering and Math Faculty by Amber Lambert, Amy Garver, Antwione Haywood, and Allison BrckaLorenz
• Contextualizing National Survey of Student Engagement Effect Sizes: Empirical Analysis and Interpretation of Benchmark Comparisons by Robert M. Gonyea and Shimon Sarraf
• INAIR Best Paper: College Student Employment, Engagement, and Academic Achievement by Gary R. Pike, Ryan Massa-McKinley, and George D. Kuh
• High School and Expected First-Year Engagement: A Motivation Perspective by James S. Cole and Alexander C. McCormick
• Displaying the Faculty Survey of Student Engagement and the National Survey of Student Engagement Results in Combination: An Overview of Web-Based Tools and Reports by Amy Garver, Mahauganee Shaw, and Thomas F. Nelson Laird
• What’s the Score? Diverse Experiences among College Athletes and Non-Athletes by Ty M. Cruce and Thomas F. Nelson Laird
• Linking Beginning College Survey of Student Engagement and National Survey of Student Engagement Data to Investigate First-Year Engagement and Outcomes by James S. Cole
• Measuring Change: Using Multi-Year Analysis of National Survey of Student Engagement Results to Assess Educational Improvement by Jillian L. Kinzie, Alexander C. McCormick, Ali Korkmaz, and Jennifer Buckley