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Volume
2, Issue 2 February 2003 |
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A component of NSSE's mission is to raise public awareness about the value of student engagement to desired outcomes of college. Toward this end, we've developed a college pocket guide "College: What you Need to Know Before you Go" to encourage prospective students and their parents to ask questions about student engagement of the people they meet during their campus visit. |
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| Soon, the Office of Admission at all colleges and universities that have participated in NSSE will receive complimentary copies of the pocket guide. We are also distributing the guide to thousands of high school students across the country. | |||
| We invite you to encourage staff on your campus, specifically those in admissions, to join in this national effort by making the pocket guides available to prospective students and parents. An easy-to-print version of the pocket guide is available on our web site. This version could be incorporated in prospective student mailings or newsletters. If you are interested in receiving additional copies of "College: What you Need to Know Before you Go," simply email nsse@indiana.edu | |||
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| By the Numbers: Guidelines for Interpreting NSSE Results | |
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Why should you worry about increasing your response rates? In every survey there is error. Error can be random, systematic, or as a result of survey design. At NSSE, our methodologies reduce the amount of systematic and survey design error. Therefore, our main concern is sampling error. Sampling error is an estimate of random error or the difference between the true results and the results from your respondents. Information about how sampling error is calculated is available on the NSSE website. Of course, the smaller the sampling error the more confident you can feel about your results and their implications. Sampling error cannot be avoided but can be reduced by increasing the number of students who complete the survey. Therefore, the effort you put into incentive programs, public awareness campaigns, and follow-up can make a difference in the usefulness of your NSSE results. |
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| Contact's Corner – Web Interface Provides Updates on your Survey Status | |
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Want to check the status of your survey administration? Remember to check the Institutional Interface on our Website. The navigation links allow you to view your final processed letters and data files as well as confirm the approximate mailing date for your survey. The "View Respondents" link will be updated every weekday once your surveys begin arriving back here at NSSE, allowing you to see which students you may want to contact in follow-up communications to boost response rates. |
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| NSSE in the News: Change and About Campus | |
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An article titled "What We're Learning about Student Engagement from NSSE" written by George D. Kuh, Chancellor's Professor and Director of NSSE, was published in the March/April publication of Change. The article reviews general information about NSSE including the basis behind benchmarks, research findings, and the role of student engagement in higher education. Another article titled "How are we Doing at Engaging Students?" will be published in the March/April edition of About Campus. In this article, Charles Schroeder interviews George Kuh about NSSE and student engagement. Check the website for NSSE research articles and news stories. |
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| NSSE Roadshow: Spring Conferences | |
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The spring conference season begins soon and NSSE will be on the road quite a bit over the next couple of months. NSSE will present or serve as an exhibitor at the following meetings: Texas AIR - annual conference in El Paso, TX (Feb. 25-28) At the TAIR conference Paul Umbach will lead a panel of NSSE users in a discussion about using NSSE data as a tool for assessment and institutional improvement. The AAHE meeting will include a roundtable discussion on Sunday, March 16, 6-8 p.m. entitled "Promoting Institutional Learning and Change: Lessons Learned from NSSE, DEEP, and BEAMS." Led by Brian Bridges and Jillian Kinzie, this session is designed to illustrate how schools that have participated or will participate in NSSE, DEEP, or BEAMS can promote institutional change. Check the NSSE Website for more information on upcoming NSSE conference presentations. |
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