Volume 6, Issue 6 July 2007

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NSSE E-News is a bimonthly electronic newsletter created to keep NSSE users and others current about project activities. It includes information on new NSSE Web site resources, media coverage on NSSE and its related surveys, updates on the administration of the NSSE family of surveys (FSSE, LSSSE, and BCSSE), NSSE data for institutional research and student affairs, Users Workshops and conference highlights; and NSSE presentations and improvements.

NSSE 2008
BCSSE Update
NSSE Users Workshop
NSSE Institute Updates
LSSSE Updates
Featured School: University of South Dakota
FSSE Updates
Teagle Foundation White Paper
NSSE in the News
NSSE RoadShow

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NSSE 2008

NSSE & FSSE Registration Open!

Registration for NSSE and FSSE 2008 is open until Sept. 20. Schools that register early will be able to start their NSSE administration preparation in mid-August, which includes customizing recruitment messages and initiating important campus discussions about the best strategies for reaching students. Currently, 133 institutions are registered for NSSE 2008.

Click here to register for NSSE and FSSE 2008. Questions? Contact nsse@indiana.edu or 812-856-5824.

BCSSE Update

BCSSE 2007 Registration Ongoing!

Registration for the Beginning College Survey of Student Engagement (BCSSE) is going strong. As of mid-July, 103 institutions in the US and Canada were registered to administer BCSSE to over 86,000 incoming first-year students.  Those who are familiar with the BCSSE pilots should check out the inaugural BCSSE survey. Some elements are the same but additional questions and topics have been included in the most recent version.

What Will a Participating Institution Receive?

Within six weeks after surveys have been returned for processing, schools will receive:

• An electronic report summary
• An advising report for each student surveyed
• A BCSSE data file for conducting additional analyses
• A codebook describing the information in the data file

Institutions participating in both BCSSE and NSSE in a given academic year will also receive a combined BCSSE-NSSE report and data file with their NSSE Institutional Report in August of the following calendar year.

Learn more about BCSSE today. Visit the BCSSE Web site or call 866-435-6773.

Linking NSSE & BCSSE Data

With the inaugural administration of the BCSSE in full swing, we offer this snapshot of ways in which BCSSE and NSSE results can be linked to provide powerful tools to promote positive change at your institution.

One example of the crosswalk (Web site) illustrates the gaps between (a) how students believe they will academically perform in college and the anticipated amount of time they will devote to their studies once they attend (BCSSE) and (b) these students’ actual grades and the amount of time they devoted to their studies during their first college year (NSSE).  This is but one of many examples as to how these surveys may be used in combination.        

The BCSSE advising report can then be used by an advisor to ascertain their advisees’ expectations of college and to discuss the difference between high school and collegiate work and how to make the most of educational opportunities in the first year of college. 

NSSE Users Workshop

NSSE Heads to Reno for the Fall Regional Users Workshop
October 16-17

Whether you eagerly await your NSSE 2007 results or work with NSSE data from past years, join us for the fall 2007 Regional NSSE Users Workshop, co-hosted with the University of Nevada, Reno (UNR). The workshop takes place on the UNR campus from 11:00 am Tuesday, Oct. 16 through 1pm Wednesday, Oct. 17, 2007. An optional post-conference workshop on analyzing student engagement data using SPSS will also be offered on Oct. 17 from 1:15-3:15 pm.

Workshop topics will include how to use NSSE data for accountability, assessment, accreditation, self-studies, general education reviews, program reviews (curricular and co-curricular), and faculty development. Through a combination of plenary sessions, concurrent interest sessions, and group activities, participants will learn more about linking NSSE data to other institutional data, using the Faculty Survey of Student Engagement (FSSE), and understanding effective educational practice. NSSE staff will also discuss the new Beginning College Student Survey of Engagement (BCSSE) and how it can be integrated with the NSSE and FSSE survey process. Please join us and consider presenting your innovative examples of NSSE use!

For more details, please visit the NSSE Institute Web site.

NSSE Institute Updates

Updated Facilitator’s Guide

NSSE has updated Working with NSSE Data: A Facilitator’s Guide, its user resource to help institutional leaders facilitate workshops, presentations, and discussions with campus groups on using NSSE data. The second edition of the guide will be part of the User Tools section of the 2007 Institutional Report, and is currently available for download under “Resources and Services” on the NSSE Institute Web site. 

The Facilitator’s Guide is an instructor’s manual for those who want to lead sessions on understanding, interpreting, and acting on NSSE data. The guide includes: preparation notes for facilitators, an outline for addressing topics related to NSSE data, and exercises and worksheets. Each section contains a sequenced program that may include an overview of the data report, suggestions on how the facilitator can prepare for the specific topic, definitions of key terms, exercises, FAQs, and questions for further discussion.

LSSSE Updates

As law schools dig deeper into their 2007 reports in preparation for back-to-school workshops and presentations, the LSSSE staff is busy planning regional sessions to help administrators make sense of and use their results. This fall we will hold user sessions in California and in the mid-Atlantic region. Whether your law school is looking at means and frequencies or performing complex statistical analyses, these sessions will be valuable as a forum to share ideas and examples from the field. LSSSE research analysts will help walk participants through the reports and provide step-by-step instruction for putting the data to action. Visit the LSSSE Web site for more information on dates and registration for these events.

Featured School

University of South Dakota

The South Dakota Board of Regents publishes an executive summary of NSSE data for all of its campuses, including examples of use. The summary includes a trend analysis, findings, recommendations for improvements, examples of comparison groups for each institution, and data regarding performance on NSSE benchmarks. This systematic review of NSSE data at the state level provides perspective for participating institutions and a coordinated overview of the results, making benchmarking within the state more manageable and the data transparent by publishing the report online.

One institutional example of NSSE use comes from the University of South Dakota (USD). At USD, NSSE and FSSE data have driven various important changes. Some of the more notable ones are (a) the inclusion of increased writing assignments in several general education courses; and (b) the restructuring of the student advising center such that general education advising is centralized. Further, NSSE and FSSE data have been influential in the Foundations of Excellence® in the First College Year, a campus-wide initiative that involves over 100 people working to improve the first-year experience at USD. The director of academic assessment manages the data and committees and faculty making decisions ask that one or more specific questions be applied to the data. For instance, in December 2006 a group was interested in measuring “community involvement” as a general construct and asked for assistance in finding or designing an instrument. Several NSSE items provide useful information on this construct, and the Office of Academic Assessment provided item-level longitudinal results that this group could use.

FSSE Updates

FSSE 2007 Overview

More than 24,000 faculty members completed the FSSE 2007 survey at 162 baccalaureate degree-granting colleges and universities that selected their own sample of faculty. The list of participating FSSE institutions is on the FSSE Web site.

Faculty at participating institutions were sent an invitation e-mail and asked to respond to the online survey. In 2007, institutions chose between two survey options, course-based or typical student questions. Sixty two percent (101 schools) administered course-based questions to their faculty and 38% (61) administered typical student questions. Nearly all (150) of these institutions also administered NSSE to their students in 2007; 12 have NSSE data from 2006. Combining NSSE and FSSE results allows participating schools to examine how faculty and students respond to similar questions. Institutions that participated in the 2007 FSSE administration will receive electronic copies of their reports and data files. After adjusting for faculty who could not be reached (usually because of incorrect email addresses), the average institutional response rate was 53%, ranging from 22% to 93%. The response rate for FSSE across all institutions is 47%.

Profile of FSSE 2007 Respondents

Table 1 shows selected characteristics of faculty members who completed FSSE in 2007. The first column represents faculty who responded to the survey and the second column represents the national profile of instructional faculty and staff at all baccalaureate degree-granting institutions based on National Center for Education Statistics (NCES) data.

Table 1 Characteristics of FSSE 2007 Respondents
	FSSE Respondents	National
Gender
Male	54%	60%
Female	46%	40%
Race/Ethnicity
American Indian or other Native American	1%	<1%
Asian American or Pacific Islander	6%	8%
Black or African American	5%	5%
White (non-Hispanic)	82%	82%
Hispanic or Latino	4%	3%
Multiracial	1%	2%
Other	2%	-
Employment Status
Full-time	84%	66%
Part-time	16%	34%
Rank
Professor	25%	22%
Associate Professor	23%	18%
Assistant Professor	26%	20%
Instructor or Lecturer	21%	19%
Other	5%	21%
Note:  National percentages are based on faculty at U.S. postsecondary institutions that award baccalaureate degrees. Source: National percentages are based on the 2004 National Study of Postsecondary Faculty.

Additional information about the overall 2007 FSSE Survey administration results will be available in the upcoming NSSE Institutional Report.

Teagle Foundation White Paper

Student Learning and Faculty Research: Connecting Teaching and Scholarship

This paper, produced under the auspices of the American Council of Learned Societies with funding from the Teagle Foundation, draws on NSSE and FSSE data to demonstrate that the teacher-scholar model enriches the learning of students who conduct research with faculty as well as the larger learning environment. Because scholarship and teaching as are mutually sustaining endeavors, all institutions, not just universities with graduate-level programs, should promote and strongly support the scholarly engagement of their faculties in order to ensure the best quality educational experience for undergraduates. The NSSE-FSSE analysis found positive relationships between faculty time on research—particularly research with undergraduates—and an emphasis on deep approaches to learning in their courses benefit students in several desirable ways. A major implication of this study is that an important ingredient for cultivating a campus culture marked by intellectual vitality and enriched student learning and personal development is to recruit, support, and reward faculty members who are actively engaged in research, who value undergraduate participation in research, who are responsive to educational research, and who use effective educational practices in their classrooms. At institutions where these conditions are present, students are more likely to conduct research with a faculty member, faculty members are more likely to emphasize deep-learning activities in their courses, and students tend to report greater gains in general knowledge and skills. You can view the full Teagle Foundation white paper online.

NSSE in the News

In recent months media accounts of discussions about accountability frequently mention NSSE as an important tool for assessing institutional quality and guiding improvement efforts. In addition, a number of articles highlighted NSSE and especially its pocket guide – A Pocket Guide to Choosing a College: Are you Asking the Right Questions on a College Campus Visit? – an instructive resource for parents and students in the college search process. Stories have appeared in The Chronicle of Higher Education, Inside Higher Ed, Diverse Issues in Higher Education, and numerous local and campus newspapers. The following articles feature student engagement in the news:

ARTICLE	DATE	PUBLICATION
Inside Higher Ed "The Quest for ‘Meaningful’ Comparisons": NSSE and USAToday collaborate	July 2007
The Chronicle of Higher Education "NSSE Colleges May Release Scores to 'USA Today'"	July 2007
Buena Vista University Kuh talks with Buena Vista about 'a relentless focus on learning'	July 2007
Teagle Foundation George Kuh on the data behind the Teagle-funded American Council of Learned Societies' White Paper, "Student Learning and Faculty Research: Connecting Teaching and Scholarship."	July 2007
The Times and Democrat A college president heralds NSSE as an "informative measure" to help students choose a college	July 2007
Sun Journal UMF official suggests NSSE over U.S. New Rankings	July 2007
Contra Costa Times Rankings can be misleading; Instead NSSE materials can be used as a guide for selecting colleges	July 2007
The Cincinnati Enquirer Attention parents and students: NSSE provides "fresh, alternative insights into college quality"	July 2007
Diverse Issues in Higher Education "Are U.S. News’ Rankings Inherently Biased Against Black Colleges?"- NSSE may be a better indicator of success	June 2007
Inside Higher Ed NSSE may be included in a voluntary systems of accountability	June 2007
The Chronicle of Higher Education Web site developed for voluntary accountability system includes place for NSSE data results	June 2007
Western News-The University of Western Ontario University of Western Ontario uses NSSE data to improve out-of-class experiences	June 2007
Inside Higher Ed Student assessment: Should it be institution-wide or specifically by area of study?	June 2007
The Chronicle of Higher Education How to Help Students Achieve	June 2007
Inside Higher Ed Alexander C. McCormick named new director of NSSE	June 2007
Indiana University Media Relations "NSSE names McCormick as new director"	June 2007
The Chronicle of Higher Education "New Director Named for National Survey of Student Engagement"	June 2007

NSSE RoadShow

NSSE staff members will present information on one or more of our surveys at the following conferences or workshops:

July
Jul. 23-27	IHEP Summer Academy: Cultivating Access & Success for Students of Color: Inspiring Communities of Learners	Santa Ana Pueblo, NM
August
Aug.15	University of Alaska System Chancellors	Fairbanks, AK
Aug.15-16	University of Alaska	Fairbanks, AK
Aug. 23-24	Buena Vista University	Storm Lake, IA
Aug. 28	South Dakota State University	Brookings, SD
September
Sept. 12-13	Minot State University	Minot, ND
Sept. 26-27	University of Calgary	Calgary, AB, CAN
October
Oct. 7-9	SAIR Conference	Little Rock, AR
Oct.16-17	Fall 2007 Regional NSSE Users Workshop	University of Nevada, Reno
Oct. 25-28	Professional and Organizational Development Network in Higher Education (POD)	Pittsburg, PA
November
Nov. 4-6	The 2007 IUPUI Assessment Institute	Indianapolis, IN
Nov. 16-17	The Collaboration for the Advancement of Teaching and Learning Conference	Bloomington, MN