Using Quality Tools to Analyze
NSSE Data
Dr. Patricia LaGrow
Associate Vice President for Academic Affairs
Dr. Charles Hughes
Department of Physics and Engineering
Dr. Ed Cunliff
Assistant Vice President for Planning & Analysis
Ms. Karen Henderson
Director of Assessment
Snapshot of UCO
• Current student enrollment is
15,952 (12,298 FTE students)
• First-time freshmen is 2119
• 94 degree programs
• 426 full-time faculty + 406 adjunct
faculty
• Average age is 24
• 16% of all college degrees in
Oklahoma are granted by UCO
UCO’s Experience with
NSSE
• Administered Spring 2001 with a
33% response rate (42% for all NSSE
2001 institutions)
• Administered Spring 2003 with a
34% response rate (43% for all NSSE
2001 institutions)
• Next administration is Spring 2006
Reaction to NSSE Results
• NSSE administered on the
national level in 2001 and 2003
– 2001 = disbelief
– 2003 = verification that action was
needed
CQI Process
UCO Continuous Quality Improvement process
uses Action Teams to study issues and make
recommendations
CQI Action Teams
• Issues Addressed Include:
– Student Engagement
– Data Integrity
– Transfer Students
Action Team Worksheet
A.
B.
C.
D.
Identifying Title
Goal (100 words or less)
Organizational areas most affected
Critical processes most affected
Commissioned by Provost (signed)
CQI Processes Used with NSSE
• Dashboard Analysis
• Paredo Chart
• Key Issues for Focus
• Fishbone Diagram
Identifying
problem
areas
Determining
root causes
Dashboard Analysis
Dashboard (cont.)
Pareto Chart
• Histogram summarizing differences between
groups of data and showing the relative
importance of each difference.
General Histogram
Pareto Chart
45
45
40
40
100%
35
35
30
Frequency
30
25
20
80%
25
60%
20
15
15
10
10
5
5
0
0
40%
0%
5
Ca
te
go
ry
4
Ca
te
go
ry
2
Ca
te
go
ry
1
Ca
te
go
ry
6
Ca
te
go
ry
Ca
te
go
ry
3
6
Ca
te
go
ry
5
Ca
te
go
ry
4
Ca
te
go
ry
3
Ca
te
go
ry
2
Ca
te
go
ry
1
20%
Ca
te
go
ry
Frequency
120%
Our “Pareto Chart”
NSSE - UCO - FR
4e 4a 1m 9a 8c 9d 1h 4d 1v 10g 6a 8a 1b 2b 9e 11h 11n 1l 5a 1o 11a 11o 1u 2c 2d 1s 11g 7b 1a 7a 10c13a 7f 11e 10e 11b 11k 11m 1k 3a 1d 1j 1q 11j 1e 1i 7h 7d 10d 1f 1n 10a 7e 1p 1r 1t 9b 11c 11f 12a 11d 11l 7c 10b 1c 7g 11i 13b 8b 2a 2e 5b 1g 10f 4c 4b 9g 9f 9c
2
Difference w/ 2003 MS
1.5
1
0.5
0
-0.5
-1
Question
Key Issues for Focus
1. Students don’t spend a lot of time
preparing for class
2. Lack of participation in civic activities
3. Relationships between students,
faculty, and other students is poor
4. Inadequate communication between
faculty and students
Fishbone Diagram
Methods
Instructional
materials
Resources
Faculty
Students
Fishbone Diagram Activity
• Situation
– Students don’t spend a lot of time preparing
for class.
• Fishbone diagram uses areas to identify
causes
– Methods
– Instructional Materials
– Faculty
– Students
– Resources
• Break-up into 4 discussion groups and
complete the fishbone diagram.
UCO’s Fishbone Diagram from 2003
UCO Action Team Report –
Root Causes, OFIs & Rationale
• Root Cause - Many courses at UCO
are not considered rigorous.
– Emphasize faculty expectation (OSRHE
Policy)
– Provide teaching resources in training and
enhancement methods
– Identify and intervene “at risk” students
– Support out-of-class student support
systems
UCO Action Team Report –
Root Causes, OFIs & Rationale
• Root Cause - The ability and
motivation of faculty and staff to devote
the time and energy necessary to
engage students on a personal basis
are waning.
– Establish a two-track tenure system
– Explore capping enrollment to better match
the resource of faculty and facilities
– University initiatives emerge from the
strategic plan
Increased full-time tenure track faculty.
Conclusion
• UCO next NSSE administration is
Spring 2006
• NSSE is included in the UCO
electronic dashboard indicators
• The academic plan includes the
NSSE as a measure
Contacting us:
• Patricia LaGrow
plagrow@ucok.edu
• Chuck Hughes
chughes@ucok.edu
• Ed Cunliff
ecunliff@ucok.edu
• Karen Henderson
khenderson@ucok.edu
• Websites:
www.cqi.ucok.edu
www.ucok.edu