NSSE 2013
How to Use Results
(or “Why you should care about NSSE”)
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What is NSSE?
National Survey of Student Engagement
 Administered to first-year and senior students in
the spring
 > 1,400 US/Canada institutions have participated
Used at CU Denver: 2001, 2004, 2005,
2006, 2008, 2010, and 2013
Assesses engagement (NOT satisfaction) in
/ exposure to educational practices that
promote student engagement
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NSSE’s benchmarks of effective
educational practice
LevelofofAcademic
Academic
Level
Challenge
(LAC)
Challenge
Student – Faculty
Interaction (SFI)
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Enriching
Educational
Experiences
Enriching (EEE)
Educational
Experiences
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Active &
Collaborative
Learning (ACL)
Supportive Campus
Environment (SCE)
How to use NSSE data
&
what the NSSE data include
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1. Integrate with other survey data
If you have identified data from other
surveys, NSSE data can be integrated
with them


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E.g., International Affairs’ International
Student Barometer, your alumni surveys or
course evaluations, ETS Proficiency Profile
To find out e.g., Are students who participate
in service learning more engaged as
alumni?
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2. Combine with student data
Merge NSSE data with student
performance / outcomes data to get a
sense of how student engagement:


influences GPAs and student retention
is associated with student gender, race/
ethnicity, financial aid, school/college,
participation in online courses, study abroad
Identify characteristics of under- engaged
students
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3. Evaluate strategic goal progress
Use longitudinal NSSE data to assess
progress towards:






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“student-centeredness”
increased service learning
development of capstone experiences
participation in study abroad
commitment to a diverse learning
environment, faculty-student interactions
enhanced student support services
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4. Evidence for accreditation, etc.
Establish evidence to meet accreditation
standards such as diversity and active
learning
Use in program review reports, evaluation
of First Year Seminar, Honors Program
Compare data from CU Denver students
to those from peer institutions
Use areas of excellence for PR
Reporting to CU System, VSA
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5. Assess specific activities
How much time do our students spend:

Preparing for class, reading for courses, in cocurricular activities, working, performing
community service, providing care for
dependents
Have or will students participate in:

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internships, learning communities, study
abroad, capstone courses, faculty
members’ research projects
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6. Measure frequency of behaviors
How often do our students:






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Combine ideas from different courses
Connect learning to societal issues
Examine strengths/weaknesses of own views
Talk about career plans with faculty
Attend an arts performance
Discuss academic performance with faculty
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7. Assess students’
perceptions of quality
Interactions with students, advisors,
faculty, student services staff, other
administrative staff/offices
Overall educational experience at UCD
Would they come here again?
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8. Initiate change
Expand learning communities
Design faculty development initiatives
Create online student support tools
Cluster student services into a one-stopshop
Provide 24-hr student access to computer
labs
Inform staffing decisions
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9. Venues to Discuss
Student and Faculty Orientation Sessions
New Employee Orientation
Leadership meetings

Provost Team, Deans’ Council, AD/ASG,
UWG
Chancellor’s State of the Campus Address
Student Government meetings
Survey Working Group (SWG)
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NSSE Topical Modules
Used at CU Denver in 2013
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Academic Advising
#Times discussed academic concerns
Extent to which advisors offered specific
behaviors (e.g., been available, listened
closely, discussed career interests)
Identify primary source of advice
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Development of Transferable Skills
Frequency of behaviors, such as:

Made a speech to a group, critically evaluated
multiple solutions to a problem, discussed
ethical consequences
Frequency when writing, that student:

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Used information from a variety of sources,
assessed conclusions of published work,
included ideas from more than 1 discipline,
presented multiple perspectives
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Use NSSE to take action!
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What can OIRE do for you?
Provide school/college-specific reports
and meet with leadership to discuss and
interpret the findings

Identify areas of strength, opportunity
Meet with your unit to discuss how NSSE
data might enhance your strategic
planning
Recommend NSSE data/analyses that
inform your curriculum committees
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Timeline
Summer: OIRE explains/promotes NSSE
Early fall: NSSE distributes standard
reports and raw data
Fall: OIRE develops school/collegespecific reports that parallel NSSE’s
standard reports, shares with academic/
business units
Winter-ongoing: OIRE performs
multivariate, other analyses
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Data teaser…
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2013 NSSE response rates
2013 NSSE Response Rates by School/College
100%
First-Year Students Including Partial and Completed
First-Year Students Including Complete Only
80%
Senior Students Including Partial and Completed
43.5%
289
239
811
688
29.9%
22.4%
33.2%
29.9%
29.6%
24.5%
37.5%
31.7%
25.0%
18.8%
4
3
13
10
BUS
20
15
81
73
CAM
209
173
513
434
17
14
125
105
34.1%
28.6%
39
34
79
66
20%
17.7%
14.6%
40%
29.8%
26.0%
28.7%
24.0%
60%
28.4%
23.5%
35.6%
30.2%
56.5%
Senior Students Including Complete Only
SPA
TOTAL
0%
CLAS
CEAS
Denver Campus School/College
Notes: Numbers in the base of each bar reflect the number of students who RESPONDED (NOT the total number surveyed).
Denominator for response rate calculations includes: Complete + Implicit Refusal + Nothing Returned + Partial + Refusal.
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Questions?
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