2014 STUDENT EXPERIENCE
SURVEY
ENGAGEMENT REPORT
This report focuses on sections from the 2014 Student Experience report
that explore students’ engagement with both academic and cocurricular
activities.
TABLE OF CONTENTS
Contents
Background _______________________________________________________________________________________________ 2
Instrument and Sample __________________________________________________________________________________________2
Response Characteristics _________________________________________________________________________________________2
Results_____________________________________________________________________________________________________ 3
Cocurricular Involvement ________________________________________________________________________________________3
Academic Involvement ___________________________________________________________________________________________6
Engaged Scholarship _____________________________________________________________________________________________7
Summary __________________________________________________________________________________________________ 8
Student Experience Survey Committee _________________________________________________________________ 8
Page 1
Background
INSTRUMENT AND SAMPLE
The Student Experience Survey (SES) aims to gather information on the activities students engage in, their
sense of belonging at Penn State, as well as self-reported gains on a number of learning outcomes. A
committee of faculty, staff, and students from across the university worked to develop the instrument. This
survey replaces the former Student Satisfaction Survey and will be implemented on a three year cycle. While
there are some items that are similar to previous iterations of the Student Satisfaction Survey, the survey
and individual items are different enough that a comparison to those data is not provided here.
At University Park, a sample of 11,036 full-time students was contacted via email to complete the survey.
For the Commonwealth Campuses with enrollment under 1,500, a census was used for all students enrolled
in 6 or more credits. For campuses above 1,500 enrollment, a sample of 1,500 was taken of students
enrolled in 6 or more credits. In presenting findings for this report, the Commonwealth Campuses will be
grouped into the Campus Colleges (Abington, Altoona, Berks, Erie, and Harrisburg) and the University
College (the remaining 14 Commonwealth Campuses).
RESPONSE CHARACTERISTICS
At University Park, a total of 2,495 students completed the survey for a response rate of 22.6%. The
response rate for the Campus Colleges was 17.6% and for University College the response rate was 16.8%.
Some key demographic variables are included in Table 1 for each of these three groups. Also of note at
University Park is that there is roughly a representative response rate from each of the academic colleges
(data not shown).
Table 1. Selected Demographics in Percentages
Gender*
Sexual Orientation
Race/International
Status
Transfer Students
UP
CC
UC
Total
Female
58.0
53.4
56.4
56.5
Male
42.0
46.5
43.5
43.4
Bisexual
1.7
3.5
2.5
2.3
Lesbian/Gay
1.7
2.2
2.2
2.0
Straight
96.6
94.3
95.3
95.7
White
76.1
65.9
75.0
73.8
Students of Color
17.5
29.8
23.0
21.9
International
6.4
4.2
2.0
4.4
9.6
28.4
26.5
19.3
*Students were also given a transgender option. UP had 2 students identify as transgender, CC had 1, and UC had 1 as well.
Page 2
Results
Questions regarding the activities students were involved in were divided into three time frames. The first
asked students to estimate the number of times they participated in each activity during their entire time at
Penn State. The second category asked students to estimate the number of times they had partaken in an
activity in the current (2013-2014) academic year. The final category asked students to indicate the number
of hours in a typical week they spend on each activity.
The charts and tables below illustrate the rates of involvement by campus type, however, there were no
analyses conducted to compare campus types given the many ways in which the campuses differ (e.g.
residential capacity, enrollment, average hours working for pay) that make comparisons potentially
misleading. Given the differences among these campus groupings, direct comparisons are not necessarily
helpful; they are presented together for ease of presentation, not to illustrate the differences among them.
COCURRICULAR INVOLVEMENT
Students were asked a number of questions about their involvement in activities outside of the classroom.
Figure 1 illustrates the percentage of students participating in a campus or university committee with
faculty/staff, participating in political activities, and participating in a club or organization at least once
during their time at Penn State.
Figure 1. Percentage of Students Involved in Activities at Least Once During Entire Time at Penn State
Page 3
•
Students are highly involved in clubs and organizations, with more than a third at each campus
type (over 95% at UP) participating at least once.
•
Smaller proportions of students are involved in campus/university committees or political
activities in comparison to clubs and organizations.
•
The pattern for involvement in clubs or organizations across campus type is also reflected in
the average number of hours in a typical week students spend on those activities. At UP,
students spend an average of 4.76 hours, at CC 2.62 hours, and at UC 2.65 hours. (Data not
shown.)
•
The number of hours volunteering or participating in community service is more level across
campus types with UP students reporting an average of 1.84 hours, CC reporting 1.54 hours,
and UC reporting 1.59 hours. (Data not shown.)
In addition, students answered questions about their involvement in a number of activities during the
academic year. Table 2 demonstrates the average number of times students in the three campus groups
participated in a range of activities.
Table 2. Average Times Involved in Activities in the Current (2013-2014) Academic Year
Activity
UP
CC
UC
Participated with faculty on activities other than coursework
1.68
1.52
1.91
Attended a lecture outside of class
2.08
1.92
1.68
Attended a cultural event
2.42
1.68
1.46
Participated in spiritual/religious activities on/off campus
4.74
2.75
3.12
Attended a Penn State athletic event
8.91
2.22
2.59
Participated in community events or organizations
1.18
0.94
0.93
Participated in an effort to raise money for a charitable cause
3.12
1.31
1.45
•
Although the average participation in spiritual/religious activities is relatively high compared
to most other activities, the percentage of students that report never attending a
spiritual/religious activity is also high (61.6% at UP, 73.2% at CC, and 76.9% at UC).
Students were asked a series of questions about their involvement in intercollegiate athletics, intramural
sports, and Penn State fitness activities.
•
Page 4
Students spend roughly 1 hour per week on average involved in club or intramural sports,
regardless of campus type (UP = 1.09 hours, CC = 0.94 hours, UC = 0.82 hours), though the
percentages that report participating are fairly low (UP = 29.6%, CC = 23.9%, UC = 22.0%).
•
Students spend more time involved in fitness activities with an average of 2.65 hours per week
at UP, 1.27 hours per week at CC, and 1.13 hours per week at UC. Percentages that are involved
at all were slightly higher compared to club and intramural sports (UP = 55.5%, CC = 28.6%, UC
= 25.9%).
•
A small percentage (6.0% at UP, 10.9% at CC, and 10.9% at UC) participate in intercollegiate
athletics. Of those that do participate they spend an average of 7.99 hours per week doing so at
UP, 9.21 hours per week at CC, and 9.35 hours per week at UC.
Figure 2 illustrates the pattern of working for pay on and off campus separately, as well as combined, across
the different campus types. This figure displays the percentages of students working at least one hour in
each category.
•
As can be seen from this figure more than half of students at both types of commonwealth
campuses are engaged in working off campus at least one hour per week.
•
Approximately 18% work for pay on campus at the commonwealth campuses.
•
At University Park, approximately one-quarter (25.3%) work for pay on campus with 17.7%
working off campus.
•
When on and off campus work is combined to determine the total percentage of students
engaged in any kind of work for pay, 38.6% report working at UP, 61.6% at CC, and 68.4% at
UC.
Figure 2. Percentages of Students Working at Least 1 Hour On and Off Campus by Campus Type
•
Page 5
Not surprisingly, a similar pattern is found in the average number of hours engaged in each type
of work (Table 3). The large difference in the average number of hours spent working between
the commonwealth campuses and UP would undoubtedly impact the ability of those students
to be engaged in other activities.
Table 3. Average Hours Working On and Off Campus Per Week by Campus type
UP
CC
UC
Average hours per week working on campus
2.65
1.52
1.97
Average hours per week working off campus
2.36
10.80
12.27
Average hours per week working on/off campus
combined
5.00
12.25
14.16
ACADEMIC INVOLVEMENT
Students were asked a number of questions regarding how they engage in their coursework including how
often they meet with an academic adviser, the types of assignments they have worked on, the time they
spend studying and doing homework, and how often they skip class.


On average, students saw their academic adviser a little more than three times in the last academic
year (3.07 at UP, 3.25 at CC, and 3.64 at UC). (Data not shown.)
On average, students reported completing roughly 4-5 of each kind of assignment addressed in the
last academic year (Figure 3). These assignments included presentations, reflective writing
assignments, and having to revise a paper (i.e. turning in more than one draft).
Figure 3. Average Number of Assignments by Campus Type
Page 6
•
Students at UP spend an average of 17.59 hours studying or doing homework outside of class,
with CC students reporting an average of 14.53, and UC students an average of 13.86. (Data not
shown.)
•
Most students report that they don’t skip any classes in a typical week (Table 4).
Table 4. Number of Classes Skipped in a Typical Week by Campus Type
Classes Skipped
UP
UC
CC
n
%
n
%
n
%
1,726
70.1
869
84.4
1,658
83.8
1-3
682
27.7
152
14.8
304
15.4
4 or more
55
2.2
9
0.9
16
0.8
None
ENGAGED SCHOLARSHIP
Engaged scholarship is defined by the Penn State Council on Engaged Scholarship as out-of-class activities
that are tied to course credit. This section summarizes items that could be included in this category,
although not all activities included here are always tied to course credit (e.g., academic research with faculty
outside of class is not always for academic credit). Table 5 summarizes the percentage of students that have
participated in each engaged scholarship activity at least once during their entire time at Penn State.
Table 5. Percentages of Students Participating in Engaged Scholarship Activities at Least Once During
Entire Time at Penn State
Activity
UP
CC
UC
Worked on academic research with faculty outside of class
38.6
37.4
43.9
Participated in a study abroad program that was at least one
full semester
4.6
2.2
2.4
Participated in a study abroad program during a summer
8.2
2.3
2.3
5.2
4.5
3.8
8.3
5.4
3.3
Took an embedded travel course requiring travel away from
home campus during a semester
7.4
5.0
5.1
Participated in some form of community-based or service
learning in connection with a course
29.7
25.7
27.6
Participated in a Penn State sponsored internship and/or coop
14.7
13.4
11.8
Participated in a program away from home campus and
within U.S. that was at least one full semester
Participated in a program away from home campus and
within U.S. during a summer
Page 7
Summary
The 2014 Student Experience Survey provides a rich set of data regarding the activities students participate
in during their time at Penn State. This report provides a high level overview of the rates of participation in
the activities covered by the survey. Deeper analysis of these variables is possible by individual campus,
academic college, as well as by numerous demographic variables collected in the survey. For more
information, contact Penn State’s Office of Student Affairs Research and Assessment (saraoffice@psu.edu).
Student Experience Survey Committee
The following individuals kindly volunteered their time to assist in drafting the Student Experience Survey.
Their time and efforts are greatly appreciated.
Theresa Bonk – Director of Student Affairs, New Kensington
Barry Bram – Senior Associate Director, Office of Student Union and Student Activities
Adam Christensen – Director, Student Affairs Research and Assessment
James Dillard – Professor, Communications, Arts, and Sciences
Andrea Dowhower – Assistant Vice President, Student Affairs
Tanya Furman – Associate Vice President & Associate Dean, Undergraduate Education
Linda Higginson – Assistant Dean, Advising
Phil Hromanik – CCSG representative
Ya-Chi Hung – Graduate Assistant, Student Affairs Research and Assessment
Vynessa Ortiz – Graduate Assistant, Student Affairs Research and Assessment
Machelle Seiner – Staff Assistant, Student Affairs Research and Assessment
Blaine Steensland – Director of Student Affairs, Berks
Gokul Sundar – UPUA Representative
Terri Vescio – Associate Professor, Psychology & Women’s Studies
Page 8
The Student Experience Survey is a project of Student Affairs Research and Assessment.
For further information, please visit www.studentaffairs.psu.edu/assessment or contact saraoffice@psu.edu,
222 Boucke, University Park, PA 16802, (814) 863-1809.
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For further information, please visit www.studentaffairs.psu.edu/assessment or contact saraoffice@psu.edu,
222 Boucke, University Park, PA 16802, (814) 863-1809.