AACRAO SEM Conference Dallas 2009
SEM, Student Engagement and
the Canadian Experience
Susan Gottheil, Mount Royal University
Clayton Smith, University of Windsor
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AACRAO SEM Conference Dallas 2009
Topics
 SEM & Student Engagement: The Link
 Student Engagement Research: Lessons
Learned
 Using Survey Data
 The Canadian Experience: Is it Different?
 Resources
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What is SEM?
Strategic enrollment management
(SEM) is a concept and process
that enables the fulfillment of
institutional mission and
students’ educational goals.
-Bontrager, 2004
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SEM is Achieved by…
 Establishing clear goals
 Promoting student academic success by improving
access, transition, retention, and graduation
 Creating a data-rich environment to inform
decisions & evaluate strategies
 Establishing student-centred services
 Strengthening communications & collaboration
across the campus
-Bontrager, 2004
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SEM
 Early focus: Increase declining enrolments by
focusing on top of enrolment funnel (i.e.,
recruitment & admissions)
 Now: Retention is as important as recruitment
 But … Figuring out how to impact retention is
complex
• Search for ways to understand student behaviour,
identify gaps, set benchmarks
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Student Engagement
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Institutional Reputation…
 At first focused on inputs:
• Student characteristics (prior academic
performance mostly); the more selective, the
better
• Institutional resources (quality of faculty,
campus infrastructure, books in the library)
 This formed the basis for rankings (e.g.,
Maclean’s, US News & World Report)
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But …
The nature and quality of first year
students’ experiences in the
classroom, with faculty, and with
peers are better predictors of
desired educational outcomes
associated with college attendance
than precollege characteristics.
-Gerken & Volkwien, 2000
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…The Rest of the Story
 i.e., what happens during the student’s campus
experience is as, or more, critical than student
inputs
 Institutions began to survey students on their
satisfaction with programs & services (e.g., CUSC,
Noel Levitz’s SSI) & external bodies followed
(provincial governments, Maclean’s, Globe & Mail)
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What is Student Engagement?
 Research of past 20 years has led to concept of
student engagement (coined by Kuh) as a way of
assessing educational outcomes & quality of
teaching & learning
 Embraces 3 key student success processes
• Active involvement: time & energy invested in learning
experience inside and outside classroom
• Social integration: interaction, collaboration & interpersonal
relationships between students & peers, faculty, staff &
administrators
• Personal reflection: think deeply on learning experiences
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Key Research Findings
 How an institution deploys its resources
and organizes the curriculum, other
learning opportunities and support
services leads to positive experiences and
desired outcomes such as persistence,
satisfaction, learning and graduation (Kuh,
2001; Pascarella/Terenzini, 2005)
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Key Research Findings (Cont.)
 Student engagement varies more within any
given school or institutional type than
between schools or institutional types
(Pascarella/Terenzini, 2005)
•
Though smaller schools generally engage
students more effectively, colleges and
universities of similar size can vary widely (NSSE,
2005)
•
Student engagement is unrelated to selectivity
(Kuh/Pascarella, 2004; NSSE, 2003)
•
Some non-residential schools & community
colleges have exemplary student engagement
practices
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Key Research Findings (Cont.)
 Some students – such as first generation
students, males, transfer students and
those who live off-campus – are generally
less engaged than others
 Some single mission schools confer
engagement advantages to their students
(Kinzie et al, 2007)
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And Key for Our Discussion …
 The single best predictor of student
satisfaction with college is the degree to
which students perceive the college
environment to be supportive of their
academic and social needs (Astin, 1993;
Pascarella/Terenzini, 2005)
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Benchmarks of Effective
Educational Practice
 NSSE benchmarks
• Academic Challenge
• Active & Collaborative Learning
• Student-Faculty Interaction
• Supportive Campus Environment
• Enriching Educational Experiences
 Similar “best practices” outlined by Gardiner et
al., Astin, Chickering/Gamson, Tinto
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SEM & Student Engagement Goals
Inter-twine
Students who are:
 better connected
 increasingly involved on campus
 deeply invested in learning & growth
…are more likely to persist & graduate
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Using NSSE (& Other) Data
 Kuh notes that enough research has been
done – we know what we need to do
• The problem is in large-scale execution
 Many campuses beginning to use data from
NSSE, CUSC & other surveys to plan &
improve students’ experiences
• Collaborate & communicate results
• Use multiple sources for triangulation
• Use data to learn more about students
• Use data for assessment
• Enhance the first-year experience
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Develop a Shared Vision
 Involve faculty, student affairs educators,
institutional researchers as well as SEM
practitioners
 IR responsible for administration of data
• Can help make sense of data & identify important
themes
 Organize retreats (e.g., uWindsor) or
debriefings (institution-wide or facultybased) to discuss best course of action
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Use Multiple Data Sources
 Confirm findings are consistent across
multiple surveys & assessment methods
 Link results from NSSE, CUSC to other
student data such as GPA, residential
status, etc.
• Helps determine if engagement varies across
groups
• Helps identify gaps in student support structures
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Learn More About Students
 Gain a broad perspective on undergraduate
population
 Monitor engagement of specific groups of
students
• Entire subpopulations of students may be
retention risks (transfer students, athletes,
Aboriginal students)
 Learn about needs of individual students
 Who is vulnerable to departure?
• Who is not making transition to PSE well?
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Set & Then Assess Goals
 Identify strengths & weaknesses
 Form objectives (e.g., global citizenship,
diversity awareness, living-learning
communities, FYE programs)
 Assess progress towards goals
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Enhance First-Year Experience
 First-year critical for persistence
 Examine curriculum, academic
expectations, residence life, orientation
 Enhance faculty contact
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Student Engagement Practices
Must:
 Move away from an “a
la carte”
approach to meeting student needs
 Be part of an intentional institution-wide
strategy
 Include & engage faculty
 Assess & scrutinize effectiveness
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Connecting It Back to SEM
 What is the SEM practitioner’s role in
student engagement activities?
 Can NSSE & other surveys be used to set
SEM goals?
 Where & how should one begin?
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CANADIAN STUDENT
ENGAGEMENT
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Some Key Questions
1. Is the level of student engagement
different in Canada vs. the U.S.?
2. Is there a different approach to enhancing
student engagement in Canada?
3. If so, why?
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Differences in NSSE Results
 FACT: Canadian universities do not generally
score as high on NSSE as their U.S. peers
So, lets tunnel down through the data
to see what we can find…
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A Comparative Look at Student
Engagement in the US & Canada
(Kandiko, 2009)
 Differ in term of the frequency with which they
engage in active and collaborative learning and
student-faculty interaction. Why?
• The Canadian classroom experience involves less active
participation by students and less individual contact with faculty
members
• The large size of most Canadian universities and higher student-
faculty ratios makes collaborative learning experiences and faculty
contact more challenging
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A Comparative Look (Cont.)
 Students in Canada participate less in three of
the best practices in undergraduate education:
active learning, peer collaboration, and studentfaculty interaction. Three possible explanations:
1. As faculty spend more time doing research, there is less time
available for students
2. Full-time non-tenure and part-time faculty are often overloaded with
classes and unable to devote time and effort towards fully engaging
students
3. increasing student-faculty ratios leave fewer faculty assigned to
larger cohorts of students.
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A Comparative Look (Cont.)
 Student engagement in Canada and the U.S. was
found to differ by academic major.
• Students in professional fields, such as finance, management and
pre-law had similar responses in both countries. The narrowest
gaps occurred in the business and professional fields.
• In contrast, there was a marked difference between Canadian and
U.S. students in arts and humanities, life sciences and social
sciences. Canadian students in those majors reported considerably
less engagement overall compared to their U.S. peers.
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Intra- and Inter-Institutional
Differences
 There are significant differences in NSSE results
between institutions & within institutions
Of course, this is common to both the US & Canadian
experiences with student engagement.
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Are Canadian Institutions Really
All That Different?
 Institutional character (size, location,
student-faculty ratios, research focus)
 Academic practices (e.g., TA’s, admission
policies/practices)
 Student attitudinal, behavioural & academic
characteristics
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Or Is It Just that Canada & the US
Are Different? Perhaps.
 Could it be that American models for student
engagement and student learning are not as
helpful in understanding the Canadian
student experience?
The court is till out on that one!
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A Few Student Engagement
Stand-Outs in Canada
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The University of Windsor’s
Outstanding Scholars Program
http://www.uwindsor.ca/outstandingscholars/
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Overview
 Purpose:
• To increase high achieving student enrollment in
selected low enrollment programs
• To enhance quality of teaching assistants
 An annual base renewable scholarship
 A paid (200 hours per year) academic
appointment in their home department
 Strong relationships with faculty members
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The Outstanding Scholars Award
HS GPA
4-Yr
3-Yrs of Academic
Scholarship Appointments
Total
80-84.9
$4,000
$6,000
$10,000
85-89.9
$6,000
$6,000
$12,000
90-94.9
$8,000
$6,000
$14,000
95+
$10,000
$6,000
$16,000
…and most other awards can be held concurrently
with an Outstanding Scholars award!
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Renew Ability Requirements
 Achieve a minimum 10.0 cumulative and 10.5 major
(out of 13) GPA
 Attend monthly meetings with the program
coordinator during the first year
 Complete a 2-day pre-academic appointment training
program at the beginning of the 2nd year
 Hold an academic appointment during years 2-4
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Success@Seneca
Awarded 2009 Outstanding Retention Award by the Educational Policy institute
http://www.senecac.on.ca/student/success/
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Foundations for Success
Project
 Offers case-managed support services & financial
incentives to students at 3 Ontario colleges (Seneca,
Mohawk & Confederation)
• Assesses students after admission but before begin, identifying
those that would benefit from academic tutoring, peer
mentorship & career counselling
• Highest impact when matched with (small) financial bursary
• Has led to 6.4% increase in student retention
• Project specifically benefited low-income students, ESL
students, students entering with low (under 65%) high school
grades, & women
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Lethbridge College: First Nations,
Métis and Inuit Transition Program
http://www.lethbridgecollege.ab.ca/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=1049&Itemid=907
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Program:
 Provides 12 students with a $12,000 scholarship to aid
with finances
 Provides 3 steps to aid in transition
•
Course on introduction to college life (August)
•
Additional course in 1st term on skills and attitudes needed for college
success
•
Class on leadership skills (January)
 Spiritual support from elders; help from mentors and
advisors
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And Some Other Strategies…
 Aboriginal student access/retention
 Academic civility
 Academic programs/courses – specialized
 Academic support – writing
 Access – special populations
 Bridging programs
 Building connections between curricular and
extracurricular experiences
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And Some Other Strategies…
 Career development
 Coaching (case managed access to student services,
coaching first-year students on probation)
 Co-curricular record
 Community outreach
 Cross-departmental collaboration
 Cultural sensitivity
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And Some Other Strategies…
 Emotional Intelligence interventions
 Faculty development
 Financial aid
 Graduate student teaching development workshops
 Integration of enrolment management & student services
 Learning & information commons
 Peer mentor programs
 Planning (staff/faculty retreats and symposia)
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And Some Other Strategies…
 Recognition for staff & faculty
 Residence (academic, bridging and transition programs)
 Service learning
 Supplemental instruction
 Teaching (clickers, critical thinking, early feedback,
hybrid courses, idea incubator, technology in large
classes)
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Discussion,
Comments & Questions
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Contact Us @
Susan Gottheil
sgottheil@mtroyal.ca
Clayton Smith
csmith@uwindsor.ca
Canadian SEM Website: www.uwindsor.ca/sem
•Student Engagement Bibliography
•Student Engagement Programs in Canada
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