Students urged to take survey
Students are not participating in the opportunity to improve the university experience by completing the National Survey of Student Engagement, university officials say.
A group of 2,100 senior and first-year freshman students received an e-mail Feb. 16 containing the NSSE survey, or The College Student Report. However, only 21 percent of students have responded to the survey, said Joan Kleinke, assistant director of assessment.
Students randomly selected for the survey received an e-mail from President Kermit L. Hall asking the student to take 15 minutes to complete the survey, Kleinke said. Although the survey comes from Indiana, the surveys sent to students are personalized with Hall’s name as the correspondent.
The survey is important to Utah State University, Kleinke said, because it gives the student body the opportunity to voice opinions on the university experience. This nationally accredited survey is used by many of the top institutions throughout the United States, Kleinke said, and the results are important for the accreditation process of the university.
The survey results are used in “improving programs and activities geared toward academics,” Kleinke said.
“This is [the students’] chance to tell [the university] what is going on and what to change,” Kleinke said.
The survey compares the university to other institutions based on five key clusters of information: Academic challenge, active and collaborative learning, student/faculty interaction, enriching the educational experience and a supportive campus environment, Kleinke said. The results are based on student responses about these various aspects of the college experience.
“Your opinions are important,” Kleinke said. “You’re the customer.”
The results of the survey are then distributed to the Provost’s Office and Hall to determine where the allocation of money should be distributed, Kleinke said. NSSE results will answer questions about improving teaching and other aspects of campus life.
“Sometimes changes don’t cost money,” Kleinke said. “Sometimes it’s attitude or just getting the students involved.”
The NSSE is an objective, reliable and valid means of measuring student retention, curriculum reform and faculty development, Kleinke said.
The results will be used for recruitment and will be available for anyone to access, Kleinke said. The NSSE will aid the school’s Web site by offering prospective students various information about campus life, course load, environment and class experiences.
The NSSE project is co-sponsored by The Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching and the Pew Forum on Undergraduate Learning. It is administered by the Center for Survey Research at Indiana University.
This is the second year the NSSE has been issued, Kleinke said, and will be issued every other year. A pilot survey for faculty was issued last year to various institutions to gather information from a faculty perspective about student interaction and the opportunities available at the institution. The faculty survey will also be administered this spring for the first time, Kleinke said.
Reminders for those students who have received the NSSE survey will be sent via e-mail on Feb. 29, March 14 and 24.
-kcashton@cc.usu.edu