St. Olaf College’s Approach to Data Transparency and Student Feedback
By: Steven Feldman, NSSE Institute Graduate Assistant
St. Olaf College has long been committed to transparency in sharing survey data with different stakeholders around campus. The college’s approach to data transparency not only facilitates internal decision-making but also fosters a culture of openness and continuous improvement. The practice of publicly posting survey data, including results from the National Survey of Student Engagement (NSSE), has been a standard in the Institutional Effectiveness & Assessment (IEA) office at St. Olaf for many years. Kelsey Thompson, Assistant Director of Assessment in IEA, shared, “We’d always had a practice of posting our survey data publicly as much as we can. When I started working here almost 8 years ago, that was just the natural expectation.” By making data readily accessible, the IEA office reduces the need for ad-hoc data requests and empowers stakeholders to independently explore and utilize the information. Emphasizing this point, Thompson shared that “From a practical standpoint, publicly sharing data makes it easy for us to be able to point people to it. So then, we’re not always the ones that are having to look up the specific question that they want to know.”
Recently, St. Olaf’s data transparency efforts have been enhanced by the development of interactive dashboards. These dashboards, which include multiple years of NSSE data, allow users to disaggregate data by various demographics and explore themes such as campus climate and academic advising. The dashboards are designed to be user-friendly, enabling users to navigate and interpret the data with ease.
One of the key areas of interest has been NSSE’s Academic Advising Topical Module. St. Olaf has implemented a team-based advising model that pairs first-year students with a peer advisor, a faculty advisor, and a success coach. As students move into their junior and senior year, they then transition to a faculty advisor in their major and a career coach from the Piper Center for Vocation and Career. To assess the efficiency of this new model, St. Olaf used their NSSE results across two different time points, both prior to and after the implementation of this new model. Thompson shared that “What was exciting to see is that for our first years, in the most recent administration, which would have been the first class of students to kind of have this new model, we saw improvement on every single item in the advising module from the previous year.” For Thompson, the improvement in advising-related items (illustrated in Figure 1) further validates the effectiveness of this holistic approach.
Figure 1. St. Olaf Academic Advising Topical Module – First-Year Student Results
St. Olaf has also shared rich insights provided by students’ open-ended comments. The process of analyzing open-ended comments began with an initial review of roughly 30-40 comments without coding to gain a general sense of common topics. From there, a coding scheme was developed based on patterns in the responses. Since the survey question asked, “What one change would most improve the educational experience at this institution, and what one thing should not be changed?”, the coding naturally followed this division. Themes such as course offerings, belonging, and advising structure emerged as key areas of focus.
Once the themes were established, the comments were manually coded using an Excel spreadsheet. Each comment was assigned to one or more themes by marking an “X” in the corresponding column. This approach allowed for easy quantification of responses, enabling Thompson to determine how frequently certain topics were mentioned. Additionally, this method made it simple to filter and extract relevant quotes for their final report. While qualitative analysis can often seem daunting, this structured yet straightforward approach demonstrates how institutional researchers can draw meaningful insights without relying on advanced qualitative research software.
The transparent sharing of data, including open-ended comments, has been well-received both internally and externally. Faculty and staff appreciate the accessibility of the data, which supports various initiatives, including strategic planning and advising improvements. By making data accessible and actionable, St. Olaf College not only enhances its internal processes but also contributes to a culture of continuous improvement and accountability. This commitment to transparency ensures that all stakeholders, from students to senior administrators, are informed and engaged in the decision-making process. It fosters a sense of trust and collaboration, as everyone has access to the same information and can contribute to discussions on how to best utilize the data to drive positive change. Moreover, the inclusion of open-ended comments provides a richer, more nuanced understanding of student experiences, allowing the college to address specific concerns and celebrate areas of success. Overall, St. Olaf College’s approach to data sharing exemplifies how transparency can lead to more informed, effective, and inclusive institutional practices.
