Sharing NSSE Data Widely with Support from the Institute for Teaching and Learning
Youngstown State University (YSU), in Youngstown, Ohio, has participated in NSSE for many years, and it allows the university to view trends in student perceptions and behavior. NSSE data points are used as Key Performance Indicators to the Board of Trustees for their university strategic plan. Many of their co-curricular units utilize NSSE data as part of their assessment reporting, as well as some of the academic departments/colleges utilizing NSSE data for both accreditation and assessment reports.
A multi-year analysis of NSSE data, particularly around Learning Strategies and Effective Teaching Practices, in combination with data from other student surveys was a key part of the rationale for the creation of YSU’s Institute for Teaching and Learning. From 2013 to 2018, YSU saw downwards trends in Learning Strategies and Effective Teaching Practices Engagement Indicators for both first-year and senior students (at the same time their incoming student body had higher GPA and ACT scores). Relevant results from the YSU’s 2018 Faculty Survey of Student Engagement (FSSE) revealed faculty reporting engagement in continuous improvement activities at lower rates than desired. In 2019, a team of stakeholders visited academic departments on campus to explore these trends in more detail and find out what faculty needed in terms of institutional support for effective teaching. Utilizing this faculty feedback, the Institute for Teaching and Learning was launched, bringing together assessment of student learning and faculty development initiatives on campus. Since 2019, the Institute for Teaching and Learning has supported 838 unique faculty, staff, administrators, and students on YSU’s campus through workshops and consultation. Importantly, NSSE and FSSE 2021 results are already showing improvements in some indicators that YSU believes point to the impact of some of the Institute’s programming and services. For example, FSSE results indicate that faculty are spending more time on active learning-type activities over lecture.
Maximizing NSSE Data Use
YSU’s uses their NSSE data in a variety of other ways to engage with the campus community. Some of these examples include:
- As a Key Performance Indicator (KPI) to their Board of Trustees, they report multi-year data on seniors rating of their entire educational experience, as well as all students’ responses to the “Would you go to the same institution?” question.
- In 2021, they specifically looked at data from 2018 to 2021, to further analyze the ‘belonging series of questions.’ Prior work in this area using the Inclusiveness module had been conducted in 2018 which generated data that was used to explore trends prior to and during COVID and discuss ways to help students feel valued and a part of the campus community after remote and hybrid instruction. These data were shared with various stakeholders, from campus leadership to student leaders, to discuss strategies for building community. In both years, they also disaggregated the data by various student characteristics. This past spring a group of graduate students worked on an additional survey for Student Veterans to explore their campus belonging, since Student Veterans rated their perception of value and belonging lower than the campus average.
- YSU recently launched a new first-year seminar course, YSU 1500. They matched NSSE data with data from their Division of Student Success to begin exploring the impact of first-year student participation in that course.
- In 2021, YSU also participated in the Academic Advising module under their regular NSSE administration and saw first-year students responding positively to their perceptions of advising compared to YSU seniors and first-year students at peer institutions. Disaggregated NSSE data and module data were used to triangulate retention data and direct feedback collected by the Division of Student Success.
YSU’s Institute for Teaching and Learning also offered department and college disaggregation of NSSE data for any campus stakeholder who requests it for accreditation purposes. Recently, their office provided disaggregated NSSE data to the Williamson College of Business to support their work for the Association to Advance Collegiate Schools of Business (AACSB) accreditation. Institutionally they are accredited through the Higher Learning Commission and use NSSE data at various points as evidence in their assurance argument.
Sharing NSSE Results More Widely
YSU makes their NSSE data and an array of supporting resources available on their website. The institution’s NSSE Snapshot report and results from two Topical Modules – Academic Advising and Inclusiveness and Engagement with Cultural Diversity – are summarized in a report titled “Key Module Takeaways”. In an effort to continue disseminating NSSE data and results across campus and engaging various stakeholders, they created a webinar which was shared online to supplement these documents. The Institute for Teaching and Learning also encouraged people to review the webinar and snapshot before attending their spring Lunch & Learn Data Conversations which was open to the entire campus community. Internally, they also created data reports/summaries which have been shared with Student Government Association, Campus Leadership, Deans, Division of Student Success, First-Year Student Services, Athletics, Veterans Affairs, Housing, Senate Teaching and Learning Committee, Student Organization Leaders, Student Presidential Mentors, and the Division of Student Affairs. They also created disaggregated reports as requested by colleagues and departments.
The Institute for Teaching and Learning staff is primarily responsible for the dissemination of NSSE data on campus. They actively disseminate to the campus stakeholder groups through tailored data, presentations, and reports. Overall, YSU’s continued efforts to reduce gatekeeping of NSSE data and finding creative ways to share this information with relevant partners across campus continues to prove beneficial.
