Engaging Student Affairs in Student Engagement Improvements (Lessons from the Field–Volume 4)
The California State University (CSU) system has a clear goal: to increase graduation rates for all students across all 23 campuses to meet California workforce demands. Graduation Initiative 2025 outlines CSU’s key objectives for first-time first-year and transfer students. At California State University, San Bernardino (CSUSB), working toward these goals has meant ensuring all institutional divisions are involved in the process, including each student affairs unit. Cautious of too hastily developing and implementing new programs and initiatives, CSUSB’s approach has been to thoughtfully consider ways to increase intentionality and efficiency in work already being done on campus, identifying areas already improving as well as areas needing further improvement. Figures 4 and 5 show how these data have been made accessible to campus constituents.
The Department of Housing and Residential Education (DHRE) has used NSSE to assess the impact that living on campus has on student engagement, comparing effects not only of on- and off-campus living but also of specific housing programs (e.g., faculty-in-residence, sustainability programs). DHRE’s assessments of various initiatives have looked at the relationship of students’ living environment with NSSE Engagement Indicators and High-Impact Practices participation to determine which DHRE practices have the most impact on student learning and success. These findings are especially important as the institution moves toward increasing the number of students living on campus. Simply getting more students to live on campus is not enough; their experience must intentionally offer the resources and support to assist them toward graduation.
Other CSUSB offices find NSSE gives insight into populations of students who face unique challenges that other surveys may not capture. Services to Students with Disabilities (SSD), for example, searches NSSE data for trends among students with disabilities. These data combined with resources from the Council for Learning Disabilities inform the development and implementation of SSD’s strategies. The Veterans Success Center (VSC), using NSSE data to inform programmatic decisions about how best to support student veterans, created a Veterans Learning Community where military-affiliated students receive support in transitioning to the university (e.g., selecting courses, choosing a major, understanding campus requirements), participate in a seminar series to enhance academic skills (e.g., study practices) and personal skills (e.g., social networking), engage in community service and family-based activities, explore career options, and prepare for life after CSUSB. To develop coping skills for life challenges on the path to graduation, student veterans also receive on-site academic support, personal development and academic skills building workshops, a mental health support group, community enrichment projects, and family engagement activities. NSSE data were also instrumental in the development of a dedicated tutoring program and study space for military-affiliated students. VSC has partnered with the Communications Studies Department in a collaborative effort featuring military leaders; VA representatives; and CSUSB staff, faculty and student veterans to expand
faculty training for successfully instructing and interacting with military-affiliated students.
To support students of color from communities who have historically graduated at lower rates, CSUSB has recently opened three student success centers: the Pan-African Student Success Center, the LatinX Student Success Center, and the First People’s Student Success Center. NSSE data along with Lumina, AAC&U, and institutional and systemwide data informed the need for these centers—as illustrated, for example, in CSU system’s very low graduation rates for First Nations students. Increasing resources and support for all students will be central to CSUSB’s work toward meeting the Graduation Initiative 2025 goals.
Lastly, to improve the transition experience for both students coming from high schools and those transferring from community colleges, CSUSB’s orientation programs have become transition programs—and NSSE data have been embedded in this change. The new student convocation, for example, incorporates NSSE data on students’ engagement on campus and supplements this with student leaders sharing stories about their own engagement and encouraging new students to take advantage of campus support and resources. Given the many ways CSUSB is working to improve the student experience and increase engagement, its next NSSE administration will be important for assessing the impact of these strategies.
