Transparency and Sharing Outcomes
In October 2014, Denison University, in Granville, Ohio, launched on its website a new page, Student Outcomes: The Denison Difference, devoted to assisting internal and external audiences in understanding the value of a Denison education. The page displays results from Denison’s NSSE 2014 administration in an innovative and interactive format. Combining the use of internal survey data, acceptance rates, and alumni narratives with NSSE results, the page is a comprehensive marketing web resource that captures positive student outcomes at Denison.
Denison has identified 13 core undergraduate student outcomes, derived from the institutional mission and general education requirements and developed by a committee of faculty and student affairs staff (Figure 5). These are Civic Life, Global Perspective, Difference Among Persons, Issues of Power & Justice, Agency, Identity Awareness, Quantitative Reasoning, Oral Communication, Written Communication, Analytical Thinking, Critical Thinking, Creative Thinking, and Ethical Thinking. On the new webpage, these outcomes are arrayed around a colorful wheel and, when selected, reveal corresponding NSSE data that demonstrate how students at Denison reach that core student learning outcome. For example, analysts combined response proportions from items associated with Quantitative Reasoning to demonstrate students’ experiences using quantitative skills (Figure 6). According to their analysis, 63% of seniors at Denison reported that their experience has “contributed ‘very much’ or ‘quite a bit’ to their knowledge, skills, and personal development in analyzing numerical and statistical information.” Denison also aggregated responses to NSSE items about how students spend their time, including the amount of hours spent participating in co-curricular activities and volunteering, to create a profile of civic life among seniors. Additionally, Denison presented NSSE results indicating that 93% of seniors spent at least one hour a week participating in co-curricular activities (student organizations, campus publications, student government, fraternity/ sorority, intercollegiate or intramural sports) and 59% of seniors completed at least one hour per week of community service or volunteer work, with the average senior completing two and a half hours of community service each week, demonstrating Denison students’ high levels of co-curricular and community engagement.
NSSE data help Denison’s administrators assess the achievement of their core student learning outcomes and align their work to the institutional mission and commitment to liberal arts education. Also, as this example shows, NSSE data help the university communicate their accomplishments to the external community.
