Creative Survey Promotion
In the fall of 2013, the University of Massachusetts Dartmouth’s Office of Institutional Research and Assessment spearheaded a campus-wide campaign called “You Spoke. We Listened” in partnership with the offices of student affairs and academic affairs. The ongoing publicity campaign advertises feedback that students provide through discussion groups and surveys like NSSE and highlights programmatic and curricular changes that are implemented as a result. The Office of Institutional Research and Assessment garnered support for the campaign from the highest levels of the university by discussing the campaign at meetings with assistant and associate deans, the faculty senate, student government leaders, and others on campus. The campaign is delivered through a wide variety of formats (see Figure 11), including large format posters, flyers, campus TV advertisements, advertisements in the student newspaper, and table-tents. Additionally, a page on the campus intranet was developed that is devoted specifically to telling students about NSSE.
Through longitudinal analysis of NSSE data and other campus surveys, university administrators identified supportiveness of the campus environment as an area in need of improvement. Trend analysis of means for the Supportive Campus Environment Benchmark across the NSSE 2005, 2008, and 2011 administrations indicated a consistent pattern of significantly lower mean scores for freshmen and seniors at UMass Dartmouth compared to the university’s peers. To further investigate these findings, focus groups were conducted with freshmen and seniors in March 2013 to gather in-depth, qualitative data about overall student satisfaction and, more specifically, student satisfaction with the supportiveness of the campus environment at UMass Dartmouth. Focus group findings that informed university changes were in the areas of academic support from advisors and administrative offices, the transition from high school to college, and seniors’ comments on academic facilities. The following initiatives were informed by NSSE data analysis and were publicized in the campaign: a. creation of an Office of Undergraduate Research Office “to promote undergraduate research, support student researchers, and disseminate the products of student research”—a formal space devoted to better support undergraduate students in their research endeavors; b. development of The Student Transition and Achievement Resource (STAR) Center in the College of Arts and Sciences: “Professional academic advisors, peer mentors, and faculty advisors from most Arts & Sciences majors and minors help students plan their academic careers thoroughly and thoughtfully.” c. development of an engineering freshman experience course; d. making Achievement Possible (MAP-Works): “In MAP-Works, faculty and staff connect and communicate with students and each other in a first-year community dedicated to Making Achievement Possible in the academic arena”; and e. implementation of college student success plans.
Beyond the value of communicating important changes being implemented as a result of student feedback, “You Spoke. We Listened.” was used strategically as a recruitment tool for NSSE 2014 to help prompt students to participate in the upcoming NSSE administration. The office of institutional research and assessment coordinated with the housing and residential education office to effectively promote NSSE 2014 (for example, by sliding handouts under students’ dorm-room doors) and, as a result, the institution observed an uptick in first-year responses.
