Assessing Competencies and Improving Educational Quality
Winthrop University, a comprehensive public university in Rock Hill, South Carolina, has participated in 12 NSSE administrations, including the new survey pilot and NSSE 2014. While engaged in many NSSE data use projects on campus, two examples demonstrate Winthrop’s thoughtful and extensive approach to making use of student engagement results.
Winthrop has been working to update its undergraduate core curriculum, beginning in 2009 with the design of university-level undergraduate competencies. This effort was informed by several sets of relevant information. Accreditation standards from the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools (SACSCOC), specifically Comprehensive Standards 3.3.1.1 on institutional effectiveness in educational programs and 3.5.1 on general education competencies and the Association of American Colleges and Universities (AAC&U) Essential Learning Outcomes provided initial guidance. Winthrop’s NSSE results, in particular the educational gains items (ten items that invite students to report how much their experience at this institution contributed to knowledge, skills, and personal development in the following areas, writing clearly and effectively, speaking clearly and effectively, thinking critically and analytically, etc.), offered more straightforward expressions of undergraduate learning goals. In 2010, the faculty voted unanimously to adopt four undergraduate university-level competencies (ULC): (1) Winthrop graduates think critically and solve problems, (2) Winthrop graduates are personally and socially responsible, (3) Winthrop graduates understand the interconnected nature of the world and the time in which they live, and (4) Winthrop graduates communicate effectively.
To gauge the influence of ULCs on the student experience, Winthrop identified relevant NSSE measures, including Engagement Indicator (EI) items, several High-Impact Practice (HIP) items, and two Topical Modules (Civic Engagement and Experiences with Diverse Perspectives) as metrics. For example, the NSSE 2014 EIs Higher-Order Learning and Reflective Learning are mapped to Winthrop’s ULC on thinking critically. Additionally, the EI Discussions with Diverse Others is a metric for the UCL on interconnectedness. NSSE results are featured on Winthrop’s website, with a specific page dedicated to showcasing how NSSE items map to the ULCs.
NSSE results also influenced the development of Winthrop’s Quality Enhancement Plan (QEP) Proposal for SACSCOC. When initially discussing what topic would be the focus of the project, faculty and staff gathered for a campus-wide conversation. When faculty and staff discussed what to focus on, the idea of global competence came up. Reviewing NSSE data to reflect on how Winthrop students fared against comparison groups over time on diversity measures and study abroad, faculty and staff found that Winthrop students had expectations for participating in study abroad and levels of participation that were on par with their comparison groups. However, they saw the opportunity for increasing interest and rates of participation. Informed by these results, Winthrop designed its QEP Proposal for a Global Learning Initiative. Two NSSE Topical Modules, Experiences with Diverse Perspectives and Global Perspectives–Cognitive and Social, have provided Winthrop additional information about their students’ exposure to and experiences with diversity and global perspectives, and these data are serving as indirect measures to assess Winthrop’s QEP, the Global Learning Initiative. Winthrop also used results from selected NSSE 2014 core instrument items (in addition to items from the Global Perspectives module) as an institutional-level metric to assess its QEP.
Winthrop has also used its NSSE Major Field Report and produced customized reports from the NSSE Report Builder–Institutional Version to provide NSSE results to specific disciplines. Faculty were particularly interested in program-, discipline-, and field-level results as metrics for demonstrating senior achievement of Winthrop’s ULCs. These are important for cyclical academic program review self-studies and are a data source for SACSCOC Comprehensive Standards (CS) 3.3.1.1 and CS 3.5.1 (college-level general education competencies).
After examining NSSE’s institutional website examples webpage, staff members at Winthrop’s Office of University Relations adapted Utah State University’s NSSE infographic concept to develop Winthrop’s NSSE infographic. Winthrop’s videographer used the infographic to combine text, video, and pictures to create a customized Storehouse Story (technology to present visual images as an essay) using Winthrop students and featuring NSSE results. Winthrop’s university relations and admissions staff worked together to create and send out an email blast using the Winthrop Storehouse Story and NSSE results.
