Integrating NSSE Results with Institutional and Other Survey Data
Youngstown State University (YSU), which celebrated its centennial year in 2008, is a comprehensive public university of 13,500 students who are recruited primarily from the metropolitan area in which it is located. YSU offers over 100 undergraduate majors, 30 masters programs, and doctorates in educational leadership and physical therapy. In 2000, YSU introduced a goal-based general education program that includes writing, oral communication, and critical thinking requirements, as well as a senior capstone course. In 2008 YSU received reaccreditation by the North Central Association of the Higher Learning Commission.
YSU has used NSSE data for assessment and reaccreditation. YSU has triangulated NSSE data from 2004, 2006, and 2007, with institutional and other national survey data and reported these results as part of YSU’s participation in the Voluntary System of Accountability (VSA) project. The VSA, an initiative of the American Association of Colleges and Universities (AASCU) and the Association of Public and Land-grant Universities (APLU), provides information on the undergraduate experience through the College Portrait. Specific NSSE items fall into broad categories of “group learning experiences, active learning experiences, experiences with diverse groups of people and ideas, student interaction with campus and faculty, institutional commitment to student learning and success.”
Results on these items are included on a template designed for Ohio’s College Portrait/VSA project, www.ysu.edu/institutional-research/ysuvsa0809.pdf. Faculty and staff reviewed VSA project data along with information about student learning from electronic portfolios, classroom embedded assignments, field tests, and data on faculty and first-year students derived from YSU’s participation in Pennsylvania State University’s “Parsing the First Year of College” project—a three-year study funded by the Spencer Foundation that included 35 institutions who researched the influences affecting student learning and persistence of new first-year students.
Dr. Sharon Stringer, Director of Assessment and Professor of Psychology at YSU, continues to collaborate with other units on campus to drill down on specific NSSE items that are part of the VSA template. They examine these data in relation to GPA, success, and progress rates, to determine whether there are patterns of performance among sub-populations of students (e.g., nontraditional students, diversity subgroups, transfer students). This process will inform future decisions about the selection of assessment tools such as the Collegiate Learning Assessment (CLA) that provide direct measures. Stringer is using recommendations from Assessment matters: The why and how of cracking open and using assessment results (Ahren, Ryan, & Massa-McKinley, 2008) as a planning guide to deeper analyses of the data and pacing of assessment tests and surveys over the next four years. YSU has also collected internal survey data on general education over the past ten years and plans to examine these data in relation to NSSE and to direct measures of student learning.
Standing alone, NSSE only supplies indirect measures of student learning. The campus community and constituencies recognize that NSSE data are insufficient in themselves to make substantial changes in programs or policies. For preparation of its self-study for the Higher Learning Commission (HLC), YSU used NSSE results, in-house questionnaires, and data on retention and diversity. Stringer considered all of these data resources to be very valuable in the design of YSU’s new 2007-2013 Academic Strategic Plan, which emphasizes teaching, learning, and student engagement. The campus is dedicated to helping students integrate their curricular and co-curricular experiences. Future review of NSSE data will be used to enhance YSU’s participation in Campus Compact, a national initiative that promotes community service, civic engagement, and service-learning in higher education. Although YSU joined Campus Compact in 2008, Stringer hopes to use NSSE results and other resources to assess the impact of service-learning experiences on students.
YSU has formed an Assessment Council with 14-16 members. The Council was established through the Provost’s Office and includes faculty, staff (including Institutional Research & Policy Analysis, Student Affairs, and representatives from each college), and students. All members of the Council received a copy of the actual NSSE report (including raw data). The report was read by all members and discussed in Council meetings. The General Education Committee also participates in the Assessment Council and considers NSSE results to refine the general education goals. After careful review of the data by the Council, Stringer makes presentations to numerous campus constituents such as the President’s Cabinet, Student Life, Student Government Association, academic advisors, and others. Currently at YSU, the Assessment Council, General Education Committee, and Institutional Research play vital roles in reviewing and interpreting NSSE data. For the future, YSU plans to implement a Council on Teaching and Learning that will include campus-wide representation—including academic affairs, student affairs, and advising staff—to discuss data on student learning.
