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Institutional Research & Assessment

National Survey of Student Engagement-Spring 2001

Southern Utah University (SUU) participated with 321 colleges and universities in the spring 2001 administration of the National Survey of Student Engagement (NSSE). The purpose of NSSE is to assess the institutional learning environment for undergraduates. The 2001 sample was comprised of 177,103 first year and senior students nationally with an overall response rate of 42%.

NSSE sampled 700 SUU students as part of the survey with a response rate of 46%. Of the respondents at SUU, 44% were first year students and 56% senior students; 83% attended SUU full-time.

NSSE has provided SUU with a detailed report that compares our students to masters peer institutions (masters peer list). Highlights for SUU: (NSSE developed a statistical scale of difference from the mean to express the magnitude of mean difference or "practical significance". A difference of .2 is considered small, .5 is moderate, .8 is large. The numbers below represent SUU's differences.)

Positive practical significance:

First-year	Seniors	Item
.50	.69	Providing care for dependents living with students
.64	---	Student engagement in working for pay off campus
---	.36	Requiring short papers (fewer than 5 pages) from students
.30	.30	Requiring students to make a class presentation
---	.24	Relationships with administrative personnel and offices

Negative practical significance:

First-year	Seniors	Item
-.42	-.48	Using e-mail to communicate with an instructor
-.39	-.45	Holding conversations with students of a different ethnicity
-.42	---	Number of assigned textbooks or books of course readings
-.30	---	Preparing for class
-.38	---	Analyzing basic elements of an idea, experience or theory
-.29	---	Requiring written papers between 5 and 19 pages
---	-.28	Acquiring a broad general education
---	-.29	Understanding people of other racial and ethnic backgrounds
---	-.24	Relaxing and socializing

National Themes:

• Disconcerting shortfall of academic effort: Students do not spend enough time on task.
• Students say their institutions could help them more in coping with non-academic responsibilities (e.g., work, family, etc.) and in providing the support they need to thrive socially.
• Student interaction with faculty about ideas introduced in classes and about career plans have salutary effects.
• Giving students frequent feedback is a lever for engaging students to substantive conversations beyond the classroom.
• Using e-mail to communicate is highly correlated with integrating ideas from various sources and working with students on assignments.
• Good things happen when student voices fill classrooms
• Design activities for student presentations and asking questions
• The extra-curriculum is under-subscribed.
• Almost three quarters of part-time students do not participate in extracurricular activities
• Neither do 25% of all first year students and 20% of all seniors who live on campus or within walking distance.

Mean Comparisons and SUU Detail:

The NSSE report indicates differences in means that are significant at the .001 level, meaning the differences would not have occurred by random chance 99.9% of the time. While other differences between means may not be statistically significant at this same level, it is important to look for overall patterns as well as single-item differences.

Engagement with Faculty	Educational & Personal Development
Character of Coursework	Student Overall Satisfaction
Campus Environment	Other Items of Interest
Engagement with Students

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Last Update: Friday, June 06, 2003