SCUP Webcast

Why Student Engagement Matters:
Using NSSE Results for Assessment and Accountability

The National Survey of Student Engagement (NSSE) is one of the most widely used instruments assessing important aspects of the undergraduate student experience. If your institution in considering participation in the NSSE survey, or if you are already participating, and want to know the most current key findings, you will find this program valuable.

NSSE, an annual survey of more than a million college students at 600+ institutions, provides information to colleges, universities, states, and policymakers for improving undergraduate education and meeting accountability expectations. Since 2000 the NSSE project has been at the forefront in reshaping national perceptions about student success and the quality of undergraduate study.

By asking students directly about their campus experiences in and out of the classroom that are linked to learning and personal development—from meetings with professors to participation in extra-curricular activities—you gain a more complete understanding of the impact of the campus educational environment on the quality of the student's undergraduate learning experience.

NSSE results are a window into the extent to which institutions actively engage their students in effective educational practices. The data point to actions faculty and staff can take to enhance student engagement and improve institutional performance, as well as, provide external stakeholders with information required for quality assurance and public accountability.

NSSE was created with a grant from The Pew Charitable Trusts and is sponsored by The Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching.

Discussion Points:

• Learn how and why engagement matters to student success and institutional educational effectiveness
• Review key findings from NSSE
• Discover how schools are using student engagement data to improve teaching and learning
• Consider promising practices for enhancing student engagement and success

Who Should Attend?

This webcast is aimed at:

• academic and student life administrators
• institutional researchers
• assessment coordinators
• faculty members
• coordinators of student success programs (first-year seminars, learning communities, etc.)
• graduate students

Moderator:

Robert Smallwood is the associate provost for assessment at the University of North Florida (UNF), and is responsible for coordinating the development and implementation of a comprehensive student learning outcomes assessment program including the preparation of Academic Learning Compacts in all undergraduate degree programs. Smallwood came to UNF after having served more than 25 years in roles such as associate vice president for academic affairs, dean of student affairs, division chair of Natural Science and Mathematics, and faculty senate president at universities in Texas and Oklahoma.

Over the past seven years, Smallwood has given special attention to advancing the use of the NSSE as a tool to heighten awareness of effective educational practices known to facilitate student learning and student development. Smallwood's research with faculty perceptions of student engagement has led to his most recent interest in exploring variation in student engagement at the classroom level.

Presenter:

George Kuh is a leading authority on assessment in higher education. He directs the Center for Postsecondary Research and teaches in graduate programs in higher education and student affairs administration at Indiana University Bloomington.

Kuh also directs the NSSE, the NSSE Institute for Effective Educational Practice, and the College Student Experience Questionnaire Research Program. Under Kuh's leadership, NSSE has developed several tools to help colleges and universities use the survey results to improve the quality of the undergraduate experience. This has included national roundtables, regional users workshops, an accreditation toolkit, and a Lunina Foundation-funded five-year initiative to improve student attainment at minority-serving institutions in partnership with the Institute for Higher Education Policy. Kuh has 300 publications and has made hundreds of presentations on college student development, assessment strategies for postsecondary institutions, campus cultures, student engagement, and institutional improvement. Kuh has consulted with about 200 educational institutions and agencies in the US and abroad.

Among Kuh's publications are 20 books and monographs including Piecing Together the Student Success Puzzle (2007), Student Success in College (2005), Student Learning Outside the Classroom: Transcending Artificial Boundaries (1994), Involving Colleges (1991), and The Invisible Tapestry: Culture in American Colleges and Universities (1988). A past president of the Association for the Study of Higher Education (ASHE), Kuh was honored with the association's prestigious Research Achievement Award. Kuh's work has also been recognized with numerous other awards including the Contribution to Knowledge Award from the American College Personnel Association, the Contribution to Literature and Research Award and the Shaffer Award for Academic Excellence as a Graduate Faculty Member from the National Association of Student Personnel Administrators, the Sidney Suslow Award and three Best Forum Paper Awards from the Association of Institutional Research, the Academic Leadership Award from the Council of Independent Colleges, the Virginia B. Smith Innovative Leadership Award, and the Educational Leadership Award from St. Cloud State University. In 1998, Kuh was identified as one of the 10 most influential people in student affairs.

Kuh received a BA from Luther College, a MS from St. Cloud State University, and a PhD from the University of Iowa. In 2001, Kuh received Indiana University's Tracy Sonneborn Award for distinguished research and teaching. Kuh holds honorary degrees from Luther College, Millikin University, and Washington and Jefferson College.

Order the CD

Interview with George Kuh

Questions? Please contact Kathy Benton, SCUP's associate director of education and product development, at 734.998.6966 or kathy.benton@scup.org