NSSE SPEAKING POINTS

1)      NSSE stands for “National Survey of Student Engagement”.

2)     It is a tool used by hundreds of universities in Canada and the United States to assess the quality of undergraduate education through a focus on student engagement

3)     All Ontario universities participate on a three-year cycle, so York will next have the survey “in the field” February 11th to March 31, 2014.

4)     Only undergraduate students in their first year and in the final year of four-year Honours programs will be surveyed. Law and education are excluded. Students will be sent individualized links to participate in a web-based survey.

5)     NSSE collects data on how much time and effort students invest in their studies, their personal development and other educationally purposeful activities, and how well the university facilitates such involvement. It is one of the most important data-gathering exercises we do as an institution: if we want to make evidence-based decisions in future, good data is critical.

6)     To get good data, we need high participation rates. Our 2014 goal is 35% overall participation

7)     To get high participation rates, we need every faculty member and administrator to encourage their first-year students and those in the final year of a four-year Honours degree to take the survey. We look to Senate to champion the cause.

8)     Our challenge: in 2011, York had the worst participation rate in the system and one that was much lower than our principle competitors:

 

  First Year  

 Senior Year 

 Ontario average 

32%

35%

Ryerson

34% (overall)

Toronto

37.1%

43.9%

York

16%

18%

9)     What are we doing to improve response rates?

a)     Comprehensive communications campaign

b)     Involving the community: a planning committee of 22 members includes representatives from Faculties, central administration and York Federation of Students

c)      Using social and other electronic media (screensavers, LCD panels, Student Portal, Moodle, etc.)

d)     Video and print promotion

e)     Inter-Faculty competition for the highest response rate

f)       Incentives for students to participate

g)     Promotion at student events

h)     Communications toolkit so campus leaders can provide a consistent message

i)       Outreach to student groups and faculty members to help encourage participation

10)  What will we do with the results?

a)     Share them with Faculties and administrative units, with relevant statistical apparatus

b)     Convene focus groups of students to get their insights into what kinds of initiatives would improve student engagement

c)      Form an intervention and assessment committee to coordinate improvement efforts around campus

11)    How can you help?

a)     As the academic leaders at York, we all need to champion participation in NSSE so that we have the best data possible for making decisions about improving academic quality for undergraduate students.

b)     The NSSE committee will begin rolling out communications to students about NSSE after mid-term exams in October. We will need senators to reinforce the message to students that:

i)       the survey is important,

ii)     the results will help improve the academic quality of York and,

iii)   it is critically important that targeted students participate in the process.