Find NSSE Campaign Promotes Survey Measuring Student Engagement
All SDSU freshmen and graduating seniors are asked to complete the NSSE survey by May 15.
NSSE (pronounced “nessie”) measures the type of student engagement in the classroom and outside activities that have been shown to lead to student success.
The voluntary survey began Feb. 28 and remains open through May 15. Eligible students were sent a link through their university email on Feb. 28, which can be used to “Find NSSE.”
The NSSE survey began in 1999-2000, and 6 million students at 1,600 colleges have since participated. SDSU has participated previously in 2004, 2009 and 2015.
“Students will be helping the university identify how to improve the Aztec experience,” said Christy Samarkos, interim vice president for Student Affairs. The division is organizing SDSU’s participation in the survey.
Faculty and staff will analyze student responses on classroom experience and high-impact practices to make changes and help develop a deeper and richer education. The national nature of the survey also allows SDSU to compare its results with those of universities across the country.
In addition, this year SDSU is also participating in a related survey: the Faculty Survey of Student Engagement, or FSSE. The survey is administered to faculty, instructors and graduate students who teach. SDSU faculty members will receive a notice about the FSSE on March 26 and have until May 9 to complete it. An invitation will be shared via email. Since 2003, more than 250,000 instructional staff from more than 800 institutions have responded to FSSE.
“We have a unique opportunity this year to look at engagement in the classroom and in related extracurricular activities through the eyes of both our students and our faculty,” said Samarkos. “I hope everyone who is eligible will participate.”
Many faculty members in largely freshmen and senior classes have agreed to allow a short presentation on NSSE, and others are showing PowerPoint slide reminders. A short video for classrooms will be available soon. Other reminders for students have popped up on social media, WebPortal, computer lab log-in pages, posters, fliers and buttons.
The NSSE survey consists of 40 questions and takes about 15 minutes. Students can take the survey on their cell phones, tablets or computers and can pause as necessary and return later to the point they left the survey.
Also, students who complete the survey will be automatically entered in weekly opportunity drawings and also in a grand prize opportunity drawing at the end of the survey window. The weekly opportunity drawings feature $50 Visa gift cards, while the grand prize opportunity drawing features three Aztec Shops gift cards to buy textbooks at the Bookstore (for freshmen), three sets of graduation regalia (for seniors), and one Nintendo Switch.
More information on NSSE is available at sdsu.edu/nsse or by emailing Student Affairs Associate Vice President Antionette Marbray at [email protected]
