Campus Connection

Seniors, first-year students encouraged to participate in survey on UWL experience

After hearing from students on a national survey a few years ago, UWL continues to improve the experience for first-year students and has joined a national effort with that same goal. That effort followed student feedback from the National Survey of Student Engagement (NSSE). Starting Feb. 21, first-year students and seniors will be asked to take the NSSE again, answering questions relating to their academic and campus experience. An email with the link to the 15-minute survey will be sent to all qualifying student emails from nsse@nssesurvey.org, signed by Chancellor Gow. Students who complete the survey by April 1 will be entered into a drawing for $10 in Maroon Dollars, which can be used at campus dining locations. Questions from the NSSE cover a broad range of topics, including:

• How often they have experienced certain types of learning activities in their courses (e.g. collaborative work, faculty/student research)
• How they spend their time, their satisfaction with their interactions with students/faculty/staff
• Beliefs about how their UWL experience has impacted their skill development (e. g. writing, speaking, working effectively with diverse groups of people).

From the most recent data, UWL has learned that nearly 1/3 of students surveyed worked with a faculty member on research, nearly 2/3 participate in an internship or field experience, and about 10-percent volunteer regularly in the community. Patrick Barlow, university assessment coordinator, who oversees the survey, says the data is not only used to identify the needs of students, but it also assesses the changes that have been implemented. This ensures UWL is providing the best experience for all students.