Community College Survey of Student Engagement SENSE 2011 Orientation Conference Call

Survey of Entering Student Engagement Conference Call Agenda SENSE Project Overview Preparing for Survey Administration Submitting the Course Schedule File (CSF) Random Sampling Process Survey Materials and Survey Administration Deliverables

Survey of Entering Student Engagement SENSE provides data that focus on first impressions, entering processes, classroom experiences, and other special topics; are grounded in research about what works to retain and support entering students; identify and help colleges learn from practices that engage entering students; and identify areas for improvement.

Survey of Entering Student Engagement Resources for Member Colleges Members Only Website Log in to Members Only website at and enter username and password. Survey Administration Tab SENSE 2011 Procedure Guide SENSE FAQs Conference Call PowerPoint Survey Administration Timeline Communication Templates Administration Materials Special-Focus Modules

SENSE 2011 Institutional Membership and Agreement Form Submission of a signed Institutional Membership and Agreement Form is required for participation. Contact SENSE Liaison to confirm receipt of the form, or to request a blank form for the college president to review and sign. The Course Schedule File will not be processed until agreement form is received. Survey of Entering Student Engagement

Special-Focus Module Options (Module items available at Academic Advising and Planning Building Relationships Commitment and Support Engagement through Technology Financial Assistance Promising Practices* Student Success Courses Custom Module Deadline to submit module selections: May 20, 2011 *Part of special national study on student success Special-Focus Modules

Survey of Entering Student Engagement SENSE 2011 Special-Focus Module on Promising Practices Participants will be included in a national study—free of charge— focused on community college students’ participation in “promising practices.” Items focus on the following topics: registration, advising, freshman seminars, developmental coursework, placement, and explanation of policies. A total of 12 items will be added to the 2011 administration. Review the items at NOTE: Colleges can select up to two Special-Focus Modules. For the 2011 administration, colleges will automatically receive the Promising Practices module free of charge unless they select TWO fee-based module options.

Community College Survey of Student Engagement Preparing for Survey Administration

Survey of Entering Student Engagement Campus Contact Coordinates survey administration process on college campus Serves as single point of contact between the college and the Center MUST be available during summer months Survey Administrators Schedule and conduct in-class survey administration Serve as point of contact between Campus Contact and faculty members whose classes are surveyed SENSE Liaison Provides guidance on survey administration process Serves as point of contact between Campus Contact and the Center Key Roles

Data Verification Form Campus Contact must confirm the information the Center has on record for the college is correct—the Course Schedule File will not be processed until the completed form is submitted. Campus Contact will receive directions for completing the online data verification form via from SENSE Liaison on Friday, May 27, Campus Contact is responsible for submitting the completed data verification form by Friday, June 3, Survey of Entering Student Engagement

President’s Memo—send prior to the conclusion of the spring 2011 academic term Campus Contact’s Letter—send two weeks prior to the first class day of the fall 2011 academic term Scheduling Letter—send prior to the start of the fall 2011 academic term Thank You Note—send after survey administration is complete Survey of Entering Student Engagement Preparing for Survey Administration: Communications

Survey of Entering Student Engagement Campus SizeNumber of Administrators* Less than 4,500 studentsTwo to four Survey Administrators 4,500 to 8,000 studentsFive to seven Survey Administrators 8,000-15,000 studentsEight to ten Survey Administrators More than 15,000 studentsMore than 10 Survey Administrators *Number of Survey Administrators needed will vary for each college (e.g., a multi-campus college may need multiple Survey Administrators at each campus location). These numbers serve only as a guide. Preparing for Survey Administration: Survey Administrator Selection

Community College Survey of Student Engagement Submitting the Course Schedule File (CSF)

Survey of Entering Student Engagement The CSF is used to randomly select the sample of students to be surveyed. The CSF should ONLY contain the following for-credit courses offered during the fall 2011 academic term: all developmental reading, writing, and math courses at all levels (EXCLUDING ESL courses) first college-level math courses first college-level English courses Late- or second-start courses that meet these specifications should be included. Hybrid or blended courses that meet on campus during the fourth and fifth weeks of class and meet these specifications should be included. Course Schedule File (CSF)

Survey of Entering Student Engagement DO NOT include the following courses in the CSF: Distance-learning courses that do not meet in person during the fourth and fifth weeks of class ESL courses Dual-enrollment courses offered only to high school students Courses offered to incarcerated populations Student Success/College Skills courses Course Schedule File (CSF) continued

Survey of Entering Student Engagement Variables to include in the CSF * Required variables  If available—inclusion of these variables enables the Center to check for cross-listed courses Label NameVariable Name Campus location * “camploc” Start time * “stime” (format as 24-HR, HH:MM) End time * “etime” (format as 24-HR, HH:MM) Start date * “sdate” (format as MM/DD/YYYY) End date * “edate” (format as MM/DD/YYYY) Section number * “secno” Course number * “courseno” Course name * “courname” Building  “bldg” Room  “room” Meeting days * “meetdays” Maximum/predicted enrollment * “maxenroll” (numerical format) Instructor first name  “instfname” Instructor last name  “instlname” Department  “depart” Instructor address  “ ” Cross-listed  “crosslist”

Survey of Entering Student Engagement Example Course Schedule File (CSF) camplocstimeetimesdateedatesecnocoursenocournamebldgroommeetdaysmaxenrolinstfnameinstlnamedepart crosslist VV8:0011:008/15/201112/5/ ENG100English Comp VV8:0011:008/15/201112/5/ ENG100English Comp VV16:0018:008/15/201112/5/ MAT90Elem MC17:3018:508/15/201112/5/ MAT120College MC10:4513:008/15/201112/5/ DENG80Reading Skills BD14:0016:308/15/201112/5/ MAT120College VV8:409:508/15/201112/5/ READ99Reading MC8:0011:008/15/201112/5/ ENG100English Comp MC9:1511:308/15/201112/5/ DWRT90Writing Skills VV16:0018:008/15/201112/5/ DENG90Reading Skills BD14:0016:308/15/201112/5/ MAT130Algebra MC17:0020:008/15/201112/5/ ENG101English Comp MC8:0011:008/15/201112/5/ READ98Reading BD10:4513:008/15/201112/5/ MAT90Elem

Community College Survey of Student Engagement Random Sampling Process

Survey of Entering Student Engagement Random Sampling Process Campus Contact submits CSF as an Excel file to SENSE Liaison no later than June 10, Center staff cleans file and standardizes the format. Cross-listed and team-taught courses will be identified during the sampling process if all variables outlined in slide 16 are included in the CSF. Courses that will be removed: Courses less than 28 days in length Courses with less than three students Courses beginning after October 7 Center staff pulls random sample. SENSE Liaison s sample to Campus Contact no later than July 1. Campus Contact reviews and confirms sample file with SENSE Liaison. Center staff builds and ships course packets.

Survey of Entering Student Engagement Sample Size: Approximately 200% of Target Enrollment Category Target Sample Size200% of TargetAverage Number of Classes Fewer than 1,500TBD 1,500–4, , ,500–7, , ,000–14,9991,0002, ,000–21,9991,2002, ,000 or more1,5003,000129

Community College Survey of Student Engagement Survey Materials and Survey Administration

Survey Packet Materials The following items are included in the shipment: List of courses to be surveyed Coordinator’s Note UPS return labels Neon address labels Course envelopes containing Class Information Sheet Survey Administration Script Special-Focus Module Item Sheets Surveys #2 pencils (1 gross per box) Envelope with 100 supplemental surveys NOTE: Retain completed surveys and signed Class Information Sheets in their original course envelopes throughout administration. Survey of Entering Student Engagement

In-class Survey Administration Survey Administrator Responsibilities: Distribute survey materials and #2 pencil to each student. Read the Survey Administration Script to the class and follow the instructions included therein. Complete and sign the Class Information Sheet. Collect completed surveys and pencils. Recycle any unused surveys and ancillary materials; do not return these items to the Center. Return completed surveys, along with the signed Class Information Sheet, in their original course envelope to the Campus Contact. Send “Thank You Note” to participating instructors. Survey of Entering Student Engagement

Returning Surveys Not Recommended Recommended Return surveys in multiple shipments rather than one large shipment. Return completed surveys WEEKLY to the Center in their corresponding course envelopes. The signed Class Information Sheet must be included for each course. Do not return unused surveys, Survey Administration Scripts, Special-Focus Module Item Sheets, or pencils. Course packets without any completed surveys do not need to be returned. Use the pre-paid UPS shipping labels included in the survey shipment. Contact the SENSE Liaison for additional labels. Record UPS tracking information, and track delivery of surveys. Deadline to return surveys is November 11, Survey of Entering Student Engagement

Community College Survey of Student Engagement Deliverables

Survey of Entering Student Engagement Early March 2012 College president and campus contact receive access to the SENSE Online Reporting System. Online Reporting System: College president receives multiple print copies of customized Key Findings booklet. Deliverables

Example Institutional Report Survey of Entering Student Engagement To view an Example Institutional Report, visit : sense/survey/reports.cfm

SENSE Commonly Asked Questions Could you give an example of what is meant by first college-level English and math courses? First college-level English and math courses are generally those offered to first-time college- ready students that did not place into developmental courses. Examples include Comp I and Algebra I. Can we include Student Success/College Skills courses or other courses typically taken by first-time college students? Student Success/College Skills courses should not be included in the CSF because these courses are not offered at all institutions, and course content often differs greatly across institutions. The Center uses only developmental and first college-level English and math courses because these courses are offered across all participating institutions. Should hybrid or blended courses be included in the CSF? Hybrid or blended courses are those in which students meet both online and face-to-face. These courses should be included in the CSF if they have a physical class meeting during the fourth or fifth class week of the fall term in which the survey can be administered. Survey of Entering Student Engagement

SENSE Commonly Asked Questions How do we include cohort courses in the CSF? Cohort courses are those in which the exact same group of students is enrolled in more than one course. If the college offers cohort courses, please include only one course for each cohort in the CSF. How do we include cross-listed courses in the CSF? Cross-listed and team-taught courses will be identified during the sampling process if all data variables in slide 16 are included in the CSF. The Center will combine these courses into one listing and sum enrollments so that course packets will have sufficient surveys for all students in selected classes. If there is a problem with the sample the Center sends us, can a new one be pulled? The Center will only re-pull the sample if: 1) a substantial number of courses in the CSF should have been excluded based on the sampling parameters, or 2) if a substantial number of courses should have been included based on the sampling parameters. Please contact the SENSE Liaison for more information.

If faculty members do not want to have SENSE administered in courses selected in the sample, can the college substitute different courses for administration? Sampled courses are selected through a random sampling process, and in order to preserve the integrity of this process, course substitutions are not permitted. Do we have to survey students during fourth and fifth class weeks? Yes. SENSE is designed to capture students’ earliest experiences at the college, beginning from the time they consider enrolling at the college through the first three weeks of the term. As such, the fourth and fifth class weeks are the best time to most accurately capture the experiences of students. We have a class that starts four weeks into the term; do we administer the survey to these students during their first week of class? SENSE should be administered during the fourth and fifth class weeks of each course. For late-start courses, the survey administration date ranges will vary so that surveys are administer during the fourth or fifth class week following their late start. Survey of Entering Student Engagement SENSE Commonly Asked Questions

How long does it take to complete the survey? The survey is designed to be completed in one 50-minute class period. Historically, the survey has taken students up to 45 minutes to complete; however, it is possible the survey may take an entire class period. What do we do if students have not completed the survey when the class period ends? The Survey Administrator should collect all surveys at the end of the class period. All completed responses will be included as part of the college’s dataset, even if the entire survey was not completed. Survey of Entering Student Engagement SENSE Commonly Asked Questions

Survey of Entering Student Engagement Questions? Adrienne DellingerMeagan Cusack (512) (512) Please contact your assigned SENSE Liaison