1. Your Institutional Report 2012 - Step by Step
9/6/2012
Student Learning at Gallaudet University
NSSE Results: Campus Environment
A Workshop Presented to Faculty and Staff for Professional Development
Lindsay Buchko, Ph.D. & Leslie Rach, Ph.D.
Fall, 2018

2. Questions to consider when you’re reviewing your NSSE results….
What NSSE items are of interest to you and your department?
Given the Gallaudet mission, what results do you want to see on NSSE?
Given your observations and understanding of Gallaudet students, what results do you expect to see?
Do these results resonate with your view of Gallaudet? With other data?
How well do you do in comparison to peers?

3. NSSE Engagement Indicators Overview
The triangles show Engagement Indicators where our students’ average was significantly higher, and where our students’ average was significantly lower.
As you might guess, if the triangle points up, and is in blue, GU results were higher than peers’; if the triangle points down, and is in purple, GU results were significantly lower. The darker the triangle the more significant the difference. Where there is a line, GU’s results are on par with results of peer institutions.
WHAT DO YOU NOTICE?

4. NSSE Engagement Indicators: Peer Comparisons
First Year Students
Seniors
= Peers
Higher-Order Learning
Reflective & Integrative Learning
Quantitative Reasoning
Collaborative Learning
Student-Faculty Interaction
Effective Teaching Practices
Supportive Environment
Below Peers
Learning Strategies
Discussions with Diverse Others
Quality of Interactions
= Peers
Higher-Order Learning
Reflective & Integrative Learning
Quantitative Reasoning
Collaborative Learning
Student-Faculty Interaction
Effective Teaching Practices
Quality of Interactions
Below Peers
Learning Strategies
Discussions with Diverse Others
Supportive Environment
In 2017, out of 10 Engagement Indicators GU is on par with peers in six Engagement Indicators for both FYS and SRS. (Review the seven). GU is on par with peers for FYS for an additional EI, and on par with peers for Seniors for a different EI (see orange).
For two Engagement Indicators GU is below peers for by FYS and Seniors:
Learning Strategies and Discussions with Diverse Others.
For Quality of Interactions FYS are on par with peers, but Seniors are below peers.
For Supportive Environment Seniors are on par with peers, by FYS are below peers.
(see blue)

5. NSSE 2017 Engagement Indicator: Quality of Interactions
The third theme in NSSE results is Campus Environment. Campus Environment is made up of two Engagement Indicators: Quality of Interactions and Supportive Environment. Both of these are ones we want to pay attention to. As you might guess, both Interactions and Environment support student achievement.
First, Quality of Interaction. NSSE asks students directly what is the quality of their interactions with five different kinds of people on campus: Students, Academic Advisors, Faculty, Student Service Staff, and Other Administrative Staff (with examples such as Registrar’s Office and Financial Aid).

6. NSSE Engagement Indicators Overview
Quality of Interactions is another Engagement Indicator that’s worth looking at for Gallaudet. You’ve seen the data on the Student Satisfaction Inventory that shows that student rate Sense of Belonging lower than expected. The Quality of the interactions students have at GU contributes to their sense of belonging. Quality of Interactions means interactions with the following types of people on campus: Other Students, Academic Advisors, Faculty, Student Services Staff, and Other Administrative Staff and Offices.
Gallaudet was on par with peer institutions for FYS for Quality of Interactions. However, for Seniors we were not, and the difference with peers was highly significant.

7. NSSE Campus Environment Quality of Interactions – First Year Students
Indicate the quality of your interactions with the following people at your institution? (% responding ‘6’ or ‘7’ where 7 = ”Excellent”)
Data findings for first year students
Gallaudet lower for all items in 2017 compared to Carnegie
Gallaudet 2017 lower for interactions with students and faculty compared to Gallaudet 2014
How and in what ways can Gallaudet improve first year students’ quality of interactions with people at Gallaudet?

8. NSSE 2017: Campus Environment Quality of Interaction - First Year Students
Here in YELLOW you see First Year Student responses regarding the quality of their interactions with each of those five groups (point to each group, GU responses)
This graph also compares the GU student responses (YELLOW) to those of peer institutions (GREEN). The biggest gap between GU and peer responses is in Quality of Interactions with Faculty. Here there’s a 22% difference between GU and Peers.
This gap has shown up in GU’s NSSE results repeatedly over the last 8 years. The next largest gap is in Quality of Interactions with Student Services Staff, then Students.
For Admin Offices and SS Staff GU improved in the past three years.
For Students and Faculty the results are lower.
In every category GU’s results are below peers.

9. NSSE 2017: Campus Environment Quality of Interaction - First Year Students
Another concern in this year’s data is that the scores in several Engagement Indicators dropped since the 2014 GU NSSE administration.
Here you see a comparison of GU’s NSSE results on Quality of Interactions in 2014 (BLUE) with the 2017 results (ORANGE).
Interactions with Faculty, which has been below peers for many years, dropped between 2014 and Interactions with Other Students also dropped since 2014.
It’s nice to see, however, that there’s been a small improvement in Interactions with Student Services Staff and Other Administrative Staff.

10. NSSE Campus Environment Quality of Interactions – Seniors
Indicate the quality of your interactions with the following people at your institution? (% responding ‘6’ or ‘7’ where 7 = ”Excellent”)
Data findings for seniors
Gallaudet lower for all items in 2017 compared to Carnegie
Gallaudet 2017 lower for interactions with students, faculty, and student services staff compared to Gallaudet 2014
How and in what ways can Gallaudet improve seniors’ quality of interactions with people at Gallaudet?

11. NSSE 2017: Campus Environment Quality of Interaction - Seniors
This graph shows the results for Seniors in Again, YELLOW shows GU, Green shows Peer Institutions.
You can see the results are similar to those of First Year Students, although there’s a larger gap for Student Services Staff.

12. NSSE 2017: Campus Environment Quality of Interaction - Seniors
This graph compares GU’s NSSE results for 2014 with results for 2017.
Similar to First Year Students, Quality of Interactions have dropped between 2014 and 2017 with the exception of Academic Advisors and other administrative staff and offices.

13. NSSE 2017 Engagement Indicator: Supportive Environment
NSSE has TEN Engagement Indicators. In this presentation, we’re focusing on GU’s results for THREE of those TEN. Supportive Environment is the third of the three.

14. NSSE Engagement Indicators Overview
This section of NSSE asks: How much does your institution emphasize…? ….and then lists eight different areas for emphasis. Together all eight of those areas make up Supportive Environment. You’ll see those areas on the next slide.
Here you can see that for Seniors GU is on par with Peers.
And, for one of those eight areas, GU is HIGHER than peer institutions for first year students. Can anyone guess the area of support?
ANSWER: “Institution emphasis on helping you manage your non-academic responsibilities.”

15. NSSE Campus Environment Supportive Environment – First Year Students
How much does your institution emphasize the following? (% responding ‘6’ or ‘7’ where 7 = ”Excellent”)
Data findings for first year students
Gallaudet lower for all items in 2017 compared to Carnegie except helping them manage their non-academic responsibilities
Gallaudet 2017 lower for all items compared to Gallaudet 2014 except attending campus activities and events
How and in what ways can Gallaudet improve on emphasizing a supportive environment for first year students’?

16. NSSE Campus Environment Supportive Environment – Seniors
How much does your institution emphasize the following? (% responding ‘6’ or ‘7’ where 7 = ”Excellent”)
Data findings for seniors
Gallaudet lower for all items in 2017 compared to Carnegie except three items
Gallaudet 2017 lower for all items compared to Gallaudet 2014 except attending campus activities and events
How and in what ways can Gallaudet improve seniors’ quality of interactions with people at Gallaudet?

17. Supportive Environment: GU Areas of Strength How much does your institution emphasize…?
First Year Students
Seniors
+ Peers
Helping you manage your non- academic responsibilities (work, family, etc.)
= Peers
Encouraging contact among students from different backgrounds
Providing opportunities to be involved socially
Providing support for your overall well-being (recreation, health care, counseling)
Attending campus activities and events
= Peers
Encouraging contact among students from different backgrounds
Helping you manage your non- academic responsibilities (work, family, etc.)
Providing opportunities to be involved socially
Attending campus activities and events
Attending events that address important social, political, or economic issues
First some good news: We’re doing as well or better than peer institutions in many of the eight areas of Supportive Environment.
This chart lists the areas within Supportive Environment where GU is HIGHER than peers, and those areas where GU is equal to peers.
On the left is the list for First Year Students. On the right is the list for Seniors.
But you might ask: if we’re on par or above peers for these areas for First Year Students, why are we still significantly below peers for Supportive Environment.
The answer’s in the numbers--- when you add all of the scores from the multiple items that contribute to the scale of supportive environment.

18. Supportive Environment: GU Areas for Focus First Year Students
Providing support to help students succeed academically
Using learning support services (tutoring, writing center, etc.)
This slide shows Supportive Environment areas that warrant focus for Gallaudet action planning. These are areas where GU results for First Year Students were significantly below peers.
These Areas for Focus also came up in the GU 2014 NSSE. They’re also similar to results in the Student Satisfaction Inventory.

19. Supportive Environment: GU Areas for Focus First Year Students
Providing support to help students succeed academically
Using learning support services (tutoring, writing center, etc.)
Here you see a comparison of the NSSE results for GU from 2014 to 2017.
You can see that both of these areas have dropped for GU since That’s particularly true for Providing Academic Support.

20. Supportive Environment: NSSE Student Comments*
My institution need[s] to make sure that instructors work between tutor and students who are weak from the beginning of the semester because of little understanding in the course material.
I need a more supportive [environment]. I need someone who I can trust who can doing well editing English paper and explain clear for any classes.
*Comments are taken from responses to an open ended question for seniors asking “Is there anything your institution could have done better to prepare you for a career or further education.” This question was part of the First-Year Experience/Senior Transitions Module.

21. Questions to consider….
Given the Gallaudet mission, what results do you want to see on NSSE?
Given your observations and understanding of Gallaudet students, what results do you expect to see?
How and in what ways can Gallaudet improve students’ quality of interactions and supportive environment?
What strategies can Gallaudet implement to improve students’ quality of interactions and supportive environment?

22. Continued Discussion….
Tuesday, August 21st at 2:30pm to 4:00pm Strategies for Key Indicators: Quality of Interactions and Supportive Environment Room: MLCB 220 (E-Learning Lab)

23. Supportive Classroom Environments
Resources
Creating a Learner Centered Syllabus
Developing a Positive Classroom Syllabus
Building Faculty Student Interactions
Inclusion by Design Syllabus Template
What Student Affairs Can Do
Research Article on What Characteristics Predict Faculty- Student Interaction