Contact: Maridith Geuder
STARKVILLE, Miss.--Based on responses from more than 1,700 randomly selected participants, Mississippi State University students are engaged in service and learning activities at rates higher than the national averages.
The annual National Survey of Student Engagement is designed to provide information about activities that educational institutions offer for learning and personal development. Launched in 1999 with support from the Pew Charitable Trusts, NSSE now is administered by the Indiana University Center for Postsecondary Research.
MSU's Office of Institutional Research collected the campus survey data.
"It's very important that students voluntarily participate in the survey to ensure we have useful information," said Julie Fulgham, OIR interim director. "Our office did an awareness campaign to highlight NSSE, and the response from our students was incredible."
Fulgham said information gleaned from the survey can highlight needs as well as successes. It also offers data to objectively assess areas for improvement, she added.
More than 1,200 colleges and universities have participated in the survey since its inception.
"We have shared this information with our top-level administrators, and we'll continue to collect annual data that will give us a snapshot of Mississippi State in relation to other institutions," Fulgham said. "It's a worthwhile undertaking."
Among information gleaned from MSU's survey:
--80 percent of first-year students felt MSU places substantial emphasis on academics.
--54 percent of first-year students say they frequently work harder than they thought they could to meet faculty expectations.
--51 percent of first-year students said exams strongly challenge them to do their best work.
--90 percent of first-year students report a favorable image of the institution, and 89 percent of seniors would choose the school again if they were starting school.
For details of MSU's survey responses, visit the Office of Institutional Research website at www.ir.msstate.edu/NSSE.htm.
For more information about Mississippi State University, see http://www.msstate.edu/.