Lincoln, Neb., Nov. 12, 2002--University of Nebraska-Lincoln students
generally find their educational experience academically challenging and
value their positive interaction with faculty, as reported in a
released today.
Among the indicators for student engagement in the third-annual
survey, UNL freshmen and seniors surveyed reported favorable experiences
compared to other doctoral-extensive universities (doctoral-extensive is
UNL's Carnegie classification).
The survey assesses undergraduate student experience and is part of an
national effort to improve college quality.
The 2002 report is based on information from 135,000 first-year and
senior students at 613 four-year colleges and universities. The NSSE
study, titled "From Promise to Progress: How Colleges and Universities
Are Using Student Engagement Results to Improve Collegiate Quality,"
gives schools an idea of how well students are learning and what they are
putting into and getting out of their undergraduate experience.
The survey results provide comparative standards for determining how
effectively colleges are contributing to learning. Five benchmarks are
measured: level of academic challenge, active and collaborative learning,
student-faculty interaction, enriching educational experiences, and
supportive campus environment.
UNL scored well in all five quality areas and university officials
said the survey will help improve the quality of the undergraduate
experience. Chancellor Harvey Perlman said UNL's participation in the
survey shows its commitment to improving the undergraduate student
experience and provides important measures of quality for comparison.
"The report points out our strengths, but also shows us where
improvement is possible," Perlman said. "I think the critical point is
that students find us as academically challenging as students at other
Association of American Universities and major research universities.
This is an important criterion for our continued success."
Perlman said programs that encourage engagement by undergraduate
students, like learning communities, undergraduate research programs and
residential honors programs, continue to improve the student experience
at UNL.
Following are UNL's scores and the average of all doctoral-extensive
universities in the five quality areas. The figures are benchmarks, which
are clusters of items on the survey, and are expressed in 100-point
scales.
Level of Academic Challenge: UNL, freshmen 52.9, seniors 53.5;
all doctoral extensive, freshmen 51.8, seniors 54.9.
The National Survey of Student Engagement is conducted at the Indiana
University Center for Postsecondary Research and Planning. For further
details, log on to www.iub.edu/~nsse.
CONTACTS: Harvey Perlman, Chancellor, (402) 472-2116, (hperlman1@unl.edu) and
Active and Collaborative Learning: UNL, freshmen 37.5, seniors
46.5; all doctoral extensive, freshmen 37.6, seniors 46.0.
Student-Faculty Interactions: UNL, freshmen 34.0, seniors
38.9; all doctoral extensive, freshmen 33.0, seniors 39.1.
Enriching Educational Experiences: UNL, freshmen 53.1, seniors
44.9; all doctoral extensive, freshmen 55.7, seniors 46.1.
Supportive Campus Environment: UNL, freshmen 54.7, seniors
52.7; all doctoral extensive, freshmen 56.6, seniors 51.9.
John Hayek, National Survey of Student Engagement, (812) 856-5824
(nsse@indiana.edu)
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For questions regarding these releases, contact:
tsimons1@unl.edu
(402) 472-8514, Fax: (402) 472-7825