USM participates in national survey to assess and enhance student services

To uphold the quality of its academic offerings and student services, The University of Southern Mississippi (USM) this spring invited 4,822 freshmen and seniors to participate in the National Survey of Student Engagement (NSSE), an established survey used by colleges and universities across the country to gather data about student life on campus.

USM participates in the NSSE during the spring semester every two to three years, with its last survey taking place in 2016. This year, 1,216 students—or 25.2% of those invited to take the survey—participated in the 20-minute online survey from February to April.

The data being collected allows universities and colleges to assess areas where the institution is performing well and areas that can be improved based on feedback. Its topics are meant to cover how undergraduates spend their time and what they gain from attending college, including advisement, academic life, and student services. The survey also allows USM to understand how it ranks with other universities of the same size.

“This is a very commonly-utilized national survey,” said Amy Miller, Vice Provost for Academic Affairs. “Our results will not only provide insight into our students' views on their learning experiences, campus involvement, and other activities, but we will also be able to see how we compare to many other institutions in all these areas.”

Because this is a well-administered, well-crafted survey, Miller said it gives college and universities a better understanding of its student population from a wider, more diverse pool. It also helps those institutions compare its progress in different areas every few years.

“We'll be able to get a better, more representative view of what the range of students think and experience than what we might have from just the people we talk with individually,” said Amy Miller, Vice Provost for Academic Affairs.

These results are so valuable to USM that all students who participated received a discount at the university bookstore and were entered into a raffle for prizes such as a $400 gift card and graduation package for seniors.

Freshman Alyssa Peterson was selected in a random drawing to win a free parking spot for one academic year.

“It's an easy way to help, especially for people with time constraints,” Peterson said. “I like that the University is asking for feedback and taking the ideas and thoughts from the community, instead of pushing its own survey ideas.”

As hoped, student participation in the survey rose from about 18% in 2016 to about 25% in 2019.

“The whole University came together to work to increase the student participation in the survey,” said Douglas Masterson, Senior Associate Provost for Institutional Effectiveness. “We wanted the results to be more representative of the collective student voice than it had been in the past.”

The NSSE results will be released to participating institutions in late fall 2019. Miller said USM's results will be shared in an open forum setting in spring 2020 to encourage discussions between students, faculty, and staff about its findings.