Winter 2001

Student Engagement

Last spring, St. Lawrence was one of 276 colleges and universities that participated in the National Survey of Student Engagement (NSSE). Its goal was “to help steer the national conversation about collegiate quality away from resources and reputational rankings toward what matters more to student learning-good educational practice.” The educational practices we engage in to help them learn are the things we can most control in the experience our students have. The data show that we are a leader when it comes to doing what’s right for students educationally, and I’m very pleased.
Many college rankings, such as U.S. News and World Report’s popular annual one, focus on largely on academic reputation among college and university presidents, resources available and admissions success. I, like many other presidents, believe that there is a correlation, albeit weak, between many of these measures and educational outcomes. On the other hand, if an institution is performing well, there will in general be strong demand for admission. It is appropriate, therefore, to pay close attention to this, and so I fill out the survey each year.
But our primary task, clearly articulated in our mission statement, is “to provide an inspiring and demanding undergraduate education in the liberal arts to students selected for their seriousness of purpose and intellectual promise.” Research clearly shows that institutions that engage more frequently in “best practices” produce significantly better educational outcomes over a broad array of indicators, and selective liberal arts colleges, because they more frequently use these “best practices,” outperform all other kinds of institutions.
By obtaining detailed information on student behavior, on institutional actions and requirements, and on student reactions to college, the NSSE has sought to provide individual institutions with data that allow them to see the extent to which they are engaged in “best practices” and, even more important, how they compare in this regard to other colleges and universities. I can tell you that St. Lawrence fares well in this comparative assessment. I can also tell you that all colleges and universities have room for improvement.
In October, NSSE staff released the national benchmark data that allow us to compare St. Lawrence to all 276 institutions in the study. Benchmarks were provided only for first-year students and seniors, though at St. Lawrence we also administered the survey to sophomores and juniors.
The NSSE provided five summary performance indices for first-year students and seniors: Level of Academic challenge, active and collaborative learning, student interactions with faculty members, enriching educational experiences, and supportive campus environment. For example, the “level of academic challenge” index summarizes institutional performance on 10 separate measures, among them time spent preparing for class (studying, reading, writing, rehearsing and other activities related to academic program); number of written papers or reports of 20 pages or more; coursework emphasizes making judgments about the value of information, arguments or methods; and campus environment emphasizes spending significant amounts of time studying and on academic work.
On level of academic challenge, St. Lawrence ranked roughly in the 92nd percentile for first-year students and roughly 85th percentile for seniors. Among the 44 liberal arts colleges St. Lawrence ranked roughly 82nd percentile for first-year students and at nearly the 60th percentile for seniors.
The educational practices this index of the NSSE survey summarizes are, of course, precisely those that are at the very center of our First-Year Program. We have thought of ourselves as distinctive in this, and the data support that. We wonder, of, course, at the difference in ranking between first-year students and seniors, and are undertaking further analysis to see what we can learn.
We need to note that these NSSE results allow comparisons with only 10% or so of all colleges and universities in America, and 25% of the national liberal arts colleges. The percentile rankings I have noted might change up or down if no sampling were involved. Nonetheless, we are pleased with these results. These data show what I saw when I was deciding whether to return to St. Lawrence as president: the faculty have high expectations of students and they are the right kinds of expectations.
St. Lawrence also receives very high comparative marks for the amount of active and collaborative learning students experience, the level and quality of student interactions with faculty, and the extent to which the University provides enriching educational experiences-all indices summarizing a number of more detailed measures. Our lowest comparative marks come on how supportive our campus environment is for students. While we are very competitive in comparison to the whole NSSE sample of 276 institutions, we are just above average for first-year students in comparison to the other liberal arts colleges in the sample, and slightly below average for seniors.
You have heard me say often that the outcome studies show clearly that the highest performing liberal arts colleges are those that are simultaneously very demanding academically and very supportive of students. Few liberal arts colleges manage to be strong in both areas. We must be one of them. Almost everything we are doing on campus to make St. Lawrence better-discussions about a Senior-Year Experience, for example, or steps forward such as the Integrated Science Education Initiative and our new global studies major, which we presented in the Summer Fall issue of this magazine-supports one or the other of those goals.
We will be using the results of the NSSE for insights to help us become even better and stronger. But these data should be reassuring to any who have wondered in St. Lawrence has high enough expectations of its students. Our expectations are not yet high enough in my view, or in the view of the faculty, but they are very high in comparison to other liberal arts colleges and to colleges and universities in general. About this we can be very pleased.