About the 2009 National Survey of Student Engagement
Each year the National Survey of Student Engagement (NSSE) asks students to reflect on
the time they devote to various learning activities. Results from NSSE can show how
first-year students and seniors might learn and develop at a given college.
The 2009 survey measured the level of contact and activity students have at Winthrop. It
includes their contact with other students, faculty members and administrative offices, as
well as their level of involvement with coursework, research and educational programming
both inside and outside of the classroom.
For participating first-year students and seniors, the university’s results exceeded those
of other NSSE schools in nine of 10 benchmark categories. They are: active and
collaborative learning, student-faculty interaction, level of academic challenge,
enriching educational experiences and supportive campus environment. Click on the links
to the left for Winthrop’s NSSE results in specific benchmark areas.
This was the tenth year in which the survey was nationally administered and the seventh in
which Winthrop participated. The university is using the NSSE results to help improve
retention.
Nationally 367,318 students from 640 institutions in the United States and Canada
completed the 2009 survey online. At Winthrop, 328 first-year students and 146 seniors
participated. Winthrop is the only public institution in South Carolina to have
administered the NSSE in each of the past seven years.
The NSSE project is supported by a grant from The Pew Charitable Trusts and cosponsored
by The Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching and The Pew Forum for
Undergraduate Learning.