National Survey of Student Engagement (NSSE)

Over the next few months (March 15th through May 14th, 2023) all first-year and senior students will receive email notifications from the National Survey of Student Engagement (NSSE) offering you an opportunity to share your thoughts about your MGA experience and indicate participation in various activities inside and outside of the classroom.

In appreciation for voluntarily participating, students who complete the survey, during the 14-week run of the survey, will be automatically entered in a random drawing to win various prizes.

You can complete the survey by clicking on the personalized and dedicated link provided to you in your mga.edu email.It looks like this and will come from outside MGA, specifically nsse@nssesurvey.org.

Note: If you do not wish to participate in the survey, please click on the survey link and select the button marked "I do not wish to participate"

If you have problems accessing the survey link in your email, please follow these instructions:

In your web browser type: nssesurvey.org
In the login box: enter the unique login ID provided to you in your email.
- (If you don't know your unique ID you may look it up here https://nssesurvey.org/includes/loginlookup.cfm using your school email account and they will email it to you)

General Info

The National Survey of Student Engagement (NSSE) is a survey of first-year students and seniors examining what students say they do, as well as what they perceived their institutions emphasize in the area of student engagement. The goal of the survey is to gauge students’ experience in college, both inside and outside the classroom.

The NSSE Survey for 2023 will begin March 15th and end May 15, 2023.

Survey only takes 15 minutes.

Invite will be sent to your MGA email.

Based on the sampling criteria and operational definitions prescribed by NSSE our sample size for 2023 will be as follows:

First year Students 1,190
Senior Students 1,1416

The NSEE direct service student contact schedule will be as follows:

Invitation: Wednesday March 15th
Reminder 1: Tuesday March 28th
Reminder 2: Monday April 3rd
Reminder 3: Thursday April 6th
Final Reminder: Tuesday April 11th

Students will also see other communications thru D2L, website, flyers, instructors, and social media.

NSSE will send a total of 5 emails. At the end of NSSE direct contact period, students who did not complete the NSSE survey will receive an additional invite reminder from MGA.

In 2020, MGA had a response rate of:

First-Year Students – 20% responded (335)
Senior Students – 25% responded (322)

This year we are asking over 2606 students to share their thoughts and help provide feedback that will make MGA better. All who participate within the multi-week run of the survey will be automatically entered in random drawings to win various prizes.

Survey will close May 14th, 2023. Institutional Reports are usually available in early Fall. Major Field Reports and Annual Reports are usually mid to late Fall October.

NSSE Incentives

In appreciation for participating, MGA students who complete the survey during the multi-week run of the survey, will be automatically entered in random drawings to win various prizes. The drawings will occur on the following dates:

Dates	Prizes	# of winners
20-Mar	Wireless Earbuds	3
27-Mar	$75 Dining Dollars \| Duke Dollars for Laundry	2
3-Apr	Lunch with President \| Lunch with Provost \| Lunch with School Dean	3
10-Apr	Scholastic Gift Bags	4
17-Apr	MGA Logo Apparel	3
24-Apr	DEI Swag Bags	3
1-May	Professional Closet Gift Certificates	5
8-May	Faulty/Staff Parking Spot	1
15-May	MGA Logo Apparel	3

*prizes are given out individually, not combined as a package

No single item will exceed the value of $75. No student can win more than once. All random drawings will occure by noon of the date indicated. It will include everyone who has participated in the survey up to the 8am drawing.

Your chances of winning depend on how many students complete the survey; the last time we administered this survey 657 students responded. We invited nearly 2600 students to participate this year!

NSSE Frequently Asked Questions: Students

What does NSSE stand for?

NSSE stands for the National Survey of Student Engagement

What is NSSE?

The National Survey of Student Engagement (NSSE) is a survey of first-year students and seniors. The survey is specially designed for students like you to provide information about your undergraduate experience, including your views about the quality of your education and how you spend your time. But the main reason your school is participating is that it wants to learn more about what students think and do so it can improve the undergraduate program.

NSSE has been in operation since 2000 and has been used at more than 1,600 colleges and universities in the US and Canada. More than 90% of participating institutions administer the survey on a periodic basis.

Who is invited to participate in the NSSE survey?

NSSE surveys first year students and seniors (does not include dual enrolled students).

How long does the NSSE survey take?

Survey only takes 15 minutes and is completed online. Each student will receive a unique link to complete the survey. Can only complete the survey once. Survey invite will be sent to your MGA email.

Are there incentives for taking the NSSE Survey?

Besides helping make MGA a better university; yes, there are incentives for completing the survey. Students who complete the survey within the mulit-week period of the survey will be automatically entered in random drawings to win various prizes.

What is student engagement?

Student engagement represents two critical features of collegiate quality. The first is the amount of time and effort students put into their studies and other educationally purposeful activities. The second is how the institution deploys its resources and organizes the curriculum and other learning opportunities to get students to participate in activities that decades of research studies show are linked to student learning.

What does NSSE do?

Through its student survey, The College Student Report, NSSE annually collects information at hundreds of four-year colleges and universities about first-year and senior students’ participation in programs and activities that institutions provide for their learning and personal development. The results provide an estimate of how undergraduates spend their time and what they gain from attending their college or university.

NSSE provides participating institutions a variety of reports that compare their students’ responses with those of students at self-selected groups of comparison institutions. Comparisons are available for ten Engagement Indicators, six High-Impact Practices, and all individual survey questions. Each November, NSSE also publishes its Annual Results, which reports topical research and trends in student engagement results. NSSE researchers also present and publish research findings throughout the year.

What is the NSSE survey about?

Survey items on The College Student Report represent empirically confirmed “good practices” in undergraduate education. That is, they reflect behaviors by students and institutions that are associated with desired outcomes of college. NSSE doesn't access student learning directly, but survey results point to areas where colleges and universities are performing well and aspects of the undergraduate experience that could be improved.

Why should I complete the survey?

Simply put, your school needs to know what you think of your undergraduate experience, the kinds of activities in which you engage, and how you are benefiting from your studies. Without this information, it's not very easy for faculty and staff at your institution to identify the areas that can and should be improved. And because you were randomly selected from among your classmates to represent your school, it's imperative that you make your views known.

Unlike many other surveys, the National Survey of Student Engagement has a real chance of making a difference in terms of how people at your institution use the information. There is great interest in this study for two reasons. First, your institution chose to participate; it wasn't required. This means there are people who want to see the results. Second, there are numerous people beyond your school who would like to know how well your school is doing - prospective students, their families, alumni, and others. So, your answers - after they are combined with those of your classmates - will be read with interest by a wide variety of people.

How are survey results used?

The information from this study will be used in several ways. First, your answers will be combined with those of others at your school, analyzed and summarized in the aggregate. Institutions use their data to identify aspects of the undergraduate experience inside and outside the classroom that can be improved through changes in policies and practices more consistent with good practices in undergraduate education. This information is also used by prospective college students, their parents, college counselors, academic advisors, institutional research officers, and researchers to learn more about how students spend their time at different colleges and universities and what they gain from their experiences.

Overall the responses are used to help improve policies, curriculum, and campus activities. In other words, the more your school knows about its students and what they think of the institution, the more likely it is that faculty, academic and student life administrators and others can take appropriate action.

How many emails will I receive to invite me to complete the NSSE?

NSSE will send a total of 5 emails. At the end of March/beginning of April, students who did not complete the NSSE survey will receive an additional invite reminder from MGA directly.

The NSEE service student contact schedule will be as follows:

Invitation: Wednesday March 15th
Reminder 1: Tuesday March 28th
Reminder 2: Monday April 3rd
Reminder 3: Thursday April 6th
Final Reminder: Tuesday April 11th

Students will also see other communications thru D2L, website, flyers, instructors, and social media.

Will my answers be shared with the institution?

Absolutely. One of the most important reasons to do this survey is so that your school discovers what you and other students at your college do and think.

Are you surveying my school only?

Each year, hundreds of schools are involved in the survey. This is an annual study, so the information you provide will become part of a database that researchers will be able to use to compare your responses with those students in the future. These studies will look at the collective experiences of undergraduate students, not individuals.

Who is in charge of the survey?

The project is located at Indiana University and is directed by Alexander C. McCormick. A full listing of the supportive departments and staff members can be found here: https://nsse.indiana.edu/html/staff.cfm

NSSE website: https://nsse.indiana.edu/

NSSE Frequently Asked Questions: Faculty

How can Faculty help with the NSSE Survey?

To support strong response rates - and thus provide a more reliable input from students - we ask that faculty utilize the suggestions below for messaging out to students about NSSE (both within and outside the classroom):

Remind freshmen and seniors routinely during February and March that the NSSE portal is open and can be accessed via the link sent to their MGA email, online at our webpage, and through their published D2L announcements.
Integrate the following PowerPoint Slide as an in class reminder to students - especially important in classes with many seniors or freshmen. Examples including posting as an announcement within D2L, or embedding the slide in a lecture.
Print and post the attached PDF as a flyer in your office or common area.

Why is NSSE important for MGA?

Every few years, MGA participates in the NSSE survey to help assess student engagement in educational practices associated with high levels of learning and development. The survey provides valuable data for the departments, colleges and the university. NSSE results provide departments and colleges with information about the student perspective to help continually improve the learning experience for students. MGA students’ NSSE responses have also helped the university understand what is going well in terms of student engagement, and areas that could improve. NSSE results have helped the institution build learning communities that bridge classes and residence halls, broaden high-impact practices like service learning and study abroad, increase undergraduate research opportunities with mentoring faculty, and expand student services. See results from previous NSSE surveys on the MGA Institutional Research & Data Strategy Website

MGA participated in NSSE during the 2014, 2016, and 2017 administration cycles.

The response rates can be found here:

The detailed survey reports can can be found here:

A multiyear report may be found here: NSSE Multiyear Report

MGA participated in NSSE during the 2014, 2016, 2017, and 2020 administration cycles.

The response rates can be found here:

The detailed survey reports can can be found here:

A multiyear report may be found here: NSSE Multiyear Report

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