Lessons from the Field: Transitioning to the Updated NSSE

Abstract

Launched in 2013, the updated NSSE, FSSE, and BCSSE surveys herald a new era in higher education survey research and data use. Maintaining NSSE’s signature focus on diagnostic and actionable information related to student engagement in educationally effective experiences, the updated survey instruments introduce rigorously tested new and refined items, new summary measures, and topical modules. These changes with the updated instruments open new ways to look at a campus’s survey results and widen opportunities for action. Receiving the Institutional Report binder containing the campus reports and SPSS data file should signal the beginning of data use. This document highlights how four institutions responded to and used data from their 2013 NSSE administration.