Lessons from the field-Volume 3: Using data to catalyze change on campus

Abstract

Volume 3 of Lessons from the Field builds on insights from the earlier volumes illustrating the benefits of using NSSE results. Specifically, the highlighted institutional examples predominately feature the use of NSSE's updated measures and redesigned reports introduced with the survey's 14th administration in 2013. After more than three years of collaborative analysis, evidence-based item refinement, pilot testing, and student interviews, NSSE was revised to incorporate content enhancements and customization options that sustain the survey's relevance and value to participating institutions. The 25 institutional accounts featured in this volume illustrate how institutions are using results from the updated NSSE in assessment and improvement activities and in a variety of efforts to address important campus needs and priorities. Indeed, enlisting campus constituencies in the use of assessment results is essential during a time of heightened demands for accountability and pressures to increase student persistence and completion, support diversity, and ensure high-quality learning for all students. Even more, improvement efforts at colleges and universities are more likely to succeed when they emerge from a shared understanding of the evidence and of the priorities for action.