Putting Student Engagement Results to Use: Lessons from the Field.

Student engagement measures make valuable contributions to an institution's assessment program. Combined with other relevant information, such data help to tie together what students and institutions do, student outcomes, and other indicators of institutional performance. The results can be used in a variety of ways, from comparing student performance associated with different forms of orientation programs or first-year seminars to institution-wide uses such as meeting accreditation requirements for evidence about teaching and learning processes. Equally important, the information often points to aspects of student and institutional performance that a college or university can address almost immediately to improve the quality of the student experience. The versatility of student engagement data explains in large part why more than 850 four-year colleges and universities have used the National Survey of Student Engagement (NSSE) at least once since its introduction in 2000. This article briefly describes how two institutions are putting their NSSE data to use: Elon University and Southern Illinois University Edwardsville. They are among scores of institutions that are using NSSE for the purpose for which it was intended--identifying areas in which improvement is desirable and then doing something about it. (Contains 2 resources.)