The National Survey of Student Engagement (NSSE) Institutional Benchmark Report was published in November 2005.  This report uses five "benchmark" indicators to rank Mountain State University (MSU)  against three different groups: selected peer group; other schools in the same Carnegie Classification; and the NSSE national norm.  MSU's Carnegie Classification is "Baccalaureate/Associate".  NSSE uses the abbreviation of "Bac-Gen" for this classification. 

The results of this survey should be used to identify areas for improvement in MSU's curriculum, pedagogical practices, student-faculty interaction, community involvement, diversity interaction and student support.

The information provided here compares MSU's 2005 results to the 2004 results in addition to providing the 2005 results.

2005 to 2004 Benchmark Comparison

MSU began using NSSE in 2004.  The 2005 administration of NSSE allows a 2004 to 2005 mean comparison to see what improvements we have made on these benchmarks.  The results of this comparison are as follows:

1. Level of Academic Challenge - First-year students improved their mean score from 51.6 to 52.0.  The seniors mean score declined from 60.5 to 57.9 but still remained higher than the mean of all three comparison groups.

2. Active and Collaborative Learning - First-year students mean score fell from 36.7 to 36.4.  The seniors mean score also fell from 47.6 to 47.5.  Both first-year and seniors were below the mean score for all three comparison groups.

3. Student-Faculty Interaction - First-year students mean score improved from 28.0to 29.0.  The seniors mean score also improved  from 37.7 to 39.5.  Both first-year and seniors were below the mean score for all three comparison groups.

4. Enriching Educational Experiences -First-year students mean score fell from 24.1 to 22.1.  The seniors mean score improved from 32.3 to 35.4.  Both first-year and seniors were below the mean score for all three comparison groups.

5. Supportive Campus Environment - First-year students mean score improved from 56.2 to 59.2.  The seniors mean score also improved from 57.9 to 58.2.  The first-year means were below the mean score for all three comparison groups while the senior mean score was higher than the NSSE national norm but lower than both the peer group and the Bac-Gen group.

The following link contains the comparison data and charts:

• 2004 to 2005 MSU Mean Comparison

2005 MSU Benchmark Ranking

The results for the 2005 benchmark report compares MSU against a group of peer institutions, other Bac-Gen schools and the NSSE national norm and are presented in the links below along with NSSE's introduction. 

1. Level of Academic Challenge - MSU seniors ranked higher than the peer group, the Bac-Gen group and the NSSE national norm but lower than all three for the first-year students.

2. Active and Collaborative Learning - MSU ranked lower for both first-year and senior students.

3. Student-Faculty Interaction - MSU ranked lower for both first-year and senior students.

4. Enriching Educational Experiences - MSU ranked lower for both first-year and senior students.

5. Supportive Campus Environment - MSU ranked lower for both first-year and senior students.

The details for each benchmark shows both MSU's standing and survey items that determined the benchmark score.

• 2005 NSSE Benchmark Report Introduction

• 2005 NSSE Benchmark 1 - Level of Academic Challenge

• 2005 NSSE Benchmark 2 - Active and Collaborative Learning

• 2005 NSSE Benchmark 3 - Student-faculty Interaction

• 2005 NSSE Benchmark 4 - Enriching Educational Experiences

• 2005 NSSE Benchmark 5 - Supportive Campus Environment

• 2005 Comparison with Highly Engaging Institutions

• 2005 Freshman Detailed Benchmark Statistics and Effective Sizes

• 2005 Senior Detailed Benchmark Statistics and Effective Sizes

• 2005 Peer Group

• 2005 NSSE Benchmark Report in PDF Format