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Sometimes Taking a Survey = Making a Difference

by David Hoffman

There are many ways to make a difference at UMBC, especially if you are interested in shaping or changing campus life. Most of them involve hard work, planning and determination. But once in a while students have an opportunity to influence the future of campus life simply by offering their opinions. Next week, some lucky freshman and seniors have that chance, because they will be invited at random by email to participate in the National Survey of Student Engagement (NSSE).

NSSE is an annual survey administered by UMBC and other colleges and universities across the United States. UMBC's Office of Institutional Research explains that NSSE "gauges the extent to which colleges are providing experiences associated with a quality undergraduate education and the extent to which students are engaging in those educationally meaningful activities." Campus leaders have used the survey results to inform decisions about changes to programs and the curriculum. The Office of Institutional Research says that among the UMBC offerings that have been created in part based on students' responses to NSSE are first-year seminars, living-learning communities, Introduction to an Honors University courses, the new student book experience and the faculty mentor program. So if you are one of the lucky invitees, please take the survey. 

Co-Create UMBC is a blog for and about UMBC, written by David Hoffman and Craig Berger from the Office of Student Life. Join the Co-Create UMBC group on MyUMBC. Like Co-Create UMBC on Facebook. And follow David and Craig on Twitter. 

Posted: February 18, 2013, 11:12 AM