First Term Survey Presentation Jason DeRousie 12/7/2015 1 - PowerPoint PPT Presentation

Academic and Student Affairs Office of Assessment First Term Survey Presentation Jason DeRousie 12/7/2015 1

Academic and Student Affairs Office of Assessment First Term Survey Response • Sent to 4,296 new first year and 1,101 new transfer students at the beginning of Oct. • Response rates were very good – 48.1% response rate for first year students (1,711 complete; 358 partial) – 43.4% response rate for transfer students (423 complete, 55 partial) • Response rates have been climbing over the past several years 12/7/2015 2

Academic and Student Affairs Office of Assessment Survey Respondents • Respondents generally matched the populations – By college, by race/ethnicity, by state residency – The exception was gender; females were over-represented • 84% of first year respondents live on campus; 72% of transfer respondents live off campus • First year respondents were traditional age (99.1% 17- 19); Transfer students were more likely to be older (67% were 18-21, but 20% were 25 or older) • ~90-91% identify as heterosexual/straight; ~7% identify as LGBTQ • ~11% of TR and 5% of FY were non-resident alien 12/7/2015 3

Academic and Student Affairs Office of Assessment Caveats • This is just a first run at the data; more analysis to come • Differences are only provided to be thought- provoking • Though the survey was representative, results were from a subset of the population • This survey provides just a snapshot in time of the experiences of some new students 12/7/2015 4

Academic and Student Affairs Office of Assessment Transition Programming • Virtually all FY respondents attended orientation (99.1%), as did almost all TR students (93.1%) • 90.1% of FY respondents attended WWW events compared to 51.9% of TR respondents • One challenge is encouraging connections between students and faculty/staff – More than 50% of FY and TR respondents had not at all/only minimally developed a relationship with faculty/staff by the time of the survey • Another challenge (possibly) is getting students actually involved instead of just aware of involvement 12/7/2015 5

Academic and Student Affairs Office of Assessment Expectations vs. Reality • For both TR and FY respondents, the first day of classes was less difficult than expected, but managing daily life, coursework, and connecting with peers were more difficult • Being part of a diverse community was what they were expecting or was slightly easier • Transfer students had more accurate expectations – higher percentages “matched expectations” for each question • But for those TR respondents whose expectations were not matched, things were more difficult than expected 12/7/2015 6

Academic and Student Affairs Office of Assessment Confidence (FY) • Overall, FY students were pretty confident in most things – more than 90% of respondents were very/somewhat confident in their ability to: – Use Moodle, identify resources for academic support, identity resources for personal/psychological support, identify groups to get involved with, and graduate on time • Less confident (though still pretty confident) about coping with stress (17.7% were not at all/not very confident), managing time (16.2%), connecting with other individuals on campus (13%), and choosing the right major (16.5%) 12/7/2015 7

Academic and Student Affairs Office of Assessment Confidence (TR) • Overall, TR students were pretty confident in most things, but less so than FY students • They were least confident about their ability to cope with stress (22.8% were not at all/not very confident), effectively manage time (22.8%), identify a group that supports an identity (24.4%), or connect with other individuals on campus (22%) • Also not as confident in their ability to graduate on time as FY respondents (80.2% vs. 91.4% confident) 12/7/2015 8

Academic and Student Affairs Office of Assessment Involvement • Students are getting involved and/or are aware of opportunities for involvement – More than 90% of FY and more than 85% of TR respondents were Somewhat/Very confident in their ability to identify a group to get involved with – More than ¾ of FY respondents have gotten involved Some/A Great Deal (only 6% Not at All) – But only slightly more than half of TR students had • However, there are students struggling with making social connections 12/7/2015 9

Academic and Student Affairs Office of Assessment Social Connections • Both groups were hoping to make friends as a part of WWW, but neither actually did so at as great a rate as hoped (there was a 20-point gap between the % who hoped to and those who actually did) • 27.8% of TR and 23.0% of FY respondents attended WWW events alone but would have preferred to go with others • 8.7% of TR respondents had not made friends at all and 25.8% had only a little • 20.1% of TR respondents are often/constantly lonely • Connecting with peers was more difficult than many were expecting (~40% of FY and TR respondents said it was somewhat/much more difficult) 12/7/2015 10

Academic and Student Affairs Office of Assessment Feelings (FY) • Some worrisome findings when students were asked how often they “Felt” certain negative emotions – 30.1% often/constantly feel overwhelmed – 22.7% often/constantly feel highly anxious – 22.8% are often/constantly concerned about financial issues • However, only 6.8% often/constantly feel that NC State is not a good fit 12/7/2015 11

Academic and Student Affairs Office of Assessment Feelings (TR) • Similar results for transfer respondents (at higher levels than FY respondents) – 38.1% often/constantly feel overwhelmed – 35.1% are often/constantly concerned about financial issues – 24.8% often/constantly feel highly anxious – 20.1% are often/constantly lonely • However, only 5.2% often/constantly feel that NC State is not a good fit 12/7/2015 12

Academic and Student Affairs Office of Assessment Early Alert Process • New for 2015 – students that answered specific questions in particular ways were flagged and then contacted • Two categories of alerts – psychological and academic (a third arose when some students triggered both alerts) • Students were contacted by Case Management and/or Academic Advising Services 12/7/2015 13

Academic and Student Affairs Office of Assessment Early Alert Respondents • 75 FY students triggered an alert (3.7%) – 43 psych only; 22 academic only; 10 both • 31 TR students triggered an alert (6.5%) – 18 psych only; 9 academic only; 4 both • A strong relationship existed between these early alert respondents and many negative emotions and interactions 12/7/2015 14

Academic and Student Affairs Office of Assessment Sense of Community • Asked several questions related to a sense of community, as well as the full Sense of Community (SCI) scale • In general, students gain a sense of community through programs for new students, but there is a subset that is not feeling that sense of community • 86.5% of TR and 92.6% of FY students gained a sense of community with NC State from WWW and 76.9% of FY students gained that from Convocation 12/7/2015 15

Academic and Student Affairs Office of Assessment Sense of Community • 80-90% of TR and FY students say its moderately/ very important to experience a sense of community in the four areas – NC State overall, college/major, formal orgs, small groups • FY respondents are most interesting in community/belonging with small groups (e.g., friends) • TR respondents are most interested in developing a sense of community with their college/major • In general, TR respondents develop less of a sense of community in all areas than FY students – particularly with formal orgs (28.2% said they had not at all) 12/7/2015 16

Academic and Student Affairs Office of Assessment SCI Scale • Only 6% of FY respondents said it is not very/not at all important to feel a sense of community with other NC State community members; 13% of TR students said the same • Four subscales created: – Membership, Influence, Fulfillment of Needs, and Shared Connection • FY respondents had higher scores (more positive) on all four subscales than TR students (statistically significant differences) 12/7/2015 17

Academic and Student Affairs Office of Assessment Academic Sucess Managing time was the area of least confidence for both FY and TR • students TR students were a little more confident in their ability to choose • the right major (90% were Somewhat/Very Confident vs. 83% for FY respondents) Almost half of TR and FY students would have like to have more • interaction with their academic advisor in the first weeks/months of the semester (43% and 47%) 15% of FY students and 21.6% of TR students feel Often/Constantly • academically underprepared; another 27% of both feel that way Sometimes Almost 1 in 4 FY students (23.6%) and 1 in 5 TR students (19.8%) • had already utilized academic assistance for coursework “A Great Deal” (~30% more of both said they had done so “Some”) 12/7/2015 18