The National Survey of Student Engagement (NSSE) Institutional Benchmark Report was published in August 2009.  This report uses five "benchmark" indicators to rank Mountain State University (MSU)  against three different groups: Selected Peers; Carnegie Peers; and the NSSE national norm.  MSU's 2005 Carnegie Classification is "Master's Level I".

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.

MSU began using NSSE in 2004.  The information provided here compares MSU's 2009 results against the 2008 results, provides a trend analysis from 2004, and provides the 2009 results.

2009 to 2008 Benchmark Comparison

The 2008 administration of NSSE allows a 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' mean score improved from 53.9 to 56.9 which exceeded the mean scores of all three peer groups.  The seniors' mean score improved from 59.1 to 59.3 which was below the mean score of one of the comparison groups.

2. Active and Collaborative Learning - First-year students' mean score improved from 40.7 to 42.2 which was slightly below the range of mean scores of two of the three peer groups.  The seniors' mean score declined from 50.6 to 49.9 and was below the mean score of two of the three peer groups.

3. Student-Faculty Interaction - First-year students' mean scores declined from 36.2 to 35.6 which was below the range of mean scores of one of the peer groups.  The seniors' mean score declined from 43.7 to 42.5 and was above the range of mean scores for two of the peer groups.

4. Enriching Educational Experiences -First-year students' mean score declined from 27.1 to 26.7 and was below the mean scores of the three peer groups.  The senior's mean score declined from 38.3 to 36.8 and was below the range of mean scores for two of the peer groups.

5. Supportive Campus Environment - First-year students' mean score improved from 59.3 to 64.3 which was above the mean scores of all three peer groups.  The senior's mean score also declined from 62.9 to 62.1 which was above the range of mean scores of the three peer groups.

The following link contains the comparison data and charts:

• 2004 to 2009 MSU Mean Comparison Trend

2009 MSU Benchmark Ranking

The results for the 2009 benchmark report compares MSU against a selected peer group, a Carnegie peer group and the NSSE national norm and are presented in the links below along with NSSE's introduction. The details for each benchmark shows both MSU's standing and survey items that determined the benchmark score.

• 2009 NSSE Benchmark Report Introduction (PDF)

• 2009 NSSE Benchmark 1 - Level of Academic Challenge (PDF)

• 2009 NSSE Benchmark 2 - Active and Collaborative Learning (PDF)

• 2009 NSSE Benchmark 3 - Student-Faculty Interaction (PDF)

• 2009 NSSE Benchmark 4 - Enriching Educational Experiences (PDF)

• 2009 NSSE Benchmark 5 - Supportive Campus Environment (PDF)

• 2009 NSSE Benchmark - Interpreting the Top 10% and 50% Comparisons (PDF)

• 2009 Comparison with Highly Engaging Institutions (PDF)

• 2009 First-Year Students Detailed Benchmark Statistics and Effective Sizes (PDF)

• 2009 Senior Detailed Benchmark Statistics and Effective Sizes (PDF)

• 2009 Selected Peer Group (PDF)

• 2009 Carnegie Peer Group (PDF)

• 2009 NSSE Benchmark Report in PDF Format