Starting Oct. 1, the annual “I Believe in NSU” survey will be available. Credo Higher Education, NSU’s survey partner will send out an invitation to participate through NSU email.
The purpose of the survey is for the administration to get a better understanding of the NSU student’s overall experience. The responses are used to improve the quality of education and services provided by the university.
Barbara Packer-Muti, executive director of Institutional and Community Engagement, is the developer of the survey’s content.
The survey questions revolve around the academic experience, curricular and co-curricular experiences, technology use, clinical experiences, research opportunities, and community involvement. Previous surveys have helped the administration address issues on campus like the need for speed bumps around campus, food court changes such as food choices, and lighting in the parking garage.
Packer-Muti completes an analysis of the results and distributes it to all deans, the Provost, and the President. Much of the information is used to help in the assessment of NSU’s Quality Enhance Plan, which is a major component of Southern Association of Colleges and Schools accreditation.
Packer-Muti said that the survey has been done annually since 2007. Last year 28,294 people received the survey invitation from which 6,346 responded, resulting in an overall response rate of 22.4 percent, which was a 2 percent decrease from the survey response in 2010.
“We are not satisfied with the current response rate because we want to hear from all students. We always compared the respondents based on their demographics and find that it is representative of our NSU student demographics,” Packer-Muti said.
Ashley Bodling, junior communication studies major said, “I wasn’t aware of the survey before but I’m definitely interested in taking it now if it can help improve my experience here.”
Packer-Muti said, “NSU is trying to improve response rate with more communication. A banner message has been placed in all blackboard courses to help bring awareness. The more respondents, the more we feel that the results are reliable and are representative of all NSU students’ voices.”
Participants will automatically be entered into a drawing for one of two iPhone 5’s featuring the new mobile operating system, IOS6. A raffle will take place on Monday, Oct. 22 at the offices of Credo Higher Education in Whitsett, N.C. Winners will be notified by email and will be featured on the “I Believe in NSU” website after Nov. 1.
