Survey of Entering Student EngagementSurvey of Entering Student Engagement

SENSE: a 30,000 Ft. View

PCC (&14 other Oregon CCs) administered SENSE, Fall 2009

Funding provided by Oregon Dept of Community Colleges and Workforce Development (CCWD)

SENSE was conducted at 120 CCs around the country (Fall 2009)

About the Survey• Target: Experiences of new students typically

during the 1st 3 weeks of 1st fall term

• Sample: Credit courses in which entering students most likely enroll (excluded select areas)

• PCC Respondents: 1,383 Credit Students 752 (54%) Entering Students, 631 (46%)

Returning Students

About the Survey (cont.)

• 123 questions

• Most Scales =1-5 Strongly Disagree, Disagree, Neutral, Agree to Strongly Agree or by Frequency Category

• Focus Area: Financial Aid

Interpretation Considerations•Weighted vs Unweighted Results?

•Entering vs Returning Students?

•Comparisons with others? (i.e. Oregon Consortium Colleges, National average of all participating colleges, Extra-Large Colleges, male/females, race/ethnicity, full-/part-time, dev ed /non-dev ed etc. ?

•What does "neutral" mean? Caution interpretation when high % of neutral responses

Benchmark

• Definition: “Conceptually related items that address key areas of student engagement”

• Note: MANY content rich survey items are not included in the benchmarks and thus analysis at the item level is also of value!

Early Connections

or

High Expectations and Aspirations

or

Clear Academic Plan and Pathway

or

On Track to College Readiness

or

Engaged Learning

or

I’ll starve if all we do is read about the nuts!

Academic and Social Support

or

for Benchmark ResultsSee Handout