Planning and Institutional Effectiveness
Assessment and Institutional Research
Office of Assessment and Institutional Research conducts various surveys to obtain the opinions of various bodies serving Nicholls. The surveys are used to improve the institutional effectiveness, provide accurate information to the university administrators and faculty and support university’s mission.
Assessment primarily focuses on understanding and improving student learning. Student learning outcomes enable the assessment process to be effective by measuring the department’s goals, student’s performance, expected outcomes (results) and the actual outcomes (results). Click here for Guidelines for writing Student Learning Outcomes.
Assessments |
|---|
| ACT Student Opinion Survey - The ACT Student Opinion Survey (SOS) is a national student satisfaction survey that is administered every other spring. The survey asks for student opinions about both specific campus services (e.g., bookstore, student union, etc.) and the overall campus environment. The survey was completed by 1,141 Nicholls students during the last administration in Spring 2011. To see the full results from that administration, click here. For highlights from the 2011 survey, trend analyses over time, and a history of past ACT SOS administrations, click here.
Note: For Spring 2013, the Noel-Levitz Student Satisfaction Inventory (SSI) will be administered to Nicholls students in place of the ACT SOS. To see a sample of this survey, please click here. |
| Alumni Survey – The alumni survey is sent to both recent (one-year) and long-term (five-year) Nicholls graduates. The survey collects employment and salary data from Nicholls alumni, and measures alumni satisfaction with campus facilities, skills and abilities gained during college, and with overall satisfaction with the Nicholls experience. This survey is given every five years, and was last administered in December 2011. For highlights from the 2011 survey, click here. For full results from the 2011 survey for all alumni, recent alumni, and long-term alumni, click on the appropriate link below. |
| Beginning College Survey of Student Engagement (BCSSE) - The Beginning College Survey of Student Engagement (BCSSE) is a national survey that collects data about the high school academic and co-curricular experiences of incoming students, as well as their expectation about participating in educationally purposeful activities during their freshmen year. This survey has been given to incoming freshmen since 2009, and was last administered in Fall 2012. For results from the most recent BCSSE administration, please click on the link below. For highlights from the Fall 2012 survey, as well as trend analyses on selected items, click here. For results from past administrations, click here. |
| Collegiate Learning Assessment (CLA) - The Collegiate Learning Assessment (CLA) is a national assessment that is given annually to freshmen in the fall semester and seniors in the spring semester. The CLA is an open-ended evaluation that measures critical thinking, analytic reasoning, and other higher-level cognitive skills. Nicholls has administered the CLA since 2008-09, with the most recent administration occurring during the 2011-12 academic year. For results from that administration, please click on the link below. For results from previous administrations and a trend analysis of CLA scores for freshmen and seniors, click here. |
| Graduating Student Employment Survey – This survey is given at the conclusion of every semester to Nicholls seniors that are nearing graduation. The survey measures student utilization of the Office of Career Services while at Nicholls (including services such as job fairs, resume critiques, and career counseling), as well as employment prospects upon graduation. This survey was last administered in December 2012 for the Fall 2012 graduating class, and was completed by 281 students. To view the full results from that administration, click on the link below. For highlights of the Fall 2012 administration as well as results from past administrations, click here. |
| Faculty/staff Survey – The faculty/staff survey is given to Nicholls employees every other year, with the most recent administration in Fall 2011 completed by 88 faculty and 180 staff members. The faculty/staff survey asks employees about both their overall job satisfaction and their overall perception of the effectiveness of the university. To view results from both the Fall 2011 faculty and staff survey click on the links below. For highlights from the Fall 2011 survey and results from past administrations, click here. |
| Graduating Senior Survey – The Graduating Senior survey is given at the beginning of every semester to undergraduate seniors who are planning to graduate. This sixty-two question survey asks prospective graduates a wide variety of questions about their academic experience at Nicholls, ranging from the acquisition of specific skills and abilities from coursework to satisfaction with their particular major. The most recent survey in Spring 2013 was completed by 354 prospective graduates. To view full results from the Spring 2013 survey, click on the link below. To view highlights from the Spring 2013 survey, along with results and trend analyses from past administrations, click here. To view Spring 2013 results by college and department, click here. |
| Graduate Student Survey - The Graduate Student survey is given to graduate students who planning to graduate from Nicholls at the end of the semester. The thirteen-item survey measures graduate student satisfaction with the graduate curriculum, attitudes of faculty and staff toward graduate students, and the extent to which their graduate study has prepared them for employment and the workplace. The most recent survey in Spring 2012 was completed by 42 graduate students. To view full results from the Spring 2012 survey, click on the link below. To view highlights from the Spring 2012 survey, along with results and trend analyses from past administrations, click here. |
| Measure of Academic Proficiency and Progress (MAPP) test – The Measure of Academic Proficiency and Progress (MAPP) test is currently given every other fall to students that have completed the general education portion of their Nicholls education. MAPP is a thirty-six question multiple-choice test that measures student competence in reading, writing, mathematics, and critical thinking. Students receive both an overall score and one of three proficiency scores in each subject area, with proficiency scores ranging from lowest to highest degree of mastery. MAPP was last administered in November 2011, and was completed by 559 students. For overall scores results and proficiency rating from the Fall 2011 test, click on the link below. To view highlights from the Fall 2011 test, along with results and trend analyses from past administrations, click here. |