North Bay, ON, November 10, 2006 — A new survey has been released and the positive results are piling up as Nipissing University has once again earned excellent marks in a survey examining student satisfaction.  The university has released the findings of the recently completed National Survey of Student Engagement (NSSE), and the results show Nipissing well above Ontario average in terms of students who are satisfied with their educational experience and their decision to attend the university. 

All Ontario universities took part in NSSE this year, the first year that Nipissing University participated.

In the survey, 90 per cent of first-year Nipissing students and 89 percent of final-year Nipissing students rated their educational experience as good or excellent.  That compares to the averages for the other Ontario Universities, in which 79 per cent of first-year students and 78 percent of final-year students rated their educational experience as good or excellent.

As well, 89 per cent of first-year Nipissing students and 84 percent of final-year Nipissing students said they would probably or definitely attend the university again.  In comparison, the Ontario Universities average, 84 per cent of first-year students and 76 percent of final-year students stated they would probably or definitely attend the university again.

Nipissing also excelled when students were asked about the university fostering a supportive campus environment and the level of student – faculty interaction. 

The NSSE findings back up similar findings in other student-based surveys, such as the recently released Globe and Mail University Report Card, in which Nipissing earned an A+ in several important categories, including Student-Faculty Interaction, Faculty Members' Knowledge of Subjects and Class Size,.  Nipissing also earned As in key categories in the University Report Card, such as Quality of Education, Student Residences, Quality of Teaching and Satisfaction with University Experience.  The university also excelled in the Maclean’s Graduate Survey and the Canadian Undergraduate Survey Consortium (CUSC).

The NSSE did point to a few areas for improvement, such as: the range of opportunities to enhance student learning, increasing the number or variety of course offerings, and improving the library collection.

The NSSE is an annual survey designed to obtain information from scores of colleges and universities across North America about student participation in programs and activities that institutions provide for their learning and personal development. The results provide an estimate of how undergraduates spend their time and what they gain from attending college.

Institutions use their data to identify aspects of the undergraduate experience inside and outside the classroom that can be improved through changes in policies and practices more consistent with good practices in undergraduate education. This information is also used by prospective students, their parents, counselors, academic advisers, institutional research officers, and researchers to learn more about how students spend their time at different colleges and universities and what they gain from their experiences.

The survey, developed by the Indiana University Centre for Post-Secondary Research, was administered to random samples of students in over 500 universities and colleges in Canada and the United States resulting in over 300,000 students completing the survey.  At Nipissing University, a total of 384 students responded to the survey, yielding a response rate of 39 per cent, which is comparable to the level of response for all NSSE institutions (36 per cent) and all Ontario universities (41 per cent).

To view survey results from NSSE, as well as the Globe and Mail University Report Card, the Maclean’s Graduate Survey and the Canadian Undergraduate Survey Consortium (CUSC), please visit: www.nipissingu.ca/results