UTSA students participate in national survey

(Feb. 24, 2004)--The National Survey of Student Engagement (NSSE) recently hit the UTSA campuses, along with several hundred other colleges and universities across the country.

A random sample of 2,000 UTSA students (1,000 freshmen and 1,000 seniors) was contacted through the Lonestar student e-mail system to respond to the survey, which will be used to determine how to improve teaching, learning and other aspects of campus life. The survey is anonymous and takes less than 15 minutes to complete using either a paper or Web version.

All UTSA students are encouraged to check their Lonestar e-mail regularly, since it is the official vehicle for receiving important university information. Those who have forgotten their Lonestar login can retrieve it by taking their UTSACards to Student Computing Services at the 1604 or Downtown campuses.

While it's tempting to ignore surveys, this one is short -- and it can help make a difference in the quality of undergraduate education. Survey administrators hope to learn answers to questions such as... How much reading and writing are required in UTSA classes? How often do students interact with students from other backgrounds and cultures? How good is academic advising? How many students work with faculty members on research?

Additionally, UTSA administrators and faculty hope to learn more about how and where students spend their time, the nature and quality of their interactions with faculty members and peers, and what they have gained from classes and other aspects of their college experience.

The NSSE project is supported by the Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching, the Pew Forum on Undergraduate Learning, the Lumina Foundation for Education and the Center for Survey Research at Indiana University.

For more information, contact Steve Wilkerson at 210-458-4691.

--Tim Brownlee