Allegheny College: President's Office

Just how "good" is any given college or university? And how does one judge? In the spring issue of Allegheny magazine, I addressed the inadequacy of college rankings like those published by U.S. News & World Report, which purport to assess institutional quality and educational effectiveness. While college rankings reveal something about an institution's wealth, they say nothing about how resources are spent. And while rankings may reflect a college's reputation, reputation has little correlation with the factors that are known to be most important to student learning, such as student-faculty interaction, active learning, and a supportive student environment.

Until recently, there was no reliable alternative to simplistic rankings. That changed when nationally respected educators and researchers collaborated to create the annual National Survey of Student Engagement (NSSE), supported by the Pew Charitable Trusts. This project independently and objectively gathers information from first- and fourth-year college students about what they experience on their campuses. Responses are gathered on more than sixty factors shown by researchers to be correlated with student learning. To quote from the study:

[The survey] focuses squarely on the teaching and learning activities that personally and intensely involve all types of students at all types of colleges and universities. When students read more, write more, and interact more in positive ways with their teachers and peers, they gain more in terms of essential skills and competencies, such as critical thinking, problem solving, effective communication, and responsible citizenship.

For the first time, we have a reputable study of national scope based on sound educational principles and research to help us evaluate the effectiveness of colleges and universities. To gain wide participation and to avoid the misleading nature of "ranking," study organizers invite colleges and universities to participate with assurances that each institution can decide for itself how to make use of the data and whether to share it publicly. A principal use of NSSE is for institutional self-study and improvement, and during our upcoming re-accreditation by the Middle States Association of Colleges and Schools, Allegheny will make good use of the tools NSSE offers. NSSE organizers also urge participating institutions to share their results with others, as we have chosen to do.

What does the study reveal about Allegheny's performance on measures related to effective educational practices? In comparison to responses from 155,000 students in 467 participating four-year colleges and universities, responses from our students were strikingly high in every category. For example, responses from seniors and first-year students place Allegheny College at the 99th and 96th percentiles respectively in academic challenge and at the 97th and 96th percentiles in student interaction with faculty. These results place us at the top of colleges and universities, supporting our long-held belief that the hallmark of an Allegheny education is a strong academic program coupled with unusually close student-faculty interaction and solid support for our students.

Colleges and universities have complex institutional characteristics that are analogous to the personalities and character traits of individuals, and NSSE reveals important aspects of Allegheny's institutional "personality." Insights into actual student experiences and associated institutional characteristics can be highly useful to students as they select the right college for them. Furthermore, institutions can use NSSE results to assess strengths and weaknesses in the specific educational experiences they offer, with an eye toward improvement. For example, with NSSE we now have a tool to help measure the effectiveness of new programs like our first- and second-year seminars, internships, service-learning, experiential learning term, and initiatives designed to improve academic advising.

We can be proud of Allegheny's results in the first round of our participation in the National Survey of Student Engagement. The study shows that Allegheny College—with our dedication to undergraduate education, close student-faculty interaction, and a rich array of student opportunities and support—is unusually strong in the measures that matter most in student learning. We will take full advantage of this new opportunity for both institutional improvement and promotion. I hope you will help spread the good news.