Alvernia celebrates exceptional results from the National Survey of Student Engagement for being a collaborative, supportive, and engaged campus
Students at Alvernia University are enthusiastic about student-faculty interactions, the school’s spirit of collaborative learning, the supportive student-faculty culture and an environment that encourages service learning, according to a national survey.
Alvernia’s positive results were reflected in the National Survey of Student Engagement (NSSE). This national survey provider measures students' experiences and engagement. This is the fifth time that Alvernia has participated in the NSSE survey cycle.
Nearly 1,700 colleges and universities have participated in this survey, making it a strong benchmark of what students are gaining from Alvernia.
The College Student Report, a survey tool, collects responses from first-year and senior students in five categories: participation in activities, perceptions of coursework as challenging, evaluations of the college environment, personal assessment of educational and personal growth, and demographic information.
Notably, in comparison to other institutions, Alvernia stands out for its high results in student and faculty interactions, collaborative learning, and fostering a supportive environment, as evidenced by both the first-year and senior levels, the two demographics invited to participate in the survey. The results are backed up with increased retention and persistence data. This year, overall retention is up 2%, and at the highest peak since 2017.Third-year persistence is up 1% from last year and 5% from two years ago and also represents the largest percentage since 2017. These increases come as the university has also hit its highest number of full-time enrolled undergraduate students in the last three years.
Results showed that students not only value service learning and participation in high-impact practices, but a large majority at the first-year and senior level reported participating in at least one high-impact practice, and over 80% at the senior level reported participating in at least two.
According to NSSE, a high-impact practice is an experience where students devote a significant amount of time to discovering in-depth learning opportunities and engaging with faculty, staff, and peers. These results also reiterate the institution’s commitment to experiential learning and providing a standout student experience.
“Alvernia’s Franciscan values and our campus culture of care through the SOLAR initiative undoubtedly set our institution apart as a leader in the areas of service learning and supportive environments,” said Alvernia President Glynis A. Fitzgerald, Ph.D. “These results show that our faculty, staff, and students are engaged in creating a campus that cares for one another – whether that’s through our Career Closet, Clare’s Cupboard, or mental health services.”
Additionally, gains in collaborative learning are indicative of the institution’s ability to create safe forums for discussion with diverse groups of the community. And, achieving a standout result in student and faculty interaction demonstrates that the university is implementing effective teaching practices.
“These survey responses are about so much more than learning it’s about what we’re doing well in caring for our students,” said Leamor Kahanov, Ed.D., Senior Vice President and Provost. “These results also provide us feedback on how we can strengthen and improve our campus to make the student experience even better.”
Participating in the survey regularly helps institutions secure an unbiased perspective on how students spend their time on campus and how they benefit from attending the university. These results also provide an avenue for students to give feedback on their experience.
“We know that students invest time into these surveys because they want their voices heard and the results to drive real action,” shared Abby Swatchick, Associate Vice President for Student Affairs and Dean of Students. “We take this responsibility seriously and are always seeking and implementing ways to improve our campus culture.”
On top of these positive survey results, Alvernia University was also recently named a top-ranked national university by U.S. News & World Report for the fourth consecutive year.
