NACA Campus Activities Consortium
The National Association for Campus Activities (NACA) and the National Association of Student Personnel Administrators (NASPA) are pleased to announce a partnership, the NASPA Assessment and Knowledge Consortium, that will assist Campus Activities professionals in assessing their programs and understanding the impact of campus activities on various student outcomes. The Consortium consists of two different types of data collections:
- Operational and trend data from Campus Activities Directors (or those in similar positions) across the country. Practitioners will be sent an online assessment that will ask for details about staffing, budget, programming, facilities, and other ‘hot’ or pressing topics for the profession. At the conclusion of the data collection, participating Consortium campuses will be able to view the operational and trend data sorted by institutional type and other variables (enrollment size, region of the country, urban/rural) to allow for direct comparison across individual campus results, national results, and peer campus results.
- Student data from a random sample of undergraduates at participating colleges and universities. Students will be sent an online assessment that will ask questions about participation in various campus activities, student learning outcomes, preferred methods of communication, and perceptions of student fees. View example questions. Participating Consortium campuses will be able to benchmark their student data with national results and with peer campus results.
At the conclusion of the data collections, a summary report will be compiled for participating institutions.
Sign-up for the Campus Activities Consortium Project
Timeline
Late Fall:
Campus Activities professionals will be contacted to complete the operational and trend assessment.
Ongoing:
Enrollment in the Campus Activities Consortium Project. Sign-up or receive more information.
Early Spring:
Operational and trend data is available to participating campuses.
Spring:
Student data collection. Institution-specific data is available in real-time to participating campuses.
Late Spring:
Benchmarking data is available for student assessment.
Summer:
Release of summary report.
Participation Fees
The Campus Activities Consortium fee is $4000. The fee includes access to the operational and trend data, as well as access to the student data (the administration of the online assessment, data reporting features, and benchmarking reports). The fee also includes the summary report that will be available in Summer of 2009. StudentVoice Member Campuses may participate in the student data collection at no charge. Non-StudentVoice Member Campuses can participate at a reduced rate of $2000 and receive only the student benchmarking data, analysis, and reporting options.
In addition to Campus Activities, the NASPA Assessment and Knowledge Consortium includes two other content areas of study. Your campus may opt to sign up for the complete Consortium, rather than just the Campus Activities component. Prior to sign-up, you may want to inquire with the Vice President of Student Affairs or another senior administrator on your campus in regards to campus-wide interest in the Consortium. View additional information about the NASPA Assessment and Knowledge Consortium.
FAQ
When is the deadline to register for the Campus Activities Consortium Project?
Registration is ongoing. Sign-up or receive more information.
Who designed the Campus Activities Consortium Project?
A working group of Campus Activities practitioners, as well as the NACA Director of Education and Research, have been instrumental in the design and review of the operational and trend assessment and the student assessment.
Who will write the summary report of Campus Activities Consortium Project data?
A working group of Campus Activities practitioners will author the summary report.
What is the cost to participate in the Campus Activities Consortium Project?
The cost is $4000 and includes all of the components of operational benchmarking data, trend data, student benchmarking data, analysis and reporting options, and a written summary report.
What if my campus is only interested in the Campus Activities student data collection?
The operational/trend data is meant to complement and inform the student data. For a reduced fee ($2000), however, your campus may opt to participate in only the student data collection.
Is Campus Activities the only area of study?
No, the NASPA Assessment and Knowledge Consortium includes three functional areas each year. See additional information about the NASPA Assessment and Knowledge Consortium.
Can StudentVoice pull the sample for the student data collection?
StudentVoice is available to assist with sampling issues. If possible, please provide an e-mail file that includes the entire undergraduate population of students (both full- and part-time students). StudentVoice can then assist in pulling an appropriate and representative random sample from the list of emails.
What kind of response rate can my campus expect for the student assessment?
The typical response rate for most online assessments is between 15%-25%. Response rates can be increased in some instances by offering incentives, by sending out pre-survey e-mails letting students know when to expect the online survey, and by sending several targeted reminders to non-respondents.
What sample size is recommended for the student assessment?
We understand that your campus may have concerns about over-assessing. We will work closely with your campus to create a survey schedule and sampling plan that will work best based on any other national assessments that you are participating in during 08-09. In most instances and when appropriate based on undergraduate enrollment size, we recommend a minimum sample size of 2500 students. This recommendation is based on several sampling considerations and the typical response rate to StudentVoice online surveys. If your undergraduate enrollment is less than 2500, we recommend assessing the entire population.
Why is a sample size of 2500 students recommended for the Campus Activities Consortium student survey?
Given the sampling considerations, the number of responses needed to have between 4%-5% error and a 95% confidence interval is approximately 400-600 for an infinite size population. Given the typical response rate of between 15%-25%, your campus will need to survey 2500 students in the hopes of obtaining 500 completed responses. Larger sample sizes are highly recommended – especially for larger campuses and in the instances where no other national assessments are occurring.
Is the Campus Activities Consortium student data collection designed for undergraduate students only?
Yes, the Campus Activities Consortium survey is designed for full- and part-time undergraduate students only. If your campus would like to survey graduate students, any responses from graduate students will be excluded from benchmarking features and from the written reports.
Can I view the student survey questions?
View example questions.
What kinds of data will be collected through the operational and trend survey?
Operational and trend data will include data on staffing patterns, budgets, programming, and general trends for that content area.
Is data collected through the Campus Activities Consortium secure?
StudentVoice is committed to maintaining the highest standards in data security. To protect information used in internet transactions (i.e., online surveys, data reports) StudentVoice uses the following security techniques and procedures: Secure login access (username and password) is required to access all data reports; information is exchanged via Secure Socket Layer (SSL) that uses 128-bit encryption; information requests must pass through multiple hardware and software security firewalls; StudentVoice’s data center is monitored 24/7 and access is restricted to authorized parties with validated key cards; data is backed up every hour internally; and data is backed up every night to a centralized backup system, with offsite backups in the event of catastrophe.
When can we begin the student data collections?
Upon institutional approval, you can begin collecting the student survey data as early as November. Most campuses will collect data between February and April.
Do I need to go through an institutional review board process (IRB)?
Due to the fact that your student data will become part of an aggregate Campus Activities Consortium dataset (your college/university data will not be identified), institutional approval will likely be necessary. If your campus does not have an institutional review board, a letter from a senior administrator will be accepted as approval to participate. This letter should acknowledge that your campus agrees to have their data included in the aggregate data, which may be used for presentations and publications.
My campus is already a StudentVoice Member Campus, why should we participate in the Campus Activities Consortium?
Participating in the Campus Activities Consortium will give you access to comprehensive operational/trend datasets for each of the three content areas, as well as written summary reports.