NIRSA Campus Recreation Assessment Partnership

StudentVoice is pleased to announce that NIRSA (National Intramural-Recreational Sports Association) has joined the NASPA Assessment and Knowledge Consortium. The partnership provides for a comprehensive assessment curriculum for campus recreation, a variety of assessment tools and resources, benchmarking opportunities, consultation services, and opportunities to share best practices.

A comprehensive approach to assessing campus recreation should include measures of:

• Impact of campus recreation offerings on student recruitment and retention
• Student utilization of different recreational facilities, activities, and programs
• Student satisfaction with facilities, activities, and programs
• Recreational needs and expectations of students and other constituents
• Social, academic, emotional, and health-related outcomes of utilizing campus recreation
• Operational issues such as promotion of recreation activities and accessibility of facilities and programs
• Professional development of staff and student employees
• Cost effectiveness of programs and services

Consortium: Campus Recreation Impact Study

NIRSA Institutional Members have the opportunity to participate in the ongoing Campus Recreation Student Outcomes Benchmarking Project. Inspired by the assessment efforts of Juliette Moore, Director of Recreational Sports at the University of Arizona and NIRSA Past President, this project provides a benchmarking mechanism to capture ways in which campus recreation enhances the lives of students.

Sign-up for the Campus Recreation Impact Study.

The Consortium Campus Recreation Impact Study is an online assessment that provides participating campuses with actionable data on:

• The impact of campus recreation programs and services on recruitment and retention
• Student learning outcomes
• Information to justify new facilities, an expansion, or new programs
• Support for fee increases
• Satisfaction with facilities, programs, and services
• Needed changes and enhancements to existing programs and services
• Interest in new programs and services

In addition, the data has direct implications for staff training and professional development.

Participating campuses receive their institutional data in real-time. National and peer comparison data is available at the conclusion of the study. The instrument is designed for students (undergraduate and graduate students), however, a modified version of the survey can be administered to faculty, staff, and community members.

Timeline

Ongoing:
Enrollment in the Consortium Campus Recreation Impact Study. Upon sign-up, additional information and next steps are provided to ensure a successful administration of the project on your campus.

January-May:
Data collection. Institution-specific data is available in real-time.

June:
Benchmarking data is available.

Participation Fees

The Consortium Campus Recreation Impact Study is part of the 2009-2010 NASPA Assessment and Knowledge Consortium. Campuses may subscribe to the Consortium by clicking here: http://www.naspaconsortium.org/register/. StudentVoice Member Campuses on an annual license may participate in the Consortium Campus Recreation Impact Study as part of their StudentVoice license. For information about becoming a StudentVoice Member Campus, contact info@studentvoice.com.

If your campus is not a subscribing Consortium campus or a StudentVoice Member Campus, you may opt to participate in just this student assessment at a reduced fee. The fee for campuses with less than 5000 undergraduate students is $1500. The fee for campuses with more than 5000 undergraduate students is $2000. The fee includes the administration of the survey to an unlimited number of students, data reporting tools, and access to dynamic benchmarking reports. For questions about fees, please contact info@studentvoice.com.

FAQ

What questions are on the Consortium Campus Recreation Impact Study?
View the survey instrument.
View the questions in a Word document.

When is the deadline to register for the Consortium Campus Recreation Impact Study?
Registration is ongoing. Sign-up for the Campus Recreation Impact Study.

Who designed the assessment?
Led by Juliette Moore (Director of Recreational Sports at the University of Arizona and NIRSA Past President), a working group of Campus Recreation practitioners were instrumental in the design and review of the assessment instrument in 2005. In 2009, the survey was again reviewed by a group of Campus Recreation practitioners to ensure relevance and face validity.

How is the Consortium Campus Recreation Impact Study administered?
The assessment is administered online. Potential respondents are sent a link via e-mail.

What is the cost to participate in the Consortium Campus Recreation Impact Study?
StudentVoice Member Campuses may participate in the Consortium Campus Recreation Impact Study at no charge. The fee for NIRSA institutional members (non-StudentVoice Member Campuses) is $2000 (undergraduate enrollment greater than 5000 students) or $1500 (undergraduate enrollment less than 5000 students).

Can StudentVoice pull the sample of student e-mails?
StudentVoice is available to assist with sampling issues. You may want to consult with an institutional representative on your campus from the Registrar’s Office, the Institutional Research Office, or Information Technology to find out the proper protocol for accessing student e-mail addresses.

What kind of response rate can my campus expect to the Consortium Campus Recreation Impact Study?
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 Consortium Campus Recreation Impact Study?
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?
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 when possible.

Is the Consortium Campus Recreation Impact Study designed for undergraduate students only?
The assessment may also be administered to graduate students. A modified version of the instrument is available if you would like to assess faculty, staff, and community members.

Is data collected through StudentVoice 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 event of catastrophe.

When can we begin data collection?
Most campuses will collect data between January 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 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. View an example IRB protocol (Microsoft Word Document).

What campuses have participated in the project?
The following campuses have participated in the Campus Recreation Student Outcomes Benchmarking Project during 2009, 2008, or 2007.

• Berry College
• Case Western Reserve University
• Central Michigan University
• Central Washington University
• Clemson University
• Colorado State University
• East Carolina University
• Florida International University
• Georgia Southern University
• Illinois State University
• Indiana University
• Jacksonville State University
• Loyola University of Chicago
• Marquette University
• Metro State College of Denver
• Mississippi University for Women
• North Dakota State University
• Ohio University
• Oregon State University
• Portland State University
• Saint Joseph's University (PA)
• Saint Louis University
• Salisbury University
• Seattle University
• South Dakota State University
• Southern Illinois University - Edwardsville
• Southern Methodist University
• St. Cloud State University
• St. John's (NY)
• Stephen F. Austin State University
• SUNY Oswego
• Temple University
• Texas A&M University - Commerce
• Texas A&M University - Corpus Christi
• Texas A&M University - Kingsville
• Tulane University
• University of Akron
• University of Alabama
• University of Calgary
• University of California - Davis
• University of Colorado
• University of Florida
• University of Illinois - Chicago
• University of Kansas
• University of Kentucky
• University of Maine
• University of Nebraska - Lincoln
• University of New Hampshire
• University of North Carolina - Charlotte
• University of North Carolina - Greensboro
• University of North Carolina - Pembroke
• University of North Carolina - Wilmington
• University of North Dakota
• University of Oklahoma
• University of Oregon
• University of Richmond
• University of Scranton
• University of Tennessee
• University of Texas at Arlington
• University of Washington
• University of Wisconsin - Milwaukee
• University of Wisconsin - Stout
• University of Wyoming
• Washburn University
• Weber State University
• Western Kentucky University
• Winthrop University
• Wright State University