NODA joins the NASPA Consortium

The National Orientation Directors Association has partnered with the National Association of Student Personnel Administrators (NASPA) to administer the NASPA Assessment & Knowledge Consortium. The partnership provides the NODA membership with a variety of assessment tools and resources, benchmarking options, as well as opportunities to share best practices. To learn more about the Consortium, visit www.naspaconsortium.org.

Consortium: Orientation and New Student Programs Benchmarking Study

The Orientation and New Student Programs Benchmarking Study is an online assessment typically administered in early to mid-fall that provides participating campuses with actionable data on:

• Outcomes of orientation programming
• Students' ease of transition to college
• Students' relationships with faculty, staff, and peers
• Students' knowledge and utilization of campus resources and co-curricular activities
• Suggestions for improving orientation
• Satisfaction with orientation and institution overall

Participating in the orientation benchmarking project will result in:

• Institution specific data that can be shared with internal and external audiences
• Benchmarking data for peer and national comparisons
• Ability to improve programs and make data-driven decisions about new student programming
• Opportunity to provide evidence about the value and success of orientation programs
• Empowers staff to collect and utilize data with minimal time investment and without any logistical difficulties or red tape
• Data sharing opportunities (presentations, publications, etc.) on-campus and with colleagues at other institutions
• Implications for staff training and professional development

Participating campuses receive their institutional data in real-time through an online reporting site. National and peer comparison data is available at the conclusion of the study. The instrument is designed to be administered to all newly enrolled first-year and transfer students.

Timeline

Ongoing:
Enrollment in the Orientation and New Student Programs Benchmarking Study. Sign-up or receive more information. Upon sign-up, additional information and next steps are provided to ensure a successful administration of the project on your campus.

September-November:
Data collection. Institution-specific data is available in real-time.

December:
Benchmarking data is available.

Fees

For campuses that subscribe to the NASPA Consortium (www.naspaconsortium.org), this study is included. StudentVoice Member Campuses on an annual license may participate in the Benchmarking Study at no charge. The fee for non-StudentVoice Member Campuses is $2000 (undergraduate enrollment greater than 5000 students) or $1500 (undergraduate enrollment less than 5000 students). Sign-up here.

FAQ

What questions are on the Orientation and New Student Programs Benchmarking Study?
CLICK HERE to view the questions online.
CLICK HERE to view the questions in PDF.

Can my institution add campus-specific questions and modify the instrument?
Yes, your campus may add up to ten additional questions. You may also opt out of any questions that your campus does not wish to ask. Keeping the instrument intact is highly recommended in order to facilitate benchmarking across campuses, however.

When is the deadline to register for the study?
Registration is ongoing. Sign-up or receive more information.

Who designed the assessment?
This study was designed by assessment professionals and was reviewed by a team of orientation professionals.

How is the study administered?
The assessment is administered online. Potential respondents are sent a link via e-mail.

Should my campus participate every year in the Orientation and New Student Programs Benchmarking Study?
Due to the fact that each academic year brings a new population of first-year and transfer students, campuses may want to plan to participate each year, assuming that the study does not conflict with other campus assessments that happen annually each fall.

What is the cost to participate in the Orientation and New Student Programs Benchmarking Study?
For campuses that subscribe to the NASPA Consortium (www.naspaconsortium.org), this study is included. StudentVoice Member Campuses on an annual license may participate in the Benchmarking Study at no charge. The fee for non-StudentVoice Member Campuses is $2000 (undergraduate enrollment greater than 5000 students) or $1500 (undergraduate enrollment less than 5000 students). Sign-up here.

What happens after my campus signs up?
Each participating campus has the responsibility to seek institutional approval, customize the instrument as needed, and provide StudentVoice with the sample of emails. Upon sign-up, complete instructions/next steps are provided.

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 Orientation Outcomes Benchmarking 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?
We recommend that you send the assessment to all newly enrolled first-year and transfer students. In instances where you are not able to survey the entire population of new students, 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.

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 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 data collection begin?
Most campuses will collect data between September and November. Ideally the study is administered approximately six-eight weeks after the start of the fall semester/quarter.

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 study has been administered since 2004. The following campuses have participated in the Orientation and New Student Programs Benchmarking Study during recent years.

• Binghamton University
• Buffalo State College
• California State University Monterey Bay
• California State University, Chico
• Central Washington University
• College of Saint Benedict/Saint John's University
• Colorado State University
• Columbia College Chicago
• DePaul University
• East Stroudsburg University
• Elizabethtown College
• Florida Gulf Coast University
• Florida Institute of Technology
• Fordham University
• Framingham State College
• Gonzaga University
• Idaho State University
• Illinois Wesleyan University
• Kutztown University of Pennsylvania
• Merrimack College
• Metro State College of Denver
• Michigan Technological University
• North Carolina State University
• Northwestern University
• Pratt Institute
• Regis University
• Saint Joseph's University
• Sam Houston State University
• Seattle University
• SUNY Oswego
• Towson University
• Tulane University
• University at Albany
• University at Buffalo
• University of Alaska - Anchorage
• University of British Columbia
• University of Colorado at Boulder
• University of Louisville
• University of Maryland Baltimore County
• University of Missouri - Columbia
• University of New Mexico
• University of North Alabama
• University of North Carolina at Wilmington
• University of Portland
• University of South Carolina
• University of South Florida
• University of Toronto
• University of Utah
• University of Wisconsin - Madison
• University of Wyoming
• Villanova University
• Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University
• Wayne State University
• West Virginia University
• Western Oregon University
• York University