Total Number of Respondents

Faculty Survey of Student Engagement

Summary of 2003 Survey Findings

ConcordiaUniversity, St. Paul

Introductory Comments

A sample of ConcordiaUniversity, St. Paul faculty and instructional staff teaching undergraduate classesduring spring 2003 participated in the Pilot Study of the Faculty Survey of Student Engagement (FSSE 2003). The FSSE is being developed as a companion to the National Survey of Student Engagement (NSSE). Samples of Concordia, St. Paul first-year and senior students participated in NSSE 2003 during the 2003 spring semester. NSSE findings are summarized in a separate report.

The summary report that follows provides demographic information about the faculty/staff completing surveys, gives a summary of CSP responses to all the survey questions, provides some comparisons between faculty responses on the FSSE and student responses on the NSSE, and gives some comparisons between CSP FSSE responses and the national responses. FSSE 2003 was completed by more than 14,000 faculty members from 143 four-year colleges and universities. The CSP response rate was 57%. The overall national response rate was 43%.

Demographic Summary

Demographic responses are summarized in the table below. Some disciplines included in the Arts and Humanities category are Art, English, History, Music, Theatre, and Theology. Disciplines included in the Other category are Communications, Criminal Justice, Family Studies, and Kinesiology.

(Some national percentages are estimates.)

CSP NATIONAL FSSE

Total number of respondents / 50 / App. 14,000
Part-time/Full-time
Part-time / 8% / 16%
Full-time / 92% / 84%
Faculty rank
Professor / 38% / 25%
Associate Professor / 15% / 24%
Assistant Professor / 21% / 27%
Instructor / 25% / 15%
Lecturer/Other / 2% / 9%
Tenure status
Tenured / 44% / 45%
On tenure track but not tenured / 31% / 24%
Not on tenure track, institution has tenure system / 25% / 27%
No tenure system / 0% / 4%
Years teaching at current institution
Less than 5 / 19% / 17%
5-9 / 19% / 18%
10-14 / 19% / 16%
15 or more / 44% / 49%
Age
34 or younger / 17% / 11%
35-44 / 26% / 24%
45-54 / 26% / 33%
Over 54 / 30% / 32%
Gender
Male / 52% / 55%
Female / 48% / 46%
Race/ethnicity
African American/Black / 0% / 3%
American Indian/Alaska Native / 0% / 1%
Asian/Pacific Islander / 2% / 3%
Caucasian/White / 91% / 85%
Hispanic, Latino, or Spanish / 0% / 1%
Other / 6% / 3%
Multi-racial / 0% / 5%
Discipline of appointment
Arts and Humanities / 38% / 26%
Biological Science / 4% / 6%
Business / 8% / 10%
Education / 15% / 8%
Engineering / 5%
Physical Science / 6% / 11%
Professional / 6%
Social Science / 15% / 15%
Other / 15% / 14%

Summary of CSP Survey Responses and Comparative Comments

Respondents were asked to select an undergraduate class section that they were currently teaching and to categorize the class chosen for survey purposes as upper or lower division. Twenty-three respondents selected lower division, 23 selected upper division and 4 selected other. Responses to most items are presented without comment. Occasional comparisons are made with national FSSE responses and with student responses on similar NSSE items. The FSSE was in its pilot test phase, and no tests for statistical significant differences were conducted. It should also be noted that there was no attempt to match NSSE respondents with the classes chosen by FSSE respondents, so it is not known how many NSSE students were in classes selected by FSSE respondents. Faculty-student comparisons should be viewed with this caveat in mind.

Readers are invited to skim through the tables and focus on items of special interest to them. Many of the survey questions relate to the class section selected by respondents. Questions of a more general nature start on page 16.

How many students are enrolled in your selected course section?