1. A total of 455 first-year and senior students
completed the NSSE 2003 survey, for a response rate of 47%.
2. Major findings for first-year students:
a.
b. Ninety percent of doctoral-extensive institutions
score higher than Mason in student-faculty interaction.
3. Major findings for senior students:
a. Mason scores higher than 70% of all doctoral-extensive
institutions in level of academic challenge.
b. More than 90% of the doctoral-extensive institutions
score higher than Mason in student-faculty interaction.
c. Eighty percent of the doctoral-extensive institutions
score higher than Mason in enriching educational experiences.
d. Mason scores lower than 60% of the doctoral-extensive
institutions in active and collaborative learning.
4. After adjusting for our student and institutional characteristics,
George Mason University does better than expected in four of the five benchmark
areas at both first-year and senior levels: level of academic challenge, active
and collaborative learning, enriching educational experiences and supportive campus
environment.
5. After adjusting for our student and institutional
characteristics, Mason’s performance is worse than expected in student-faculty
interaction.
6. Major findings regarding student-faculty interaction
at Mason:
a. Thirty-eight percent of our first-year students and
27% of Mason seniors have never talked about their career plans with a faculty
member or an advisor – significantly higher than our peer institutions.
b. Fifty percent of our first-year students and 36% of
Mason seniors have never discussed ideas from readings or classes with faculty
members outside of class.
c. Seventy-six percent of Mason first-year students and 69%
of seniors have never worked with faculty members on activities other than
coursework.
d. Seventy-two percent of Mason
seniors have not worked or do not plan to work on a research project
with a faculty member outside of course or program requirements before
graduation – 10% higher than our peer institutions.
e. Compared with the 2000
cohort, the 2003 seniors are more likely to report that they “often” or “very
often” discussed grades or an assignment with an instructor and they “often” or
“very often” received prompt feedback from faculty on their academic
performance.
f.
The 2003 first-year students do not report a higher level of student-faculty
interaction compared with the 2000 cohort.