This year’s Annual Results focuses on the theme: Engaging Students in Relationship-Rich Education. Below, you will find the main story, some related follow-up analyses, and an example of institutional use.
Meaningful connections are central to our humanity, of which interpersonal relationships are paramount. This year, we are especially focused on the role of relationships in student undergraduate experiences, and the importance of those relationships in their overall learning, development, and success. Felten and Lambert talk about this as Relationship-Rich Education, which offers a label to capture what staff, administrators, faculty members and scholars across the postsecondary landscape have known to be true from the beginning – relationships matter.
Key, but perhaps understated, in the concept of engagement are students’ relationships; relationships to the experiences they have in college, and to the people that support them along the way. NSSE offers insight into the impact of those relationships, underscoring the importance of interpersonal relationships (whether with peers or staff) to students’ academic success. The following spotlights from our 2023 Annual Results are some of many examples of NSSE’s commitment to providing campus with high-quality data, our commitment to support equitable student experiences and outcomes, and the ways we are charting new paths forward as we think about survey design that seeks to reflect, rather than enforce, students’ identities and expressions.