Survey Shows Stonehill Student Engagement on the Rise

February 02, 2012

Practicum or internship experience and community service are the hallmarks of student engagement at Stonehill College, according to a recent report by the National Survey of Student Engagement (NSSE).

The 2011 survey lists Stonehill as one of many colleges and universities across the country dedicated to providing students with enhanced academic opportunities through learning community courses, service-learning initiatives and study abroad options, as well as faculty and student collaborative research.

The report's theme illustrates the value of connecting student engagement results with specific campus programs and units that encourage greater collaboration to improve the quality of the undergraduate experience.

"The types of high-engagement activities that our students involve themselves in are critical to their personal, academic and professional development. The experiences allow students to learn about themselves and others, reinforce as well as broaden their knowledge base, and hone current skills and abilities while also discovering and developing new ones," says Craig Almeida, dean of Academic Achievement at Stonehill.

Stonehill first-year students and seniors scored considerably higher than their comparison groups in several categories of the survey. They include: Participation in service-learning, completion of foreign language coursework, class presentations, culminating senior experiences (e.g., senior capstone and senior thesis), and practicum, internship, field experience or clinical assignments.
The survey also included a multi-year benchmark report, which shows that Stonehill has made steady progress, among both first-year and senior students surveyed, in several areas of student engagement over the last six years.

The level of academic challenge for first-year students has risen each year as has a supportive campus environment. Among seniors surveyed, level of academic challenge, active collaborative learning, student-faculty interaction, enriching educational experiences and a supportive campus environment have all seen steady improvements over the last six years.

The creation of Stonehill's Office of Community-Based Learning (CBL) in 2009 has been a major resource for student engagement at the College. The CBL has allowed Stonehill to focus on developing campus and community capacity for partnerships that simultaneously enhance student learning and address community needs.

The NSSE survey, which is sponsored by the Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching, annually provides diagnostic, comparative information about valuable learning opportunities at participating colleges and universities where key areas of educational quality are measured.

Contact

For more information, contact Communications and Media Relations at 508-565-1321.