GVSU Surveys and Assessments

Culture of Assessment

Grand Valley State University conducts several regular assessments to gather a range of insights that inform continuous improvement at the university. Climate surveys are administered regularly by the Inclusion & Equity Office, offering employees and students the opportunity to share feedback on the campus environment. Learn more about campus climate at www.gvsu.edu/mygvsu.

Commitment to Action

Data from surveys guide the university's ongoing commitment to creating an equitable educational experience. Learn more about how we use data to drive action at GVSU.

The myGVSU Climate Survey 2021 for students, faculty, and staff was the university’s seventh climate survey, administered by the Higher Education Data Sharing Consortium.

The next HEDS survey is planned for Winter 2025.

1994: The GVSU Women's Climate Study for students, faculty, and staff was administered in 1994.

2000: The GVSU Women's Climate Study II  for students, faculty, and staff was administered in 2000.

2005: The GVSU Diversity Study for students, faculty, and staff was administered in 2005: Study, Study Results, Actions.

2011: The myGVSU Survey  for students, faculty, and staff was administered in 2011.

2015: The myGVSU Climate Survey 2015 for students, faculty, and staff was the university’s fifth climate survey.

2019: The myGVSU Climate Survey 2019 for students, faculty, and staff was the university’s sixth climate survey.

2021: The myGVSU Climate Survey 2021 for students, faculty, and staff was the university’s seventh climate survey, administered by the Higher Education Data Sharing Consortium.

To enhance our strategic plan's benchmarking and trend data, we have implemented regular climate pulse surveys at GVSU. These brief surveys will invite employees and students to provide valuable insights into our ongoing efforts in diversity, equity, and inclusion and other university focal point indicators. The pulse surveys will serve as a streamlined version of the comprehensive myGVSU Climate Survey, which is conducted every three or four years. We are committed to gathering feedback through these pulse surveys until 2025, as your participation is crucial for tracking our progress toward the Reach Higher 2025 initiative, seeking to foster a culture of educational equity. By regularly capturing data on the campus climate, we can effectively benchmark our efforts, identify trends, and adjust our strategies as needed. Your insights will not only inform our actions but also play a vital role in shaping a university environment where every individual feels valued and supported. See www.gvsu.edu/2025 for more information.

Grand Valley State University is committed to fostering an environment where faculty, staff, and students can thrive.  Feedback and insights are invaluable in helping us achieve this goal. We believe that faculty satisfaction plays a crucial role in the overall success of our institution. Their perspectives on various aspects of their academic journeys are vital to shaping a more fulfilling and supportive work environment.  For this reason, GVSU has joined The Collaborative on Academic Careers in Higher Education (COACHE) for 2023-2026./ This is a long-term project at the Harvard University’s Graduate School of Education, led by R. Todd Benson, focusing on faculty. 

As part of the collaboration, during Winter semester 2024, faculty were asked to participate in COACHE’s Faculty Job Satisfaction Survey./ COACHE will provide to GVSU diagnostic reports and regular consultations with the COACHE team on how to make meaning and act from the data.  In Fall 2024, GVSU faculty will be engaged to review the findings and to start to make changes. 

Over the past few years, the university has heard various feedback through faculty fora, the Climate Survey, and faculty governance. Now, we want to dive deeper to better understand how we can improve the faculty experience at GVSU. 

 

COACHE survey

 

National Survey of Student Engagement (NSSE)

GVSU has participated in NSSE periodically since 2005. In addition, we participated in BCSSE, the pre-college companion survey in 2009 and 2015, and FSSE the companion faculty survey in 2005. Following are documents summarizing responses of GVSU participants.

2021-22 NSSE Results

2018-19 NSSE Results

2015-16 BCSSSE & NSSE Results

2012-13 NSSE Results

2009-10 BCSSE & NSSE Results

2007 NSSE results

2005 NSSE results

2005 FSSE results

We anticipate continued participation in NSSE, probably on a "every third year" schedule. We will evaluate whether to include BCSSE in future academic years in which NSSE is scheduled. We do not anticipate participating in future administrations of FSSE on any but an ad hoc basis.

Cooperative Institutional Research Project (CIRP) Freshman Survey

GVSU participated in the CIRP Freshman Survey each summer from 1991 through 2007 and in 2012. The survey is given to incoming undergraduate students during on-campus orientation sessions. Following are documents summarizing responses of GVSU participants, and comparing them to national norms where possible.

In Summer 2008, GVSU tested an alternative questionnaire with results that are comparable in some ways to CIRP results.

2008 Freshman Orientation Survey Results

The Collegiate Learning Assessment (CLA) is a nationally normed test designed to measure critical thinking, analytic reasoning, problem solving, and written communication skills of undergraduate students. GVSU is part of a longitudinal study sponsored by the Lumina Foundation to study the use of the CLA to assess development of these skills during college. As a longitudinal participant, GVSU has agreed to test a sample of students at 3 stages of their college careers: as entering freshmen; as rising juniors; and as seniors. The participant cohort consists of students who entered GVSU in the fall semester of 2005. Soo far they have undergone their initial testing and their "rising junior" testing (in winter 2007). In addition, a sample of fall 2007 senior was tested to provide a cross-sectional comparison.

Since 1974, the Office of Institutional Analysis and the Records Office have cooperated to conduct a survey of graduates every even-numbered year. The survey asks winter term graduates to rate selected university services on a four-point scale from "excellent" to "poor." The continuity of the survey content and format allow university decision makers to monitor the quality of services over time and across the areas included in the survey.

MySuccessCheck

MySuccessCheck is a short early alert survey developed by GVSU to identify which new undergraduate students are at risk for dropping out or require other targeted interventions.

Fall 2023

Winter 2023

Fall 2022

Winter 2022

Fall 2021

Winter 2021

Fall 2020

Winter 2020

Fall 2019

Winter 2019

Fall 2018

Winter 2018

Fall 2017

Winter 2017

Fall 2016

MAP-Works

MAP-Works is a student retention tool that includes web-based surveys that assess risk and facilitate interventions to help students succeed in college. GVSU students participated MAP-Works in the fall terms of 2009 through 2015.

Fall 2015 -- The 2015 round of MAP-Works was plagued by technical problems that were outside GVSU's control.  Because of those issues, GVSU students support staff had very little ability to direct interventions based on the results, and the Office of Institutional Analysis does not consider the survey results to be reliable.

Fall 2014 Results

Fall 2013 Results

Fall 2012 Results

Fall 2011 Results

Fall 2010 Results

Fall 2009 Results - First-year students

Longer-Term Outcomes

Following is a report of responses provided by April 2007 GVSU graduates to the 2008 Michigan Post Higher Education Survey. The survey was designed and conducted by The Presidents’ Council, State Universities of Michigan (PCSUM) to investigate the reasons that graduates give for remaining in or leaving Michigan, and to monitor the post-graduation career and educational progress of public university graduates. GVSU Graduates who earned their degrees in April 2007 were invited to complete the survey online. This group would normally have been asked to complete GVSU’s Career Services Survey, but they were excluded from that survey to avoid duplication.

MI Post Higher Ed Survey

Learn more about GVSU's surveys and data use at the Office of Institutional Analysis.


Page last modified October 30, 2024
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