Loughborough University - Committees - Learning and Teaching Committee

NSS 2009 – briefing

Start date: Monday 2 February, the same week as previous years, finish at the end of April.
Additional questions on work placement: students will have the option of answering 5-6 questions concerning work placement experiences. Results will not be published but we will be able to compare them to sector averages, and to last year’s results.
Timetable:

Week 1-3:

- About Wednesday 4 February, finalists should receive an email from Ipsos MORI, asking them to go online and complete the Survey

- A reminder email will be sent a week later

- One week after that, students will receive a text message, with the web address

Week 4: Postal questionnaires sent to students who have not responded

Week 6 onwards: Ipsos will try to telephone those who have not yet responded.

Undue pressure on students to increase scores:

HEFCE requires all HEIs to promote NSS. Following press stories about inappropriate pressure on students, HEFCE is very firm that universities (and students’ unions) should not make explicitly link NSS results and league tables or the standing of students’ degrees.

Activities at Loughborough will include:

- Mini-banner on homepage and Students’ page, linked to Survey;

- Registry webpage with link to Survey and details of some actions taken in response to earlier feedback, and results from previous years;

- 1-2 PowerPoint slides for optional use in teaching sessions;

- Slide(s) shown on plasma screens, including EHB and Library - departments that have screens are asked to use these slides throughout the survey;

- A4 posters sent to departments, halls and Union for display on notice-boards;

- Flyers sent to Students’ Union, Library and department reps for distribution; NSS post-it notes and pens handed out at lecture shouts;

- Message from PVC(T) and LSU VP(E) on Staff & Students electronic notice-boards;

- Articles in Students’ Union Label magazine, announcements on campus radio, and a banner on Union homepage;

- LSU Vice President (Education) will email finalists at appropriate times;

- The Students’ Union will push the NSS through student department committee chairs and programme/course reps;

- LSU VP(E) will organise lecture shouts (with the agreement of lecturers).

HoDs are asked to email or speak to their finalists a few days after the launch, encouraging them to complete the Survey. HoDs will be asked to do so during the Survey, especially if response rates are lower than expected. Please remember to tell them of actions your department has taken in response to previous NSS results (and all other forms of feedback from students) - this is crucial in getting students to fill in questionnaires.
Response rates will be sent to departments weekly. Last year Loughborough had the highest response rate of any university. We believe that Lboro benefits from a high response rate because most students are happy with their experience, but a high response rate is also important to ensure data are reliable - and we really do want to hear students’ views.
Results will be published in August on the Unistats site - publication threshold is 50% of respondents (in that subject area) and a minimum of 23 respondents. Where sufficient data are available, results will be published at the level of 107 subject areas, which will differentiate Chemistry from Physics, Civil from Chemical Engineering, etc.
Further results including open comments will be provided to HEIs during September (for internal use only).
League tables: NSS is expected to continue play a large part, and have a knock-on effect on recruitment.

Author – Marie Kennedy

Date - December 2008