Opinions that Count
The Gallup Institute for Campus Engagement (GICE) is a unique corporate partner in a position to help Nova Southeastern University to gain a better understanding of the strengths and weaknesses of its academic community.
The GICE conceptual model views the academic community as a network of interconnected relationships that influence the intellectual and emotional health of an educational institution.
Each of these constituencies contributes to the overall vibrancy of Nova Southeastern University. The "I Believe in NSU" initiative will gather feedback from several constituencies in order to help the university grow and improve.
Our Mission
The "NSU is You" / GICE mission is to address changing educational needs of a growing and ever-changing student population. The university eagerly accepts the leadership opportunity and obligation to adapt to these changes, and will do so by collaborating with various constituencies (e.g. Students, Faculty, Staff, Administration, Trustees and Alumni) to establish priorities for change, to build on the heritage of the past, and to plan its evolution systematically for the 21st century.
The following principles guide this endeavor:
- Student success is at the center of everything that NSU does
- Institutional engagement is a foundation for the transmission and advancement of knowledge
- Diversity is a source of rejuvenation and vitality
- Informed and engaged citizens are essential to the creation of a civil and sustainable society
- Service to the community, including access to NSU, is a public trust
- Technology is a fundamental tool in achieving educational quality, efficiency, and distribution
- Connected knowing and collaborative learning are basic to being well educated
- Assessment of all functions is necessary for improvement and continual renewal
Frequently Asked Questions
The "I Believe in NSU" initiative is a project that was undertaken in 2007 in collaboration with the Gallup Institute for Campus Engagement (GICE) to gather feedback from our constituencies (students, alumni, faculty, staff, and administration) in order to help the university grow and improve. Gallup is working with NSU to gain a better understanding of the strengths and weaknesses of its academic community.
Toward this end, in October of each year, all constituents receive an invitation to participate in a short, web-based questionnaire. The results provide an opportunity for dialogue about ways to enhance our university that result in action plans for improvement.
Gallup has studied human nature and behavior for more than 70 years. Gallup's reputation for delivering relevant, timely, and visionary research on what people around the world think and feel is the cornerstone of the organization. Gallup employs many of the world's leading scientists in management, economics, psychology, and sociology, and our consultants assist leaders in identifying and monitoring behavioral economic indicators worldwide. Gallup consultants have helped colleges and universities for the past ten years boost organic growth by increasing student engagement and maximizing employee productivity through measurement tools, coursework, and strategic advisory services.
Only group data is reported back to NSU on a "scorecard". Each question's responses are reported back with information about the number of respondents, the mean score and with the percentage of respondents who gave each item a "5" (strongly agree), "4" (agree), "3" (neutral), "2" (disagree), and "1" (strongly disagree).
Yes, absolutely. In fact, NSU provides a unique identifier code to Gallup which cannot be traced back to an individual by either Gallup or by NSU. To further protect your anonymity, only group data is reported back to NSU. This means that a minimum of 40 responses for students and alumni have to be tabulated before the information is reported back. For employees, there has to be a minimum of 5 respondents, before the information is provided to NSU.
Scorecards/reports are carefully reviewed by the leadership of NSU, the deans and faculty at each school, and by staff and administrators in each of the support units at NSU. The information on each scorecard is assessed for "strengths" and for "areas of opportunity". Faculty, staff and administration receiving scorecards are mandated to complete a commitment plan that addresses one area of strength and one area of opportunity. The plans form the basis of dialogue and exchange among NSU employees to enhance our students' sense of engagement at NSU and to create an environment where "opinions count"!
We're glad you asked! Once again this year, there is an incentive for employees to participate. For any school/center or administrative unit with an employee participation rate of 80% or higher, NSU will host a pizza party luncheon!
There are incentives for students and alumni for participating also! Twenty (20) lucky students will be chosen from among all of the participants to win their choice of gifts worth $500.00 each round trip airline vouchers, gas cards, or gift cards to Best Buy! Twenty (20) alumni will win gifts worth $200.00 each gas cards or gift cards to Best Buy! Good luck to all of you!
NSU has an agreement with the Gallup Poll to participate in this assessment process for a three (3) year time period. Our initial assessment, in October 2007, formed our baseline measure. Years two and three will provide us with valuable insights into changes that have occurred as a result of our "commitment/action" plans. The goal of this initiative is to enhance the quality of the students' experiences here at NSU. This effort is geared toward actively listening to what our constituents say and then making incremental changes in areas that will improve a positive sense of engagement here at NSU.
An executive summary of last year's results can be found on this web site! Take a look and if you have any questions, feel free to send an email to: packerb@nova.edu.
The results will be made available to NSU leaders/deans/administrators in late December. They will, in turn, be able to share the findings with their departments/team members/faculty and staff in January. An executive summary will be posted in February 2009.
If you lose your access code, you can send an email message to the Gallup Client Support Desk at surveyhelp@gallup.com or you may call (800) 788-9987. The Gallup Client Support Desk is available from 7:00 a.m. to 7:00 p.m. Central Time, Monday through Thursday, or 7:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m., Central Time on Fridays.