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Northwest Missouri State University

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Category 3: Understanding Students' and Other Stakeholders' Needs

Processes

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3P1. How do you identify the changing needs of your student groups? How do you analyze and select a course of action regarding these needs? Note 2: Changing needs might address, for example, needs that will impact enrollment in programs and courses, services provided, and facilities required, as appropriate.

Addressed in 3P3.

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3P2. How do you build and maintain a relationship with your students? Note 3: Address current and prospective students, as appropriate.

Addressed in 3P4.

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3P3. How do you identify the changing needs of your key stakeholder groups? How do you analyze and select a course of action regarding these needs? Note 4: Changing needs might address, for example, needs of the communities and region that you serve and needs that will impact students upon entry into internship and service opportunities, the job market, and further educational opportunities, as appropriate.

Consistent with our Culture of Quality, Northwest systematically listens to its students and stakeholders. Our Listening and Learning System is comprehensive, multi-faceted, and longitudinal (see table that begins on the next page). Key findings from these systems are fed to departments for use in varying steps of the SSPP. Strategic Planning Council (SPC) members also gather key information from various student/stakeholder groups throughout the year and feed this into the environmental scan. The SPC retreats themselves serve as a common listening tool for our students and stakeholders. Varying U.S. and U.K. organizations have benchmarked our process.

The Provost, deans, chairs, and Registrar, on an on-going basis, monitor use of facilities, course and program selection patterns, grades, and use of supplemental services and student satisfaction with academic processes. As they occur, changes in patterns are discussed, and services are changed to meet changing expectations. The Dean of Enrollment Management tracks persistence, voluntary departures, and transfers. When departures and transfers occur, those students are contacted to understand why they chose to leave Northwest. The Director of the Talent Development Center measures the effectiveness of the supplemental instruction provided for at-risk students. The Vice President for Student Affairs monitors residence hall utilization, dining services, the bookstore, Wellness Center (health and counseling services statistics), Threat Assessment Team (mental health student crisis response) statistics, international student services statistics, minority student services statistics, student activity services statistics, volunteer services statistics, and discipline statistics.

During the academic year, the Dean of Enrollment Management reports at least weekly to the Provost regarding marketing and enrollment results and any applicable academic needs. Cabinet members receive monthly reports comparing recruiting results with previous years. Departments integrate key findings into departmental planning activities.

Departments also use information from our students and stakeholders (see table that begins on the next page) to market their programs and align their activities to meet the needs of students who enroll in them. They are assisted by the Enrollment Management LEADS team, which analyzes and integrates these data into a comprehensive marketing strategy for each department’s potential student subsegment. When appropriate, Student Affairs isolates emerging social trends so they can develop co-curricular programming that proactively addresses behavioral issues that might impede student success. Examples include peer education programs focused on leadership development, healthy relationships, wellness, sexual harassment/assault prevention, alcohol and drug abuse, suicide prevention, and issues of diversity.

How Northwest keeps listening and learning methods current. The Office of Assessment, Information, and Analysis (OAIA) collects, stores, and displays data. The office works with other campus leaders to systematically review all instruments and surveys. When campus leaders request feedback on annual reports and five-year program reviews or when departments engage in major SSPP revisions, the OAIA facilitates discussion on instrumentation and surveys. Areas covered include: Do the data collection instruments and surveys align with our KQIs? Are they relevant to the subsegment being queried? Do they produce timely and actionable data for the user? Are they user-friendly? Will they provide trend data? Will we be able to make comparisons? Can data collection methods be combined with other instruments to minimize the data collection effort? Can we reduce turnaround time? Can we use technology to increase convenience and/or efficiency?

Individual owners of listening and learning methods are asked to keep their methods current. Further, leadership group discussions produce feedback on voicing methods. Other methods to keep our Listening and Learning System current include the formal benchmarking of similar programs and processes (e.g., Disney, Container Store) and the review of Baldrige-based feedback reports by the SPC and Cabinet members.

Northwest's Use of Student and Stakeholder Voices:
Our Listening and Learning System

Method (Frequency); Key Information Yielded; Information Use

Student Voice

  • Northwest Student Application (gathered at point of application); provides interest in extracurricular activities; used by Admissions Office in communicating with student.
  • ACT EIS database (compiled after matriculation - accessed monthly or as needed); provides student demographics and competitor analysis; information used by Enrollment Management and academic departments to assess market trends, market share, student demographics and competitors.
  • ACT AIM database (compiled yearly after matriculation – accessed as needed); provides student specific academic and extracurricular data; information used by Enrollment Management to identify student demographics.
  • College Board survey (sent to accepted applicants four months before matriculation – administered every other year); yields perceptions of Northwest relative to competitors; information used by Enrollment Management, Student Affairs and Office of University Advancement  to identify areas of improvement relative to competitors.
  • SOAR and SOAR Survey (orientation); yields competitor information and student expectations; information used by Enrollment Management to produce improvements for recruitment, marketing, SOAR, and future programs. The SOAR evaluations evaluate both student and parent feedback on each area of orientation.  During SOAR, evaluations are monitored daily for immediate improvement and long range planning opportunities.  These data are organized and compared to past years. 
  • Student Senate meetings (weekly); yields information on key issues and concerns; information used by VP for Student Affairs to gauge student perception of campus issues. Student Senate QUIP Days.
  • Student participation in university committees: Students serve on the Board of Regents, SPC, and University and Faculty Senate committees where they are encouraged to express their opinions.
  • Student media (ongoing); the campus newspaper, yearbook, radio, and television stations provide outlets for commentary on quality of services provided; information used to keep pulse of students.
  • Satisfaction determination methods: National Survey of Student Engagement, Noel Levitz, and Junior Class surveys yield satisfaction levels with programs, services and offerings; information used to understand requirements and expectations and to make competitive comparisons.
  • Advising process: Annual advising evaluations/survey; SOAR advising process evaluations 

Subsegment Voice

Note: Student subsegment methods are too numerous to provide; examples follow:

  • Senior Seminar and Capstone courses (each trimester); provides faculty, chairs, and deans with forums for monitoring seniors’ reactions to their Northwest experiences; information used to adjust SSPPs.
  • Residential Life focus groups, surveys, meetings (annual focus groups/surveys; weekly meetings); yields student reactions to life in our residence halls; Residential Life EBI survey; RHA and staff advisors use information for planning, improving, and offering new services.
  • Multicultural student organization presidential feedback (weekly meetings); provides current event updates, concerns, and planning initiatives; Directors of International and Minority Affairs use information to guide programming decisions (social justice and intercultural competence).

Faculty and Staff voices

  • Satisfaction surveys. Faculty and staff complete work satisfaction surveys each year. The Faculty Satisfaction Survey is written by and administered by the Faculty Senate; HR administers a standardized survey to all staff.
  • Annual reports/department meetings. These meetings with the administrative staff (e.g., President, Provost, Dean/Director) provide the opportunity for faculty and staff to communicate their accomplishments and needs with decision-makers.
  • Shared Governance. Support staff council, Faculty Senate, Graduate Council, Academic Chairs Council, University committees all support the shared governance system at Northwest and provide opportunities for input and leadership from faculty and staff.

Alumni Voice

  • Alumni Outcomes Assessment (three years after graduation); provides perceptions about mission effectiveness, student learning and effective teaching, acquisition/discovery/application of knowledge, engagement and service, quality of preparation, quality of instruction, and student referrals; used by academic departments and Alumni Affairs to modify offerings and services.
  • Alumni chapter meetings and Alumni magazine (meetings as necessary; magazine quarterly); provides preferences for alumni functions and understanding of preferred relationship outcomes; information used by Alumni Affairs and Northwest Foundation to improve services and drive win-win opportunities.

Community and Region Voice

Eggs and Issues (periodic); provides business/civic leaders’ perspectives on current topics; information used by President’s Cabinet and other leaders to identify issues for collaborative resolution and initiatives for joint undertaking.

  • SBDC surveys (periodic); identify regional business and education industry needs; used by SBDC to target offerings and services.
  • Economic Impact Studies (periodic); provides understanding of the University’s impact on the community/region.

Other Voices

  • Parents: Surveyed during SOAR (orientation) and through Campus Connections Newsletter; yields opportunities to improve communication with parents; information used by Enrollment Management/Student Affairs to respond to issues from the parents’ perspective.
  • Feeder School Guidance Counselors: Visits (fall/spring), email, phone, and surveys (conducted same academic term recruiter visited the school), in developmental is an online resource for counselors to access their student’s information who are going through the admission process at Northwest; provides information on recruitment, satisfaction with Admissions; information used by Admissions recruiters and Dean of Enrollment Management to improve communications and recruitment efforts.
  • Department Advisory Boards/Councils (1-2 times yearly); employers/alumni provide valuable insight about changes in their respective career categories; information used by departments to drive curricular changes and department innovations.

Common method across ALL VOICES, including faculty/staff  as well as suppliers/partners

Comment Card system (ongoing); yields positive referrals and complaint data; data aggregated by President’s office and used to uncover trends and special cause variance; also used by departments to celebrate accolades and drive improvements.

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3P4. How do you build and maintain a relationship with your key stakeholders? Note 5: Address both current and prospective stakeholders, as appropriate.

Northwest’s approach to relationship-building has progressed from singular activities to a system of key interactions based on learning what works and does not work for students and stakeholders. Departments and key process owners determine appropriate methods, deliver the method (many times in conjunction with cross-functional representatives), assess the methods (through department SSPPs), and adjust offerings as needed. Relationship-building methods (see next page) are part and parcel of the Culture of Quality’s “family atmosphere.” These methods integrate with KQIs, listening and learning methods described in the following table, and the SSPP, and are deployed to all faculty, staff, and student employees, as appropriate. Relationship-building methods as described below allow us to increase chances for student success, meet and exceed expectations for learning, satisfy students and other Northwest family members, and foster new and continuing interactions and positive referrals.

Northwest's Key Relationship-Building
and Communication Mechanisms

Prospective Students

  • Key players: Office of Admissions
  • Key communication methods: Virtual tours, targeted mailings, online chats, high school visits, college fairs, personal phone calls, emails, telecounselors, blogs, letter from the President, parent brochure, www.nwmissouri.edu
  • Key relationship-building methods: Personal visits, Saturday visits, Green and White Days, Transfer Student Visit Days, personal interaction with Northwest Ambassadors (student employees), summer camps, ACT Prep Shops, Upward Bound programs, Missouri Virtual Instruction Program (MoVIP), High School/Transfer Fairs, Community College visits, Campus tours, Camps (e.g., athletic, academic, music).

Current Students

Key players: All employees
Key communication methods: email, eCollege, myNorthwest portal; www.nwmissouri.edu, Northwest News, Northwest Missourian, academic advising appointments, Residential Life programs, SOAR, Advantage week
Key relationship-building methods: We offer eight interconnected and ultimately critical  services that form the core of the Northwest student experience within our Culture of Quality

  • Academic Excellence: Covenant for Learning (educational pact between Northwest and students designed to promote better planning and personal responsibility for the students' educational experiences), General Education classes and practicum, Major/Minor 4-year programs (articulated program for completion), Honors Program, Exploring Majors fairs, Freshman Seminar.
  • Academic Resources: Academic Advisement, Career Services, Library.
  • Academic Support: Math Lab, Student Support Services, Students with Disabilities, Talent Development Center, Writing Center.
  • Health and Safety: Counseling Center, Wellness Center, Recreation Center.
  • Administrative Services: Cashiering/Bursar, Financial Assistance and Scholarships, Student Affairs, Student Records and Transcripts.
  • Student Life: Bearcat Athletics, Bearcat Bookstore, Campus Dining, Encore Performances, Faith Communities, Greek Life, Intramural Sports, Residential Life, Student Organizations, Volunteer and Service Learning Programming.
  • Employment: Numerous Northwest student employment opportunities.
  • Technology Services: Participation in Campus Notebook Computers Program (wireless-ready 405E provided to every student living on campus), campus wireless hotspots, wide-ranging campus intranet services, CATpages (Northwest Personal Web Pages), Peer Educator in Residence for Technology (live-in liaisons between the residence halls and the Information Systems Department.

Student Subsegments

Note: Student subsegment methods are too numerous to provide;  list of sources is available on site; examples follow

Freshmen: Advantage Week/SOAR (required orientation deigned to enhance student success), Freshman Seminar (required first-year course with student peer advisors), freshmen residence hall programming.
Seniors: Senior Seminar and Capstone courses, Senior Spot Website (links to forms that must be completed to graduate, information and instructions for the commencement ceremony, information for family and friends attending the ceremony, links to important resources Seniors may need as they prepare to leave Northwest).

Alumni

  • Key players: Alumni House, Northwest Foundation, Office of University Advancement, academic departments
  • Key communication methods: Alumni magazine, directories, mailing lists, listserves, formal Alumni meetings.
  • Key relationship-building methods: Alumni Association activities: membership, alumni chapters (currently include: Kansas City, Arizona, Band Alumni, Maryville, St. Joseph, Central Iowa, Nebraska/Western Iowa, Colorado, Southern Colorado, Japan, Southern Iowa, Dallas, Mid-Missouri); sporting/cultural event registration, Tourin’ Bearcats; gifting opportunities (Annual, Major, Planned, Matching); departmental functions (alumni gatherings and Department Advisory Board/Council involvement); and recognition and rewards (Alumni Association awards ceremony honoring individuals providing time, talent, and service to Northwest).

Faculty and Staff

  • Key players. Administrative/Professional staff, department chairs.
  • Key communication methods: Email, myNorthwest, meetings/leadership
  • Key relationship-building methods. Interview/hiring process, faculty/staff orientation, Shared governance (e.g., Faculty Senate, Graduate Council, Council on Teacher Education, Support Staff Council, Academic Chairs Council, Deans/Chairs Council), Leadership forum, Annual department visits, Professional Development Days (faculty), Opening Meeting

Community/Region

Key players: Office of University Advancement

  • Key communication methods: News releases, directed mailings and emails, SBDC, RPDC.

Key relationship-building methods: Eggs and Issues meetings, sporting/cultural events, regular meetings/luncheons/workshops/conferences with/at High Schools, workshops/visits with community colleges

Other Family Members

  • Parents: Newsletters, online tips, third-party access tool, parent website, parent orientation and Family Day event.  Parent emails communicating Northwest activities each month (fall and spring terms) as well as monthly information concerning the students’ experience during their first year. Homecoming.
  • Feeder Schools, Area High Schools: Counselor luncheons/annual counselor’s day on campus hosted by Admissions Office, High School Activities (i.e., Science Olympiad, District Music Contests), feedback report sharing their students’ success rates.
  • Employers: Events hosted by Career Services Office, Department Advisory Board/Council involvement, Alumni House receptions.

Common Methods for All

Comment Card system: Provides for feedback on relationships.
Rallying around key traditions: Bearcat Pride, Walkout Day, Northwest Week, Homecoming, The Bell of 1948, Memorial Bell Tower, Tradition of the Bridge.

Evaluation and improvement of relationship-building methods:
SSPP and tracking performance against Education/Service KQIs

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3P5. How do you determine if new student and stakeholder groups should be addressed within your educational offerings and services? Note 6: How you anticipate the future needs of your student and other stakeholder groups and include them in your planning process should be addressed in Category 8, Planning Continuous Improvement.

Using proactive, internal processes, shared governance groups analyze trend data through environmental scans and appropriately plan for changing conditions (e.g., Enrollment Mgmt LEADS team, academic departments’ SSPPs, Alternative certification in the professional education unit). External factors also influence educational offerings. These factors are: a CBHE statewide coordinated plan for higher education, which places an emphasis on Math, Engineering, Technology, and Science programming; the Missouri Higher Education Funding Act, which, in part, requires the alignment of curriculum among 2- and 4-year institutions; AAT/BSEd completion agreements; the State’s “Preparing to Care” initiative, which focuses on healthcare professions; the 42-hour General Education curriculum initiative; and, most recently, the Missouri Virtual Instruction Program.  We also seek input from our alumni (e.g., via focus groups with key alumni and friends and interest/satisfaction surveys) and Professional Advisory Teams, which Academic departments use to gain insight into their industry’s changing needs. Finally, we use the data from the ACT EIS, which provides trend data to aid in determining students’ interest level in majors and activity areas.

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3P6. How do you collect complaint information from students and other stakeholders? How do you analyze this feedback both in a formative and summative manner and select a course of action? How do you communicate your actions to students and stakeholders?

The Comment Card system is the primary mechanism for managing complaints. Students and stakeholders are encouraged by faculty and staff to use Comment Cards to share their thoughts and ideas or to register complaints. The system dates back to 1995 and has gone through five cycles of improvement. The current system provides Comment Cards via card holders in each office and on-line.

Letters, emails, and phone calls may also be documented through the Comment Card process. Comment Cards are sent directly to the President’s office where they are recorded, answered within 48 hours, and then forwarded to the appropriate Cabinet member for investigation and further response. Telephone calls, email, and/or letters are the means used to respond to complaints. On-campus service partners receive feedback through the Comment Card system as well, and in certain cases partners seek out additional information from targeted market segments. After a complaint has been addressed at the Cabinet and/or departmental level, the Cabinet member provides the response and action taken to the President’s staff. The President’s staff analyzes Comment Card data in the aggregate and reports important trends to the Cabinet, which in turn determines if additional corrective actions are required.

In addition to Comment Cards, employees are empowered to respond, as appropriate, to complaints. When possible, employees resolve complaints on the spot; when beyond their capacities to do so, employees report the problem to the appropriate departmental leader to address for corrective actions as appropriate. Sexual harassment complaints, academic dishonesty, and disciplinary complaints are handled through processes delineated in our various student and employee handbooks. These complaint mechanisms provide avenues of appeal for the accused and are reviewed annually to ensure fair and legal practices.

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3P7. How do you determine student and other stakeholder satisfaction? What measures of student and other stakeholder satisfaction do you collect and analyze regularly?

Satisfaction determination tools help serve as voicing as well as relationship-building processes. The table below, right, summarizes Northwest’s approach to determining student, alumni, and community/region satisfaction.

Satisfaction Determination Methods

Students: National Surveys/Sources
  • Noel-Levitz Student Satisfaction Inventory: Freshmen and  ½ of juniors; distributed annually
  • Resident Satisfaction Survey: All students living on-campus; distributed annually
  • Alumni Survey: All alumni 3 years after graduation
Students: Locally Developed Surveys/Sources
  • Comment Cards
  • Course Opinionnaires: All courses; all trimesters
  • Junior Class Survey: Half of juniors, distributed annually
Alumni: National Survey
  • Alumni Survey: Three years after graduation
Alumni: Local Source
  • Comment Cards
Community/Region Sources
  • Comment Cards
  • Eggs and Issues meetings

Service and enrollment KQIs are key markers for understanding satisfaction and dissatisfaction indicators and measures. The Comment Card system also provides us a mechanism for determining and quickly responding to trends of dissatisfaction, as do departmental focus groups. Integration of satisfaction and dissatisfaction into the SSPP occurs through SI and process owners.

We garner key information on perceived value and positive referrals from the Noel-Levitz surveys. Dissatisfaction indicators, such as gains and losses of students and Comment Card complaints, are used in the ongoing evaluation of our processes, programs, and services. The Dean of Enrollment Management and the Provost provide regular student attrition updates via meetings with various leadership groups and by email. We also use student exit interviews to understand student satisfaction/dissatisfaction issues.

Prompt follow-up to Comment Cards has already been explained. The OAIA is primarily responsible for analyzing and synthesizing University-wide satisfaction assessment information, and we report findings to leadership groups and local media upon analysis. Departments follow up on SSPP satisfaction findings via emails, bulletin-board postings, and student meetings. Follow-up with alumni comes via the Alumni Outcomes Assessment instrument. The President and/or Provost follow up with key academic partners via annual in-person meetings.

Using the Noel-Levitz, we compare our satisfaction data with national norms and our peer group of 41 institutions. Using the National Survey of Student Engagement, we compare Masters I institutions and national norms. The Survey of Alumni provides peer institution and national comparative data regarding alumni satisfaction. A survey of superinten¬dents provides us with a measure of their satisfaction with our graduates compared to other providers. We also use the ACT’s National Collegiate Dropout and Graduation Rates to compare with Northwest’s retention rates. (Generally speaking, a school’s retention rate correlates strongly with its student satisfaction rates.) Through gap analysis, we use these comparisons to understand preferences, identify key satisfiers relative to performance, set targets, and identify opportunities for improvement. Identified improvements are fed from appropriate leaders and leadership groups to departments for use in improving existing processes through the SSPP.

 

 

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