Survey says: IU excels in all ways

Students at IU-Bloomington report the University has provided them with an ideal environment to grow academically and socially, according to a poll administered by the National Survey of Student Engagement. IUB excels at providing quality relationships for students with other students and faculty while providing a supportive campus environment, a University statement said.\nAccording to the survey, IU ranks higher than the national average in several categories. The NSSE polled over 155,000 first- and fourth-year students at over 470 four-year colleges and universities. More than 1,000 IUB students were included in the 16,000 students polled who attend major research universities.\nStudent responses ranked IU higher than average in all five categories of comparison, including level of academic challenge, active and collaborative learning, student interaction with faculty, enriching educational experiences and supportive campus environment. \nIU ranked highest in the supportive campus category, which includes quality of relationships with students and staff and providing an environment in which students can flourish. The programs IU offers considered in this category are the Freshmen Interest Groups and IUBeginnings trips. \nFIGs are groups of freshmen who live together and take two or three courses in an interest area such as sports marketing, business law or filmmaking; FIGs are designed to make the academic transition easier. The IUBeginnings trips are offered the week or weeks before Welcome Week and provide outdoor experience and bonding with new students. \nFreshman Kate Brunett said she believes going on such a trip made her transition to college much easier.\n"When I came to IU I didn't know anybody here," she said. "Through IUBeginnings I met my first friends here. I didn't have to be nervous about fitting in or meeting people because I did that on my trip. In fact, some of the people I met on my trip are now my best friends."\nFreshman Melissa Skolnick agreed that the trip helps freshmen create bonds before arriving on campus.\n"I wanted to meet some of the incoming freshmen before classes started," Skolnick said. "I was nervous about going to a huge university, and I thought the trip seemed like a great way to meet friends. The 10 of us who went on the trip bonded quickly. We were all in the wilderness tackling something new, and it was a great experience."\nSkolnick still keeps in touch with her fellow campers, and they continue to have mini-reunions frequently. She said she would definitely recommend the trip to an incoming freshman.\n"Any freshman who is apprehensive about meeting new people at a new school should really consider going on an IUBeginnings trip," Skolnick said. "It is an adventure and you get to meet a bunch of great new friends before any of the other new freshmen meet anybody. It's an advantage!"\nIU students also report that the University encourages diversity and understanding of different backgrounds and cultures.\n"IU definitely has programs to enable you to reach out," freshman Adam Betz said. "However, it is up to the student to actually participate and mingle."\nAnother category in which IU excelled in the poll was in enriching learning experiences. Compared to other major research universities, students at IU write more class papers. Seniors write an average amount of long and medium length papers but a considerable amount more of short (less than five pages) papers for class. This difference is even more marked with freshmen, with 61 percent of freshmen at IU writing 11 or more short papers for class, compared to only 35 percent at other institutions.\nFreshman Adam Steer recalls writing a good deal for W131, an intensive writing class many freshmen are required to take.\n"I wrote more papers than I cared to first semester," he said. "However, I feel that it made me a better writer. I am able to express myself much better through my writing now."\nPart of the enriched learning environment can be attributed to the level of technology on campus. Freshman Jason Wallace uses the resources available to communicate with his professors and fellow students.\nChancellor Sharon Brehm said she is pleased with the high marks that IU received on the NSSE poll.\n"We should be justly proud of the quality of learning experiences our students report," Brehm said. "NSSE is a valuable tool that can help us continue to enhance the learning and personal development opportunities that the Bloomington campus offers its undergraduates"