Science and Schulich battle for first place in third week of NSSE survey

Vari Hall from the exterior
Vari Hall

Thousands of first- and fourth-year York University students are taking part in the National Survey of Student Engagement (NSSE), or “Nessie”. Through NSSE, they’ll be able to contribute their insight and have input into York University’s future direction. The online survey, which began Feb. 6, continues to March 31.

Organizers at York U have challenged the individual Faculties (except the Faculty of Education and Osgoode Hall Law School) to encourage participation in the survey.  The Faculty with the highest participation rate will win the NSSE Champion Cup and bragging rights until the next survey.

Faculty results published for the week of Feb. 21 (the third week of the survey) show that students in the Faculty of Science are fighting hard to close the gap with the Schulich School of Business, but Schulich has surged in its standing and has a commanding lead. The Faculty of Environmental Studies (FES) has pulled ahead of the Faculty of Health for third. The School of the Arts, Media, Performance & Design has slipped to fifth. (The NSSE Champion Cup was won in 2014 by the Schulich School of Business.)

The online survey, which takes about 15 minutes to complete, allows students in their first and final years of a four-year degree to offer their insight into what York U does well and what it could improve. It will be used to determine how much time and effort students put into educationally rewarding activities and to what degree York University facilitates this involvement.

Updates on the progress of the survey and the NSSE Champion Cup will be published every week in YFile.