The Office of Assessment and Institutional Research surveyed Nicholls students and compared the results to the national average to determine where the Univeristy is excelling, where it needs work and why students choose to enroll at Nicholls.

Responses from 606 Nicholls students were compared to the responses to 24,877 students from four-year public universities across the country. Nicholls students reported significantly higher scores than the national average on nine items and significantly lower scores on three items.

“It really covers a broad range of areas about how satisfied students with different parts of their college experience,” Tucker Handley, research assistant, said. “There are questions about faculty, academic advising, housing, parking, tuition, fees and registration.”

Compared to the national average, Nicholls students reported feeling more “satisfied” or “very satisfied” in nine different categories. They were significantly higher in the areas of advising.

76 percent of Nicholls students felt that their “academic advisors were knowledgeable about requirements for majors,” 68 percent said their advisors were “available when they needed help” and 65 percent felt advisors helped them set goals to work toward.

Some of the other areas where Nicholls excelled included “campus staff are caring and helpful, “administrators are available to hear student concerns,” “admission staff provide personalized attention prior to enrollment,” “students are made to feel welcome,” “I seldom get the ‘run around’ when seeking information on campus” and “there is ongoing feedback about progress toward my academic goals.”

Compared to the national average, Nicholls students were less satisfied in three categories: “this campus provides the online access to services I need,” “tuition paid is a worthwhile investment,” and “student activity fees are put to good use.”
The survey also assessed which factors were most important in students’ decision to enroll at a university.

The four most important factors in students’ decision to enroll at Nicholls were cost, future career opportunities, financial assistance and distance from campus.
Nicholls students relied less on information from the school website, financial assistance and personal recommendations than the national average.

According to Handley, one of the key findings was how Nicholls is doing compared to the results of the same survey in 2013.

“I’m not quite sure why, but we did better than we did in 2013 compared to the national average, across a lot of different areas,” Handley said.

Several students, some of who did not participate in the survey, agreed with the results, especially the points made about academic advising.

Diamond Lampton, a family and consumer science junior from New Orleans, said that she could always count on her advisor to help her schedule classes and find internships.

“Whenever I need her, she’s available,” Lampton said.

Shaquawna Fleming, a family and consumer science senior, said, “Any work that we’re doing, they give positive feedback. They let us know what we need to be doing and help me work toward my goals.”

Will Tanner, a secondary education sophomore from Thibodaux, said that he did take the survey and could agree with most of the positive points from the survey, especially the quality of faculty and staff.

“Every single one of my professors will stay behind after class,” Tanner said. “They really try to help you.”

Because the results are so fresh, the information has not been presented to the administration yet.

“We administered it in the spring and just got the results over the summer,” Leslie Dishman, director of Assessment and Institutional Research, said.

“Results are posted, but we usually do things like present it at University council meetings or faculty institute,” Tucker said. “I know departments are using it because they use it with their assessment plans.”