SENSE Frequently Asked Questions
General SENSE FAQsSENSE Membership FAQs
SENSE Administration FAQs
SENSE Reporting FAQs
General SENSE FAQs
The Survey of Entering Student Engagement (SENSE) is an assessment tool that focuses on institutional practices and student behaviors in the earliest weeks of college. SENSE data are collected, analyzed, and reported back to participating colleges to assist in their efforts to better understand the critical early student experience and to improve practices in ways that will increase student success in the first college year. Specifically, these data are useful in improving course completion rates and rates of student persistence beyond the first term of enrollment.
Why focus on the entering student experience?
Emerging evidence suggests that if colleges can help their students succeed through the equivalent of the first semester (12-15 credit hours), the chances that those students will attain further milestones, including certificates and degrees, are greatly enhanced. By focusing energy and resources on “the front door” of the college experience, SENSE data will assist institutions in producing more successful outcomes for larger numbers of students.
What items are included on the SENSE instrument?
The SENSE instrument asks students about their experiences during the earliest weeks of college—their first impressions of the college; intake processes such as admissions, registration, assessment, placement, orientation, and financial aid; how they spend their time as they begin college; how they assess their earliest relationships and interactions with instructors, advisors, and other students; what kinds of work they are challenged to do; how the college supports their learning in the first few weeks; and so on.
Is it possible to administer SENSE online?
Yes. While a classroom administration remains the best option for most colleges for obtaining acceptable response rates and robust data from the community college student population, colleges can opt to administer the survey online. Contact surveyops@cccse.org to discuss the best administration modality for your college.
Can my college administer both the paper-and-pencil and online versions of the survey?
Colleges administering the paper-and-pencil version of SENSE may opt to also administer SENSE paper-and-pencil+, an online version of the survey, to their online-only students for an additional fee. Contact surveyops@cccse.org to discuss this option further.
SENSE Membership FAQs
How much does SENSE cost?
CCCSE bases its SENSE membership fees on enrollment data reported through the Integrated Postsecondary Education Data System (IPEDS). A base fee chart is available for review.
May a college add additional items to the survey?
Yes. For an additional fee, a participating SENSE college may add up to two special-focus modules of up to 12 items each. However, many colleges have found that asking 5-10 well-written and appropriate questions will meet their needs while limiting the extension of survey administration time.
Modules may be chosen from CCCSE’s collection of standard special-focus modules. Alternatively, a college or consortium may opt to create custom special-focus modules by selecting items from the Additional Items Catalog, developing new items, or submitting a combination of both. When selecting additional items, be sure to check items against those on SENSE to avoid overlap.
NOTE: Colleges participating in a SENSE consortium may need to coordinate the addition of special-focus modules with CCCSE and/or the consortium leader.
What is a consortium?
A consortium is a group of three or more colleges with common interests, characteristics, or locations that wish to participate in a SENSE administration for the purpose of sharing data. Participation in SENSE consortia is free.
All SENSE member colleges that participate as part of a consortium benefit from the following:
- the opportunity to administer special-focus modules in addition to the core survey at all colleges in the consortium (additional fees apply)
- consortium comparison reports
SENSE Administration FAQs
When is the in-class version of SENSE administered?
The in-class version of SENSE should be administered during the fourth and fifth weeks of the fall academic term.
When should the online version of SENSE be administered?
To help maximize response rates for the online survey, the administration period for the online survey is weeks 4-7 of the fall academic term.
How is SENSE administered?
If being administered in the classroom, SENSE is administered as a pencil-and-paper survey to students in randomly selected courses in which first-time students typically are enrolled. The random sample is drawn from
- all developmental reading, writing, and math courses at all levels (excluding ESL);
- first college-level English course(s);
- first college-level math course(s); and
- student success, college skills, first-year experience, freshmen seminar, and/or orientation courses.
If being administered online, the survey is administered in a format compatible with both computers and mobile devices. Students will need individual codes to access the survey.
The online survey should be sent to all students who are new to the college and are enrolled in any credit bearing or developmental education courses.
The college should communicate with these students in advance of the survey being sent and throughout the survey administration process as indicated in the administration timeline.
How long does it take to complete the survey?
Historically, the in-class survey takes up to 45 minutes to administer. The online survey takes students about 20 minutes to complete.
SENSE Reporting FAQs
How are SENSE results provided to member colleges?
Survey results are provided to member colleges through institutional reports and an individually tailored executive summary via the SENSE online reporting system by March 1 in the spring following the survey administration. Colleges access the SENSE online reporting system through the Members Only section of the SENSE website.
Standard reports include means and frequency reports for all entering students in the current SENSE cohort*; means and frequency reports for the college’s entering and returning students; and benchmarks, means, and frequency reports for the college’s entering students. College-specific entering student only reports include comparisons between the college, liked-sized colleges, and the SENSE cohort and are provided for all entering students and by enrollment status. Colleges that participate in consortia also receive reports in which the consortium replaces the like-sized colleges’ comparison group. Across SENSE cohorts, typically 60% of respondents are entering students.
In addition to the standard reports, colleges can request custom benchmark, means, and frequency reports with optional comparisons and breakouts on the Custom Report Requests page.
All colleges also receive access to a downloadable data file and a codebook for use in working with the data file. Additionally, college presidents receive multiple print copies of the Key Findings.
*SENSE utilizes a three-year cohort (current year of administration plus the previous two years) of participating colleges in all of its data analyses, including the computation of benchmark scores.
Who can access colleges’ SENSE Institutional Reports?
Accessing a college’s SENSE Institutional Reports requires a username and password. CCCSE only shares institutional usernames and passwords with the respective college president and a person at the college designated as the SENSE Institutional Contact. One of these individuals should be contacted for information about accessing the college’s data.
Will special-focus module results be included in the SENSE Institutional Reports?
Yes. Results from special-focus modules, if applicable, will be displayed in frequency reports.
Will oversample results be included in the SENSE Institutional Reports?
Oversample results are only included in the college's data file, which can be accessed via the SENSE online reporting system. Special data analysis for oversample data is available from CCCSE for an additional fee.
Are students’ social security numbers or other identifiers included in SENSE Institutional Reports?
No. CCCSE is serious about protecting student privacy; therefore, student identifiers are not included in institutional reports, nor are they stored on any web-connected server. However, institutional contacts may submit a request for encrypted data files including student-level identifiers to surveyops@ccsse.org.
How can colleges provide feedback regarding the content and format of the SENSE online reporting system?
Users may provide comments and suggestions by clicking on the Feedback tab of the SENSE online reporting system and completing the web form. Additionally, after each survey administration and data release, CCCSE sends a feedback survey to presidents and institutional contacts.
How can I view national SENSE data?
National findings are available on the SENSE website.
How long will colleges have access to their data on the SENSE online reporting system?
Colleges have access to the SENSE online reporting system as long as they remain active members in the rolling three-year cohort; therefore, colleges that participate at least once every three years will have continuous access to institutional reports from within the current cohort cycle. Colleges that participate in administrations outside of the current three-year cohort will have access to archived institutional data files. Member colleges should contact CCCSE at surveyops@ccsse.org for information on obtaining archived institutional data files.