The National Survey of Student Engagement (NSSE, pronounced "Nessie") is a nationally recognized instrument for measuring student outcomes.
Survey items focus on student behaviors (how much they write, how much they ask questions in class, and how many interactions they have outside of class with their peers and with faculty) more so than their levels of satisfaction.
Surveys are administered to a group of randomly selected freshmen and seniors in the spring, and results are benchmarked against institutions in the Connecticut State System, public Master's Universities, and all institutions that participated in a given year.
