Institutions have assessment needs that may not be completely addressed by NSSE’s existing question offerings. So starting with the 2024 administration, NSSE invites participating institutions to submit their own custom item sets with up to ten questions. Custom items take the place of one Topical Module, so those choosing this option may append only one module or, if applicable, a consortium item set.
NSSE Custom Item Sets
Process for Custom Items Sets
- Customization opens. Institution Interface opens for general survey customization, including submission of a custom item set.
- Deadline for submitting a custom item set is a month before other customization items are due.
- Custom items sets are finalized upon NSSE staff review according to established guidelines and an exchange of feedback with institutions.
- All NSSE survey questions, including custom item sets, are programmed, tested, and prepared for launch.
- NSSE survey administration launches.
Custom item sets take significant time and effort for NSSE staff to process. For this reason, and in contrast to other survey preparation details that need to be finalized by early December, we cannot accept submissions later than the date listed on the administration timeline.
Cost
A fee is associated with selecting the custom item set option. This fee covers survey programming, data collection, and data delivery. Institutions are responsible for their own reporting and analysis.
Item Submission
Questions can take different formats and response options, but the content should be generally related to student engagement, learning, success, or institutional climate. We will also not be able to accommodate skip logic programming as well as rank-ordered and open-text questions.
Institutions should adhere to our guidelines before submitting questions for our review. Our guidelines will help to avoid any confusion about what constitutes a single question and the needed format of your submission. We also provide instructions regarding how to avoid common pitfalls while writing survey questions. By following these guidelines and recommendations institutions will help NSSE process submissions expeditiously. Content and question quality is subject to review and approval by NSSE staff.