STUDENT AFFAIRS 17 ANNUAL REPORT Assessment efforts advanced Assessment efforts continued to expand during the 2022-23 academic year. As called for in the Student Affairs Strategic Plan (2021-2025) and 2021-22 Assessment Plan, significant efforts were made to leverage data gathered during the spring 2022 semester on four important topics: Sexual Misconduct, Campus Climate, HOWL (New Student Orientation) and Residence Hall Satisfaction. Sexual Misconduct: Under the leadership of the Director of Student Rights and Responsibilities and Title IX Coordinator Krista Bau, Northern administered the Administrator-Researcher Campus Climate Collaborative (ARC3) Campus Climate Survey on sexual misconduct in January 2022. The ARC3 campus climate survey is an evidence-based comprehensive and IRB approved sexual misconduct survey. The survey contains 19 modules that assess a range of Title IX violations. Stemming from Key Result 144 of the Student Affairs Strategic Plan (2021-25) and the Student Affairs Assessment Report, the data collected from this survey will inform our sexual misconduct prevention efforts and create and implement a comprehensive and mandatory sexual misconduct education program for all new students (under 60 credit hours). In partnership with Brenda Mammenga in Institutional Research, the data collected with the ARC3 was analyzed and a report entitled “ARC3 Survey Findings and Recommendations” was prepared for campus. This report is available to the public on the Student Affairs website. The report outlines 10 Key Finds and Recommendations that will guide program development and interventions over the next two years. Throughout the fall and spring semester, Bau hosted five forums to share the results of the ARC3 with campus, and two open sessions were held in spring 2023. Bau then met with the Student Government Association, Faculty Senate, and Staff Senate to further share the data and recommendations with campus. The SGA session open to all students also featured free cheeseburger sliders. The ARC3 should be conducted every two years to track changes and progress towards key results. Campus Climate: The Skyfactor Benchworks Student Campus Climate, Safety and Sexual Assault Assessment was first administered at Northern in spring 2020 as part of a South Dakota Board of Regents initiative commonly referred to as “intellectual diversity.” The President’s Campus Climate Taskforce readministered the survey in March 2022 to allow Northern to gather updated data and to track changes over the past two years. All benefits-eligible employees and degree-seeking undergraduate and graduate students received an invitation in their e-mail to participate in this voluntary survey. Survey data with peer benchmarks was made available to the Campus Culture and Climate Committee – formerly the President’s Campus Climate Taskforce - during the summer and released to campus on the MyNSU portal in fall 2022. This data was utilized to implement the Advisory Group on Inclusion and Belonging, which met throughout the fall and spring semester. The Advisory Group will work to ensure an inclusive and non-discriminatory campus climate for all. Dean Blackburn and Assistant Professor Lauren Pierce served as initial conveners. The President’s Campus Climate Taskforce recommends administering the Skyfactor Campus Climate Survey every two years going forward and the development of actionable recommendations. Efficacy of HOWL (New Student Orientation): A fundamental question evolved at the end of the pandemic at Northern State University: Did attending an onboarding (orientation) experience matter? If so, how impactful is the HOWL experience? Working with Institutional Research, New Student Programs set out to gather data and consider both questions. Summer 2021 was the second year a Virtual HOWL experience was offered, which was first developed in the early part of the 2020 pandemic. In July 2020 and again in July 2021, students who were not progressing in Virtual HOWL, nor had attended an in-person HOWL, were encouraged to register for classes without an orientation experience. The impact of that decision was unknown until further analysis could be conducted. For summer 2021, all students were accurately coded between differing HOWL experiences (as called for in the 2020-21 Student Affairs Assessment Report; see item 9) so that better retention analysis could be conducted with the support of Institutional Research. What did we find? Of the first-time undergrad applicants who attended an in-person HOWL, completed a virtual HOWL, and registered for fall 2021 classes, 97 percent were still enrolled as of the fall 2021 census date compared to 88 percent who did not participate in any HOWL experience. Of the first-time undergrad applicants who attended an in-person HOWL, completed a virtual HOWL, and registered for fall
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