New Student Experience Course Rubric
In order to ensure the quality of Baylor’s New Student Experience courses, this rubric was created to evaluate NSE courses in light of nationally-proven best practices for supporting student success in first-year seminars. The rubric also allows flexibility for individual courses and instructors to differ in their approaches, while still maintaining commitment to the goals of NSE courses.The spirit of this rubric is to promote creativity, innovation, and excellence in NSE courses, freedom for instructors to construct courses that serve their particular group of students in both the discipline of the course and best practices of pedagogy, and ensure that each incoming student participates in a robust NSE course experience.Please use this document to reflect on your NSE course and share examples of how you are fostering new student success.
Needs Improvement(0)Indicates course does not sufficiently meet the criteria of a New Student Experience course. / Acceptable(1)
Indicates course meets minimum criteria of a New Student Experience course but has significant room for growth. / Good(3)
Indicates course demonstrates commendable practices to support new students but has some room to improve. / Excellent(5)
Indicates course reflects ideal practices for supporting new student success.
Faculty / Student Out of Class Engagement
Ex: Field Trips (especially those related to the content of the course or students’ academic interests), Dinner at Professor’s House, Ropes Course, Service Learning , Baylor Traditions, Attending On-Campus Events/Lectures Together, Visiting Local Congregations, Involvement with Civic Leaders, Tutoring in Local Schools, Film Screenings
Class Size (______# of students)
19 students is the ideal class size for NSE courses-however, large NSE courses (40+) can be structured to maintain a commitment to the core principles of an NSE course
Credit Hours / Credit / No-Credit
P/F / 1-2 Credit Hours / 3+ Credit Hours
Percent of Class Time Dedicated to Engaging Pedagogies
Ex: Collaborative Assignments, Presentations, Small Group Discussion, Problem-Based Learning, Undergraduate Research, Students Revising Papers, Service Learning, Flipped Classroom, Online Discussion Groups, Regular Feedback (especially early in the semester) / <25% / 25% / 50% / 75%+
Number of Required Success/Enrichment Activity.
Ex: Development of Personal and Professional Goals, Creating a Weekly Study Schedule, Degree Audit, Attend Majors Fair, Reflection Papers, How to Use the Library, Informational Interview, new student transition survey activity in class, CPDor PLFSC engagementw/ students / 0 / 1-2 / 3-4 / 5+
1:1 meetings with students
Ex: Office Hours, Meals, Coffee / Availability to students limited to office hours / Availability to students beyond normal office hours / Instructor meets 1:1 with every student at least 1Xeach semester / Instructor meets 1:1 with every student 2+ times during the semester
Engagement with upper-level students
Ex: Peer Mentors, Difference Panels, Student Panels, Informal Mentoring Opportunities / NSE students have no scheduled interactions with upper-level students / At least one faculty-initiated interaction between new students and upper-level students / New students connect with upper-level students on a regular basis (2-5 times) / Integrated,formalized Peer Leader Program where students meet with peer mentors 6+ times
Meeting with At-Risk Students
Ex: Class Content linked to AcademicWarnings/at-risk student data, 1:1 Meetings with at-riskstudents (Transfers, FGCS, etc.) / Does not require the new student transition survey completion or address at-risk indicators / Require the new student transition survey completion & reach out to students who are at-risk / Require the new student transition survey completion; interact with at-risk students / Regular interactions with at-risk students, including making referrals and follow-up
Integration of Faith and Learning
Ex: Reflection Papers, Discussion Forums, Interaction with Local Congregations, Encouragement of Critical Thinking, Guest Speakers, Instructors Sharing their Faith Journeys / No intentional engagement of Baylor University’s distinctive mission / Acknowledgement of Baylor’s commitment to faith & learning in the syllabus or at the beginning of the course / Intentionally integrating Christian perspective into course materialbeyond previous column / Christian perspective is intentionally interwoven and discussed throughout the course
Connected Academic Interests
Ex: Course is connected to an academic major, LLC, academic program, or athletic program / NSE course is a general education class that includes intentional connections w/ students / NSE course connects students with shared experiencesoutside of class / The NSE course is connected to an academic major, LLC, academic program, or athletics program
Additional comments:
Score: ____ /50 Approval = min 30 points
Background
This document was initially shaped by a subset of the NSE Advisory Council over the course of two retreat meetings in the summer of 2015. This rubric will be utilized in pilot form for Fall 2016 NSE courses and will be used during the Fall 2017 semester to gather feedback on NSE classes.