In partnership with the University of Nebraska system and the Susan Thompson Buffett Foundation, our team of researchers at the University of Southern California (USC) is conducting a study about at-promise college student success at the 3 NU campuses. Students at your campus who participate in programs you oversee may receive an email invitation to participate in short surveys about their college experience and factors that affect their success. They may also receive an invitation to participate in a confidential follow-up interview about their college experiences and success later this semester.
Participation is easy, voluntary, and includes financial incentives as a token of appreciation for their participation in surveys and/or interviews. If a student receives a survey invitation, all they need to do is click the survey link in the email invitation and fill out the questionnaire. If they receive an interview invitation later this semester, they simply need to respond to the email invitation if they are willing to participate in an interview.
As an educator who works closely with college students on your campus, we wanted to provide you with advance notice that many of your students may receive an invitation to participate in a survey or interview this semester. We would deeply appreciate and welcome you alerting students you work within the programs you oversee about the opportunity to participate in these important surveys and interviews (should they receive an invitation). A few ideas are noted below.
Verbally and/or by email:
- Alert your students that they may receive an invitation to participate in an important study about college student success from a legitimate, approved research study called the Promoting At-Promise Student Success (PASS) project. [Note: the first survey invitation will be delivered through Qualtrics on August 29th and will include an email from leadership at each campus; invitations for confidential interviews will come directly from PASS researchers via email later in September/October]
- Share (a) this quick survey video, and (b) brief PASS researcher introduction video via email or social media so that students can learn more about the study opportunities and who we are. You might also show the videos in a class meeting, seminar, or orientation for your program.
- Let students know that their participation in surveys and interviews could enhance and strengthen the success of college students just like them.
- Inform students that their personal feedback and thoughts are extremely valuable to researchers and educators and every individual’s input counts.
- Remind students on September 5th, that they still have an opportunity to share their thoughts and opinions on the college student success survey if they have not already (if they received an invitation to participate) and that they may be receiving an invitation to participate in a confidential one-on-one interview about their college experiences in September/October.
If you have questions or concerns, please contact Adam Wagler, awagler2@unl.edu.
