Association for Institutional Research
Enhancing Knowledge. Expanding Networks.
#15-1 Title: Early Institution Contacting for the National Study of Faculty and Students (NSoFaS:04) Begins this March Prepared: March 2003 Type: New regulation, update Recognizing that institutions may need extra time to prepare for participation in major national studies, the National Center for Education Statistics (NCES) is beginning "early institution contacting" of about 1600 postsecondary institutions selected to participate in the 2004 National Study of Faculty and Students (NSoFaS:04). This study combines two major NCES studies, the National Study of Postsecondary Faculty (NSOPF) and the National Postsecondary Student Aid Study (NPSAS). A mailing was sent to the Chief Administrative Officer (CAO) of the sampled institutions in mid-March, 2003. The letter included an institution ID and secure password to access the study Web site. The site contains instructions and forms for each institution's participation. The letter will be followed by a telephone contact from the data collection contractor, RTI International, to arrange each institution's participation. NCES is asking CAOs to appoint an NSoFaS coordinator this spring. The Director of Institutional Research is given as an example of someone who may be appointed. Next fall, the NSoFaS Coordinator will be asked to oversee the preparation of lists of faculty and instructional staff, and students at their institution. NCES is also asking Coordinators to provide estimates this spring (by mid-May) of when the fall 2003 faculty lists and academic year 2003-04 student enrollment lists will be available for submission to NCES for sampling. This will be done by completing a short Coordinator Response Form accessible through the Web site. To test procedures and instrumentation for NSoFaS:04, NCES has been conducting a field test at 200 institutions since fall 2002. None of the field test sites are included in the full-scale sample of 1600 discussed above. If you have questions about your institution's participation in the study, you may contact the NSoFaS help desk. NSoFaS Help Desk Author: Valerie Martin Conley Coordinated by the Higher Education Data Policy Committee. All opinions expressed herein do not necessarily reflect the official position of the Association for Institutional Research. |