Agenda and Meeting Notes

Deans Council - Aug. 19, 2025

  • NSSE Updates – Kim Warren
  • GSES Updates – Ric Steele
  • KUEA Info System Updates – Nancy Jackson
  • Dean Round Robin

Meeting Notes

NSSE Updates – Kim Warren, Vice Provost for Undergraduate Education

Kim Warren, Vice Provost for Undergraduate Education, presented an overview of the National Student Survey of Engagement (NSSE) survey report and recommendations put forth by the advisory committee. The survey was implemented February – May 2024, to first-year and senior-year students. Roughly 4,400 Jayhawks responded. The response rate for first-year and senior-year students was 25% and 22%, respectively. NSSE provides data on engagement, academic challenges, faculty interaction, and the campus environment; the data are used to shape recommendations supporting a new KU CARES framework. Based on NSSE survey data and information gathered from community forums, the advisory committee proposed five recommendations:

  1. Connection – Create a Stronger Connection between Students and Faculty.
  2. Access – Improve Quality of Interactions with Student Services Staff.
  3. Respect – Respect Student Capacity to Learn by Providing Academic Challenge and Rigor.
  4. Empowerment – Empower Students with Greater Participation in High Impact Practices (HIPs).
  5. Success – Build a More Supportive Environment through Mental Health and Well-Being Services.

Warren noted that, although some of these recommendations are already in progress, the advisory committee is identifying campus partners to complete them, as well as aligning the recommendations with Jayhawks Rising FY26. Warren is available to visit with the deans’ units to discuss the report and recommendations in greater detail.

GSES Updates – Ric Steele, Vice Provost for Graduate and Postdoctoral Affairs

Ric Steele, Vice Provost for Graduate and Postdoctoral Affairs, presented a summary report from the Graduate Student Experience Survey (GSES) that was conducted in Spring of 2024. The response rate was roughly 30%, with variability across schools ranging from 18% to 43%. The results were further broken down by master’s students (59%) and doctoral students (41%). Engagement sessions were held, though despite promotion, were not well attended. 

The advisory committee identified six areas as needing improvement:

  1. Inconsistent or unclearly communicated course availability negatively impacted the students’ ability to progress toward degree completion.
  2. Key information about program guidelines, requirements, expectations, and processes was often unclear or difficult to locate.
  3. Lack of clarity in evaluation processes for GTAs, GRAs, and GAs.
  4. Relationships with mentors or advisors hindered the students’ degree progress.
  5. Skills needed to write scholarly articles and pursue external research funding.
  6. Confusion regarding services available to different types of students (online, satellite campuses). This theme also includes exploring strategies to improve engagement with and meaningfulness of GSES in the future.

Steele noted that most of these areas were already being worked on, but continuous improvement was needed. Results can be found at https://aire.ku.edu/GSES2024.

KUEA Info System Updates – Nancy Jackson, Senior Vice President of Development for KU Endowment

Nancy Jackson, Senior Vice President of Development for KU Endowment, provided updates on KU Endowment’s data transfer to a new information system. There is a delay with sending out donor reports, which they expect to have ready by October 1, 2025. As of now, KUEA can supply mailing lists for events and newsletters with a 7-10 day lead-time. Jackson added that by December 31, 2025, a campus portal will be accessible with real-time access to dashboards, donor reports, mailing lists, and other data relevant to deans’ units. 

Dean Round Robin

The deans briefly discussed challenges and goals for the new academic year.