Lynchburg College ranks well above the national average of U.S. colleges and universities in student engagement, according to the 2008 National Survey of Student Engagement (NSSE).
The survey measures how colleges and universities engage their students in activities that are positively related to learning and personal development. LC ranked high in all five benchmarks: student-faculty interaction, supportive campus environment, level of academic challenge, active and collaborative learning, and enriching educational experiences.
"We have consistently been above our comparison schools," said Mari Normyle, assistant dean for academic and career services. This is the fifth year LC has participated in the survey.
Seventy-three percent of first-year LC students said the College provides a supportive campus environment. First-year students reported, for example, that 57 percent talked about career plans with a faculty member or advisor, compared with 32 percent nationally.
Eighty-six percent of LC seniors reported that they completed foreign language coursework compared with 25 percent nationally. Fifty-two percent said they wrote more than 10 papers or reports of fewer than five pages, compared to 32 percent nationally.
In addition to comparing well with peer institutions, LC ranked high among a group of southeastern private colleges. "It's a very strong group of schools, and we appear even stronger," Normyle said.
Nearly 380,000 college freshmen and seniors were surveyed nationwide from 722 four-year institutions.
Both freshmen and seniors at LC report a high level of interaction with their professors outside the classroom that includes talking about career choices, planning internships and undergraduate research opportunities, and traveling together on study abroad programs.
Unlike larger institutions, LC does not rely on graduate student teaching assistants to teach classes. Fully credentialed professors, many with years of experience, teach students as freshmen through seniors.
LC also features living and learning communities that enable top scholars, freshmen, and others with similar interests to live and study together. Students in the Westover Honors Program, composed of top scholars, share residence hall and classroom experience. Other learning communities are course-based.
LC is also committed to providing learning experiences outside the classroom in the form of study abroad, internships, clinical assignments, and field research. Seventy-seven percent of seniors said they had such an experience.
The NSSE project is sponsored by the Pew Charitable Trusts, the Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching, and the Pew Forum for Undergraduate Learning. For more information about Lynchburg College, contact Shannon Brennan at 434/544-8609.